Paul
Any loss of life matters to someone. I have been struggling to come to
terms what those wee children must have experienced on the planes. A list
like this of whatever nationalities brings home the horror and loss of the
situation.
Loss and horror goes around the globe and through time and are therefore
international in nature.
Rob
-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Treanor [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 14 September 2001 12:55
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Geography Community Fatalities
Ron Abler wrote:
>
> 11 September 2001 Geographical Community Fatalities
If there is such a thing as a 'geographical community' then
presumably it extends to the many teachers, students and
researchers in geography, who have been killed by United
States military actions, and by third parties implementing
US policy.
But I don't think Ron Abler, or the AAG, is capable of
understanding that. The 'community' they have constructed is
an American, at most western, community. Their attitude is
a microcosm of American attitudes. Americans simply don't
seem to understand the depth of suffering, that they inflict
on others. They have not 'dehumanised' their victims, they
have de-existed them. The world is seen totally from the
US-American perspective, and the boundaries of 'community'
stop at the Mexican border.
I don't think any of the European nation states ever
developed such a complete detachment from their enemies -
who were often their neighbours. Hate is not the right word
for this American mentality. Although there is a deep hatred
for America's enemies, as you can read on usenet groups, it
is often accompanied by extraordinary ignorance - thinking
Serbs are Arabs and live in the Baltic, for instance.
It is is primarily a culture of indifference and
incomprehension. I have absolutely no doubt, that Ron Abler
can not see how offensive his message is. I think he simply
can not understand, that there are other people with a
totally different perspective - and that they have a better
claim to moral legitimacy.
This is in itself a root cause of American arrogance, in its
foreign and military policy. They can't see the other side's
perspective, because they can't even see the other side -
except as demons. And in turn, that generates intense hatred
of the United States. I don't see the world as a simple
American Empire: Europe especially has got the geopolitical
status it asked for. If Britain is a vassal state of the
USA, that is mainly because millions of Britons (led by Tony
Blair) deeply want it to be a vassal state. So that is
primarily a European problem, and that must be the general
judgement also.
This superpower exists: 270 million people who will not
admit the rest of the world to their moral community. I
think in the first instance the answer is, to create
distance from it. I certainly think is is time, to break all
academic links between Europe and the United States. If
America wants unilateralist hegemony, let them do it at
home, and let them study it and teach it at home.
--
Paul Treanor
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