We in the “first world,”  are addicted to fake outrage.
There is no more room for this kind of behaviour in the civilized world. We have no more time for the behaviour of a few, that only leads to ineffective protest, along with the requisite “semi-ntellectual” misgivings of some one or another academic.
Now is the time for real action, we must stand up to the powers that be and call for real action to take place. And how do we do this? As in France, general strikes of working class and poor citizens make a difference in the lives of so many.
Compassion must be the motive that drives us. In order to make real change, we can and must embrace the “other,”  without real dialogue we cannot hope for lasting peace and tranquility in the world.
But we must also respect the “other,” in culture and religion, in ethnicity and race and in all aspects of their lives, we cannot forget that they are true and living people with their own ideas of what constitutes freedom and we must recognize that American democracy is not the answer for the world.
American hegemony is not the answer for the whole world,  America has no corner on the market of freedom.  Yet, we must use the power we have wisely and with compassion, or as Louis J. Halle put it, on April 3, 1954, “When a nation intervenes in a foreign country, it not only tends to turn the people
of that country against it, but it also discredits the regime that accepts its support.” Mr. Halle, was a part of the State Departments Policy Planning staff
during the run-up to the Vietnam War.
How prescient of Mr. Halle, to speak these words, which apply today to all the major conflicts in the world today. Especially our intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Can we withdraw with peace as the end result? Only the people on the ground can make that decision,  as is the case in Sri Lanka.
No one can make the decision for those who are fighting and dying other than those on the ground.
Intervention must be done with wisdom and compassion,
otherwise there will be continued bloodshed and horrific actions on the part of the combatants.
Whatever one thinks of G-d, we must all realize that there is no room in the watchful eyes of G-d, for violence towards innocents and those not involved in the fighting. We have for too long, took a stance that “collateral damage,” was an acceptable option and those who happened to be the collateral damage, could not justify their continued existence to those who were fighting.
Give peace a chance, let love and compassion reign.
Too much fighting, not enough listening to the other.
Peace out!