Ethnocentricism
We find ourselves involved in a deadly and costly war in Iraq. Americans will again blame the politicians, for misleading them. In fact, it’s our own ethnic and religious prejudices that allowed us to be manipulated by the Bush regime. After 9/11, it didn’t matter that there was an absence of evidence linking the attack to Saddam Hussein, because Iraq presented an Arab target, which we were eager to bomb.
Richard Clarke commanded the White House situation room the morning of 9/11. He has testified that within hours of the attack, Donald Rumsfeld suggested Iraq, because it offered “better targets” than the elusive bin Laden in Afghanistan. Many Americans weren’t interested in evidence because they had been conditioned to hate all Arabs and Muslims.
As a child during W.W.II, our family was conditioned to hate all “Japs”, because two of my uncles, were fighting them in the Pacific. Our family supported Franklin Roosevelt incarceration of 100,000 innocent American men, women and children of Japanese descent at the start of World War II.
Likewise, we didn’t express concern about Harry Truman’s decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in which 214,000 Japanese died. It didn’t mattered, that most of the victims where innocent civilians.
For peace to become a reality in this world, people and nations will need to recognize their common humanity. Americas have a long and disturbing history of acting in fear and anger against other ethnic groups.
Today, our fear and anger has been directed towards Arabs, Muslims or illegal Mexican immigrants. In some cases that fear and anger has developed into irrational hatred, thereby dominating our ability to feel compassion and think critically.
After retiring from Congress, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, a Texas Republican said that Bush and other administration officials were overreacting to the country's post-9/11 fears. It was as if they were gripped in a “he-man macho psychosis where they felt the need to go out and shoot somebody to show they're the tough guy on the block.”
Our mind determines our destiny, and presently America’s future doesn’t look very bright, because too many Americans favor going out and shooting somebody.
Richard Clarke commanded the White House situation room the morning of 9/11. He has testified that within hours of the attack, Donald Rumsfeld suggested Iraq, because it offered “better targets” than the elusive bin Laden in Afghanistan. Many Americans weren’t interested in evidence because they had been conditioned to hate all Arabs and Muslims.
As a child during W.W.II, our family was conditioned to hate all “Japs”, because two of my uncles, were fighting them in the Pacific. Our family supported Franklin Roosevelt incarceration of 100,000 innocent American men, women and children of Japanese descent at the start of World War II.
Likewise, we didn’t express concern about Harry Truman’s decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in which 214,000 Japanese died. It didn’t mattered, that most of the victims where innocent civilians.
For peace to become a reality in this world, people and nations will need to recognize their common humanity. Americas have a long and disturbing history of acting in fear and anger against other ethnic groups.
Today, our fear and anger has been directed towards Arabs, Muslims or illegal Mexican immigrants. In some cases that fear and anger has developed into irrational hatred, thereby dominating our ability to feel compassion and think critically.
After retiring from Congress, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, a Texas Republican said that Bush and other administration officials were overreacting to the country's post-9/11 fears. It was as if they were gripped in a “he-man macho psychosis where they felt the need to go out and shoot somebody to show they're the tough guy on the block.”
Our mind determines our destiny, and presently America’s future doesn’t look very bright, because too many Americans favor going out and shooting somebody.
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