Hi Philippe (also in response to grief first, etc.) I am allowing time in my classes for students to express themselves at the start of each class. I followed the debriefing process of asking them to share feelings, thoughts and behavior as in describe your feelings when you heard about the three incidents, what did you think and what did you do. Taking the time to do this did seem to let them acknowledge that indeed something profoundly serious had occurred in our world and to process this information as well as how it affected them. Going through the process seemed to help them then turn to the daily class topic. It also gave them the opportunity to look at Social Psychology/ prejudice (blaming all Islamics for the actions of one group, if the blame fits) and Health Psychology/coping with tragedy skills (New Yorkers lined up to give blood and helped dig survivors from the refuge), and projection (as a mechanism for explanation). We are located in the California High Desert, 3000 or so miles away from New York City and Washington D.C. but 45 miles next to Ft. Irwin, a huge military training center. Joann Jelly Klappenbach Hugo wrote: > Dear fellow tipsters: > > Usually I do not e-mail the list, maybe due to my limited English skills, > but I always read the messages and I have followed your debate of > yesterday's tragedy. I hope you can understand what I want to say. > > My first motivation to send an e-mail was of course to express all my > sympathy for all American citizens and specially for some of you who have > had relatives or friends taken in the tragedy. > > But the second one, is because I come from a third world country, which in > the recent days is coming through a very difficult economical situation. > Many people in my country may consider that active economic policies coming > from US as a state or from financial North American trusts and companies > have some responsibility for our poor and regretable present condition. And > many peopole in my country think that globalization is the same as > imperialism, with a single and powerful nation (US, or a group of nations) > ruling the whole world. Maybe those persons think that yesterday's tragedy > -although they condemend it- was a part of a war between poor and developing > countries against the empire. > > In my opinion, those who think that way are wrong. The point, I think, is to > be or not to be a modern citizen. Terrorism is always terrorism and must be > condemned without any other consideration. Nor claims for justice neither > claims based on the dependent conditions of globalization may justify > terrorist acts. Argentina, like many others, has suffered different ways of > terrorism during the '70s; terrorism coming from political groups at the > left and right. Then, terrorism coming from the State itself. In all the > cases, specially in the latter, basic human rights were violated and people > lived in worst conditions. > > I think that freedom, justice, peace and welfare for all the countries in > the world, may not be reached without globalization. In fact, globalization > was born with modernity and it is not only a mere product of communication > media's development. When the French Revolution approved the Declaration of > Men and Citizen's Rights, a new notion of citizen was created. From the > point of view of a modern thought, citizens are all the persons in the > world; poor and rich, weak and powerful, beyond all differences. And one of > the main debates in our days, is how to guarantee similar rights for all the > citizens in the world. In such direction, yesterday's tragedy was not only > an attack to US people, but was an attack to the idea of the citizen, and in > that sense, to the whole humanity. > > So, the only reason to justify terrorist acts, is no-reason. And as Kant has > concluded two centuries ago in "What is Enlightment?", the free public use > of reason gives the possibility to build a modern world. In that way, I > believe that the only way to build a more reasonable, free and fair world is > to improve International Rights (that is, to improve globalization), where > the crime against any people of the world is a crime to the whole humanity. > > Thus, responsibles of any crimes (like yesterday's) must be condemned, > mindless of the conditions or the countries they belong to. Therefore, if > the US goverment (specially Nixon's or Kissinger's) had any relation with > the crimes commited in Chile during the last military government (as some > mass media has recently published) I think that it would be fair that those > American citizens were judged by an International Court, as those > responsables for the Holocaust; with the possibility to defend themselves > and have a fair trial. > > In Argentina, two terrorist acts in the last years destroyed both Israel > Ambassy and the Mutual Israelit Association. I believe that nearly all > argentinians understood that those were not only terrorist acts against > jewish people, but against the notion of citizen itself, and against > mankind. I hope that similar consensus can come up at this moment, helping > to create a better world, like the one Martin Luther King dreamt of. > > Sincerelly yours, > > Dr. Hugo Klappenbach > - Researcher at National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) > - Full Professor at National University of San Luis > - Chairman of the Undergraduate Programme on Psychology. National University > of San Luis > - Editor of Cuadernos Argentinos de Historia de la Psicología > - Liaison in Argentina of Division 52 -International Division-, American > Psychological Association > - Chairman of Task Force on History of Psychology, Interamerican Society of > Psychology (SIP)
