Comrade... May I ask what you are doing there under the table?
I'm checking whether there is a bomb planted. I've been hearing tick, tock, tick, tock, and I thought I'd better find out where that is coming from.
I think it's your watch. It's rather loud, you know.
Let me see... so it is! I was thinking that a bomb may be following me, possibly with a suicide bomber.
I would not be surprised if the flower pot over there blows itself up together with us. Doesn't it look rather suspicious?
I don't know about that particular orchid pot by the window, but I am certain that we do not live in a safer world just because Osama bin Laden is dead. It was a very bad idea to kill him, no doubt about it.
Many are under the impression that it is better that he is dead than alive. Do you remember the crowd outside the White House when the news was released?
I was surprised that it was big. It scared me, too. I did not see a great difference between them and the football hoolig... oops, fans. They were hilarious and aggressively so. Just like in a game of sports, they only saw their side, the other side, and nothing else.
You are one of those people who oppose to cheering one team or one person in any game.
If we are true sports fans, we should appreciate and applaud good play by any performer, not anything by what we arbitrary chose as 'our favorite player/team.'
Most of us are attached to teams and players with whom we share geographical origins. It amazes me how universal that formula is.
What is disturbing is that we allow it even at the international level. Think about the Olympic Games which are considered by many the most significant sports events. It's always a big deal which country wins more medals.
We seldom hear about the marvelous butterfly strokes by a certain swimmer or...
It doesn't mean much if they do not lead to a medal, preferably the gold. And, think about the restrictions imposed on us by the people around us whom to cheer.
If you happen to admire a Russian skater whom a Georgian has lost against...
You will be unconscious the next second if you have been watching television in a café in Tbilisi. That brings us back to our earlier topic of killing whom you consider your enemy.
Your concern was that the crowd in front of the White House was jubilant as if their favorite team had won a sports match.
It is bad enough to be happy because the team from your town, county, region, or country has won. In this case, it is not only bad, but wrong and ultimately self-destructive.
How so?
Capital punishment is illegal in many parts of the world, and if you are against it, you must apply the principle to all persons.
What if the US government had exclusively chosen personnel from Texas for the raid?
I heard that bin Laden was not armed, so you can't justify the action as self-defense.
Can't we say that it's self-defense in the long term?
That is precisely what is not right about this operation. The long-term solution is in eliminating their motivation, namely, the hatred that they have toward the Occident. If bin Laden had been alone in wanting to destroy the West, he would not have succeeded. He could implement his ideas because there were so many people who agreed with him.
Weren't they bought off by the promise that thousands of virgins would be waiting for them in heaven?
If you strongly disagreed with his view of the West as the evil that needed to be eliminated from earth by violent means, you would not take up his call to sacrifice your life even if there were ten-thousand virgins waiting for you.
Perhaps I would ask for their up-to-date photographs before I commit myself, but it will take some time before I go through all profiles if there were ten thousands of them.
Comrade, seriously, it is counterproductive to kill a person who is revered by many, even if that person may cause us harm. Human beings have the natural urge to revenge someone who has inflicted damage on something important to us.
In other words, terrorism could exacerbate rather than attenuate because of the operation.
As I have been emphasizing, our thoughts and motivations are largely shaped by our experiences. What we experience has such power because it evokes emotions in us, and emotions are stronger than rationalizations. It is much easier to motivate a person by emotions than by rational arguments.
It has now become much more difficult to convince them---if it had been possible at all---that blowing up people, planes, trains and so on is not wise; they are more emotionally charged than before.
Not only that, but because the West has killed someone who is important to them, the West cannot tell them not to kill any of its own people. It no longer makes sense.
A friend of mine pointed out that putting bin Laden on a trial would have exposed his fallibility, and thus, much better.
Indeed, when we think back to various dictators and the like who had been captured in the past and tried, they looked pretty bad in courtrooms.
I noticed that maintaining a good haircut and wearing clean, well-tailored clothes can make a huge difference... Nobody looks good in a prison outfit and with disheveled hair.
There are many reasons as to why ethnic hatred does not die, but one of them is that the victims happen to be those who are important to the survivors. If someone kills your mother on the simple grounds that she is from Mars, you will want to get back to the killer. It is only a step away in extrapolation what the death of the head of Al-Qaeda means to its members and sympathizers. Plus, we are quite capable of transmitting hatred from generation to generation, and we do so rather willingly.
We couldn't get the guy who killed your mother, so son, you carry on with the obligation. That kind of a thing?
Right. It was Dubya who said, "He tried to kill my daddy!" and then invaded Iraq, remember?
Why was it called a 'good day for America,' then?
In order to use the event to win political approval of people who think like football hoolig... oops, fans. Every politician wants to manipulate her/his people so that her/his vision is realized. To that end, they want to keep the population like a herd of sheep.
Is that why some countries are reluctant to educate their people?
I strongly suspect that, and it is an extremely costly mistake. Ill-educated people would very often demand short-sighted and symbolic actions.
Like the killing of the head of a world-famous organization, you mean...
Such actions lead to worsening of situations more than eventual resolution, especially when they evoke anger and grief in the other party. I sometimes think that the politicians are worried that there may be no serious problems left to be solved in the world and that is what motivates them.
They want to keep their jobs... They have to be elected, as well as need a cause that gives them an excuse to be a rabble-rouser.
Disgusting as it may be, it would be detrimental to us ordinary citizens if we turn away from politics.
The politicians will run in whatever direction they like, more so than now.
By the way, have you ever thought it unfair that a vote of a farmer in Idaho has more power to influence the world events than that of a nomad in Mongolia?
