We cannot know what it was like. . .day-to-day. . .to have had to exist in a Nazis concentration camp. We can read about it. . .we can see pictures and recoil as if smashed-mouthed by a big lineman. . .and still not have the slightest sense of how horrific it was to be humiliated. . .degraded. . .reduced. . .and finally killed off. The “plan” called for people to last about 3-months. In that way. . .there would always be room for the new labor. . .the new prisoners. . .the new death-mates.
Many of those who survived the Holocaust got involved in trying to bring to justice those who perpetrated the unspeakable crimes against humanity. Many were found. . .went to trial. . .either got prison time or were executed.
Here in November 2011. . .the History Channel began a new series by showing a documentary about Vietnam. Based largely on reprocessed home movies . . .we once again see in action the decisions to Search and Destroy. . .take no prisoners. . . drop napalm on known innocents like children. . .women. . .and elderly Vietnamese.
In 1969. . .together with my then moviemaking partner. . .I produced a movie about the social conflict between the establishment and mostly the college youth of the country. Some of the actions of the youth were reminiscent of the actions of the Occupy Movement. But even back then. . .as my writer-colleague Charles Deemer remembers. . .there was no “visceral gut-wrenching moral outrage.” Nor was there any real moral outrage over all the torturing incidents the U.S. engaged in after 9/11 to “gain vital information important to the national security of the country.”
AMERICA RIGHT OR WRONG
The ideology “America right or wrong” is a part of the entire political process. Both parties have. . .at their center. . .the sense that America can do no wrong. And if it does. . .it is still “the best country in the world.” But as Deemer has pointed out. . .”we learn nothing from history. . .how each generation reinvents the wheel." After a horrific incident. . .(you can easily insert incidents here from memory). . . the next day it’s business as usual. “Go to the mall” said the President after 9/11. In other words. . .keep buying. Keep burying your head in the sand. Keep being a consumer. . .a dupe. And soon after 9/11. . .the emotions about the incident were gone. After all. . .there were new incidents to think about. To feel. . .if possible.
The Center for Existential Depth Psychology Information (CEDP) has a piece on Freedom and Responsibility. They argue powerfully that freedom cannot be separated from responsibility. With freedom comes responsibility. . .personal responsibility. They also show that it’s common for people to want freedom. . .to seek freedom. . .while working to avoid the responsibility that goes with it.
NATIONS DO NOT ACT RESPONSIBLY REGARDING DISASTER RELIEF PREPARATION
The rhetoric is always there. A disaster occurs. A massive quake. A flood. A tsunami. Starvation-inducing droughts. The list goes on. And there isn’t a nation on planet earth that moves to prepare to provide relief to the victims of these events. We could understand if the events were rare. Seldom. Almost never. But the events are often. OFTEN! Recently there was a significant quake in the State of Oklahoma. Damage. Deaths. The usual things. But here’s my point. . . ‘scientists’ are concerned about the increased frequency of quakes in Oklahoma. There used to be about 50-70 small quakes annually. Now that humber is over 1,000 quakes annually. Note the word ANNUALLY!
Geologists in the State of California have been trying to convinced state officials for decades that a really BIG quake is coming. How do they know? After all . . . quake prediction isn’t exactly ‘science.’ Well . . .the fault lines are lengthening. The activity that leads to quakes. . .crumbling fissures. . .the sounds of significant change in the fissures that dive down into the magma below. . .as well as the steady increase of small quakes. . .such as in Oklahoma. . .are the “MESSAGES” from below that are being ignored. The consequences are going to be off-the-charts. One estimate is $250 billion in damages. "Preparation could save the state countless billions" said a prominent geologist.
Well. . .here’s how officials and others avoid responsibility. “There are several common examples of how people (including officials at the highest level of government) avoid responsibility in American culture”. . .writes the CEDP. . .“Conformity is one good example. Americans pride themselves on being autonomous individuals to the point of idealizing individualism. However. . .upon closer analysis. . .Americans find extremely creative ways of giving up their freedom. Americans conform through blind allegiance to various organizations and institutions including political parties and religious institutions. This is not to say that being dedicated to either of these are bad. In fact. . .often they can lead to very positive outcomes. The problem comes with blind allegiance where a person gives up their responsibility to critically think through the beliefs. . . perspectives. . .and values of the organization. When this happens. . .the individual's values are no longer authentic" (my emphasis).
In other words. . .Americans wait to see how others feel about this or that before they too begin to feel such-and-such-a-way about some event. . .some activity their government is engaged in. And so we can easily see that genuine moral outrage has its home in each individual’s value system. One must first feel that certain acts are morally wrong regardless of how others feel about them. And no reaction to that which is morally wrong need come from religion. Religion is far too tolerant of government irresponsibility. An act is wrong because it violates certain values that a ‘civilization’ must have to endure. Certain things. . . like sex with a child. . .is wrong. Stealing that which doesn’t belong to you. . .is wrong. We cannot survive in a land of thieves. . .which is what America is becoming. The official corruption throughout the world is pandemic. No one needs someone to tell them that. . .unless they have no awareness whatsoever. The same can be said for acts such as rape and the same can be said for the lack of disaster relief preparation. Well. . .that’s a leap. . .some of you may say. I say . . .is it?
Just as you’ve never had to exist in a Nazis concentration camp. You better hope you never are the victim of a natural disaster. You had better hope that you’re not in a quake that takes out your house. You’d better hope you’re not in a flood that ruins your house. Because if you are. . .you’re going to feel like the soldiers left in the fields of France during First World War. There was never a plan about how to treat the wounded. They were given morphine to treat their own wounds. Of course if you’re shot in the stomach. . .well. . .you get the image. And they died like flies because of that irresponsible policy. The same can be said of those wounded during the American Civil War. Thousands died who could have easily lived. . .because there was no one to treat them. No one. No plan.
On this blog. . .we’ve said repeatedly that there is no disaster relief industry. Does not exist! Does not! There is the rhetoric. There are the claims. But every single disaster that occurs on this planet. . .is dealt with after it happens. And the relief effort is always clumsy. . .at best. And often. . .such as the relief effort for the victims of hurricane Katrina. . .and sadly the victims in Haiti. . .the relief effort is a disaster unto itself. The suffering is often intensified because there is no existent plan. None. And that is the current state of the world. Good luck if you happen to be the next victim.
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