Back to the present
I do not approve of "back to nature" movements. As if we can ignore the progress that civilization has made and forget science and medicine and retreat to simple, unspoiled lives. All this is an attempt to turn one's back on life as it is now, to retreat from its difficulties, as if that can improve things. If it were not for science and scientific medicine, then most of us would already be dead. Life-expectancy in the west has risen from ca. 50 to over 70 in the past 100 years. When reading about past generations it is amazing how many people died young because of an illness or infection that is now unknown, such as measels, chicken pox and consumption.
The anti-capitalism demonstrations are an example, instead of opposing the misuse of capitalism, such as Ponzi schemes by dishonest individuals and bankers who get enormous rewards, they want to throw out the bath water with the baby. Why don't they get honest jobs and work within the system? Just because the Euro is in difficulty due of the misuse and mistakes of incompetent and greedy politicians and bankers doesn't mean that it should be dispensed with. It is noteworthy that the three countries most affected by the current Eurozone crisis, Greece, Italy and Spain, have all replaced their Governments with technocrats, who are expected to do a more honest and pragmatic job. Why couldn't they have chosen such people in the first place?
But, being in favor of competent leaders is not exactly the same as being against back to nature or even back to the past movements. The Muslims who want to live like Mohammed in 8th century Arabia and seek to reestablish a Caliphate are symptomatic of this kind of impulse. But, they haven't learned that you can never go back, once the present is released from the bottle it cannot be forced back in. For example, the Cambodian Khmer Rouge, came up with the post-Communist notion that we should all leave the cities and live in the countryside like peasants, happy together in ignorance. But, in order to accomplish this they had to forcibly evacuate the cities, including Phnom-Phen, and murder ca. 1.5 million people out of a total of ca. 4.5, most with guns developed in the 20th century. Taking anti-colonialism that far is ludicrous and murderous. Fortunately the Khmer Rouge were defeated by the ordinary Communists of Vietnam. I wonder how many of the young anti-Capitalism protesters in Wall Street and St. Paul's Cathedral in London know about this unsuccessful experiment to reverse history.
Likewise, the Palestinians want to reverse history. They are pathetic, wallowing in their misnamed "refugee camps", exploited by their fellow Arabs, talking about the "keys" to their ancestral homes, while life and history has moved on. Now a large, powerful and modern State has grown in their place. It's up to them to come to terms with this or forever dwell in ignorance. The USA replaced a handful of Indian settlements, too bad for the Indians, but look what progress was wrought. There is no going back, it is an illusion, we must continue to move forwards.
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Friends, I am not feeling well, I have a cold! There will be a break for a few days in my e-mail blog. For past postings see ISblog: www.commentfromisraelblog.blogspot.com
The anti-capitalism demonstrations are an example, instead of opposing the misuse of capitalism, such as Ponzi schemes by dishonest individuals and bankers who get enormous rewards, they want to throw out the bath water with the baby. Why don't they get honest jobs and work within the system? Just because the Euro is in difficulty due of the misuse and mistakes of incompetent and greedy politicians and bankers doesn't mean that it should be dispensed with. It is noteworthy that the three countries most affected by the current Eurozone crisis, Greece, Italy and Spain, have all replaced their Governments with technocrats, who are expected to do a more honest and pragmatic job. Why couldn't they have chosen such people in the first place?
But, being in favor of competent leaders is not exactly the same as being against back to nature or even back to the past movements. The Muslims who want to live like Mohammed in 8th century Arabia and seek to reestablish a Caliphate are symptomatic of this kind of impulse. But, they haven't learned that you can never go back, once the present is released from the bottle it cannot be forced back in. For example, the Cambodian Khmer Rouge, came up with the post-Communist notion that we should all leave the cities and live in the countryside like peasants, happy together in ignorance. But, in order to accomplish this they had to forcibly evacuate the cities, including Phnom-Phen, and murder ca. 1.5 million people out of a total of ca. 4.5, most with guns developed in the 20th century. Taking anti-colonialism that far is ludicrous and murderous. Fortunately the Khmer Rouge were defeated by the ordinary Communists of Vietnam. I wonder how many of the young anti-Capitalism protesters in Wall Street and St. Paul's Cathedral in London know about this unsuccessful experiment to reverse history.
Likewise, the Palestinians want to reverse history. They are pathetic, wallowing in their misnamed "refugee camps", exploited by their fellow Arabs, talking about the "keys" to their ancestral homes, while life and history has moved on. Now a large, powerful and modern State has grown in their place. It's up to them to come to terms with this or forever dwell in ignorance. The USA replaced a handful of Indian settlements, too bad for the Indians, but look what progress was wrought. There is no going back, it is an illusion, we must continue to move forwards.
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Friends, I am not feeling well, I have a cold! There will be a break for a few days in my e-mail blog. For past postings see ISblog: www.commentfromisraelblog.blogspot.com
posted by Jack Cohen at 4:47 PM
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