I'm checking whether there is a bomb planted. I've been hearing tick, tock, tick, tock, and I thought I'd better find out where that is coming from.
I think it's your watch. It's rather loud, you know.
Let me see... so it is! I was thinking that a bomb may be following me, possibly with a suicide bomber.
I would not be surprised if the flower pot over there blows itself up together with us. Doesn't it look rather suspicious?
I don't know about that particular orchid pot by the window, but I am certain that we do not live in a safer world just because Osama bin Laden is dead. It was a very bad idea to kill him, no doubt about it.
Many are under the impression that it is better that he is dead than alive. Do you remember the crowd outside the White House when the news was released?
I was surprised that it was big. It scared me, too. I did not see a great difference between them and the football hoolig... oops, fans. They were hilarious and aggressively so. Just like in a game of sports, they only saw their side, the other side, and nothing else.
You are one of those people who oppose to cheering one team or one person in any game.
If we are true sports fans, we should appreciate and applaud good play by any performer, not anything by what we arbitrary chose as 'our favorite player/team.'
Most of us are attached to teams and players with whom we share geographical origins. It amazes me how universal that formula is.
What is disturbing is that we allow it even at the international level. Think about the Olympic Games which are considered by many the most significant sports events. It's always a big deal which country wins more medals.
We seldom hear about the marvelous butterfly strokes by a certain swimmer or...
It doesn't mean much if they do not lead to a medal, preferably the gold. And, think about the restrictions imposed on us by the people around us whom to cheer.
If you happen to admire a Russian skater whom a Georgian has lost against...
You will be unconscious the next second if you have been watching television in a café in Tbilisi. That brings us back to our earlier topic of killing whom you consider your enemy.
Your concern was that the crowd in front of the White House was jubilant as if their favorite team had won a sports match.
It is bad enough to be happy because the team from your town, county, region, or country has won. In this case, it is not only bad, but wrong and ultimately self-destructive.
How so?
Capital punishment is illegal in many parts of the world, and if you are against it, you must apply the principle to all persons.
What if the US government had exclusively chosen personnel from Texas for the raid?
I heard that bin Laden was not armed, so you can't justify the action as self-defense.
Can't we say that it's self-defense in the long term?
That is precisely what is not right about this operation. The long-term solution is in eliminating their motivation, namely, the hatred that they have toward the Occident. If bin Laden had been alone in wanting to destroy the West, he would not have succeeded. He could implement his ideas because there were so many people who agreed with him.
Weren't they bought off by the promise that thousands of virgins would be waiting for them in heaven?
If you strongly disagreed with his view of the West as the evil that needed to be eliminated from earth by violent means, you would not take up his call to sacrifice your life even if there were ten-thousand virgins waiting for you.
Perhaps I would ask for their up-to-date photographs before I commit myself, but it will take some time before I go through all profiles if there were ten thousands of them.
Comrade, seriously, it is counterproductive to kill a person who is revered by many, even if that person may cause us harm. Human beings have the natural urge to revenge someone who has inflicted damage on something important to us.
In other words, terrorism could exacerbate rather than attenuate because of the operation.
As I have been emphasizing, our thoughts and motivations are largely shaped by our experiences. What we experience has such power because it evokes emotions in us, and emotions are stronger than rationalizations. It is much easier to motivate a person by emotions than by rational arguments.
It has now become much more difficult to convince them---if it had been possible at all---that blowing up people, planes, trains and so on is not wise; they are more emotionally charged than before.
Not only that, but because the West has killed someone who is important to them, the West cannot tell them not to kill any of its own people. It no longer makes sense.
A friend of mine pointed out that putting bin Laden on a trial would have exposed his fallibility, and thus, much better.
Indeed, when we think back to various dictators and the like who had been captured in the past and tried, they looked pretty bad in courtrooms.
I noticed that maintaining a good haircut and wearing clean, well-tailored clothes can make a huge difference... Nobody looks good in a prison outfit and with disheveled hair.
There are many reasons as to why ethnic hatred does not die, but one of them is that the victims happen to be those who are important to the survivors. If someone kills your mother on the simple grounds that she is from Mars, you will want to get back to the killer. It is only a step away in extrapolation what the death of the head of Al-Qaeda means to its members and sympathizers. Plus, we are quite capable of transmitting hatred from generation to generation, and we do so rather willingly.
We couldn't get the guy who killed your mother, so son, you carry on with the obligation. That kind of a thing?
Right. It was Dubya who said, "He tried to kill my daddy!" and then invaded Iraq, remember?
Why was it called a 'good day for America,' then?
In order to use the event to win political approval of people who think like football hoolig... oops, fans. Every politician wants to manipulate her/his people so that her/his vision is realized. To that end, they want to keep the population like a herd of sheep.
Is that why some countries are reluctant to educate their people?
I strongly suspect that, and it is an extremely costly mistake. Ill-educated people would very often demand short-sighted and symbolic actions.
Like the killing of the head of a world-famous organization, you mean...
Such actions lead to worsening of situations more than eventual resolution, especially when they evoke anger and grief in the other party. I sometimes think that the politicians are worried that there may be no serious problems left to be solved in the world and that is what motivates them.
They want to keep their jobs... They have to be elected, as well as need a cause that gives them an excuse to be a rabble-rouser.
Disgusting as it may be, it would be detrimental to us ordinary citizens if we turn away from politics.
The politicians will run in whatever direction they like, more so than now.
By the way, have you ever thought it unfair that a vote of a farmer in Idaho has more power to influence the world events than that of a nomad in Mongolia?
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