Dec 17 2009

Evil does exist in the world

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h/t gqmartinez @ correntewire.com

The capacity of human beings to think up new ways to kill one another proved inexhaustible, as did our capacity to exempt from mercy those who…[couldn’t afford it.]

I believe that force can be justified on humanitarian grounds…

I- like any head of state- reserve the right to act unilaterally if necessary to defend [the profits of the ruling classes].

Third, a just peace includes not only civil and political rights – it must encompass economic security and opportunity. For true peace is not just freedom from fear, but freedom from want.

It is undoubtedly true that development rarely takes root without security; it is also true that security does not exist where human beings do not have access to enough food, or clean water, or the medicine they need to survive. It does not exist where children cannot aspire to a decent education or a job that supports a family. The absence of hope can rot a society from within.

And that is why helping farmers feed their own people – or nations educate their children and care for the sick – is not mere charity.

Let me make one final point about the use of force…

–Obama’s Nobel speech on vaporizing the poorest innocents at home and abroad

6 comments

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  1. and the cementing of his legacy.  No one could have done it better than Barack Obama.  No one.  We can do better, yes, we can.

    • Inky99 on December 17, 2009 at 10:44
    • #

    I find myself in a position where I am unable to aspire to a decent education (trying to get myself retrained, can’t afford it), I can’t find a job to support my family, and when I lose my health insurance, probably in a few months, I guess I won’t have the food or medicine I need to survive.

    I suppose I’m guilty of “an absence of hope”.

    So where’s the American military to bomb my neighborhood and liberate ME?

    C’mon, I’m calling in an air strike NOW!

    I’m really starting to HATE Obama.   I mean, hate him more than Bush.  Bush was a born loser, an asshole, a drunk, a jerk.   He knew it, that’s why he drank so much and almost killed himself, he knew he was a scumbag.  

    Obama?  Much more insidious, much more evil.  

  3. … I’d ban everyone!  Heh.

    One of my new fave sites is Digital Tibetan Buddhist Altar.

    Tenpa (owner of blog) wrote a mind blowing post entitled Undefeated Generals.

    It’s about some of the most gifted holy men in the world today, particularly the Tibetans, and the trials they had to experience before their training actually came to blossom.

    I’m quoting more of this than I should and there’s a lot of references that will probably appear meaningless, but I think you’ll grok the gist of it (“tulku”, btw, is a reincarnate of a master teacher; and “red envelopes” are referring to money donations):

    I like to see these newly-minted tulkus, coming out of the cocoon of their years of instruction, go fluttering around the world like butterflies. The first world tour is very prim, very proper. They discuss introductory topics, they tell us what their teacher told them, and they give empowerments, which is of course how the money gets made. You can get photo ops, maybe get one or two polite questions answered, and that is that. The red envelopes begin falling like winter’s first snowflakes.

    The second world tour is a little different. Maybe the entourage is a little bigger because the red snow is getting deeper. Usually, by the third or fourth world tour, they are running like rock stars. By now, they are in their late 30s or early 40s, and they know what women look like. They know how the food tastes in the better hotels. They know where the door handles are on the Mercedes-Benz. Maybe by now they are just beginning to learn how to listen — how to listen to the questions. If they are lucky, they have begun to experience a few little disappointments, so the questions are beginning to strike a resonant chord. Maybe just now they can begin the rudimentary framework of answers.

    We are the same, aren’t we? I don’t know about you, but when I was in my late 30s and early 40s I was also very busy. Strangely enough, I also seemed to have so much extra time for beautiful women, beautiful dinners, shopping for luxuries, engaging in intrigues, and did I mention women? My companions were all so charming, and witty, and complex. I would stay for months on end in the hotels, which were my palaces, exploring the poetry of this relationship, the cinema of that relationship, endlessly fascinated with the ladies of the kingdom. There were times when I flew 10,000 miles just for a poignant scene with a fancied favorite. It really was astonishing. I started with $1,000 suits, moved to $2,500 suits, and eventually it reached the point where even $5,000 suits simply would not do. If those people at Brioni ever start making robes, you know, I will probably be first in line.

    People ask me all the time: why weren’t you teaching then? Why weren’t you being who you are? The answer is simply that I was being who I was then, and I found myself to be a very dangerous person. I was an undefeated general, and there is nothing more dangerous than an undefeated general. I have some good advice to give you right now: never trust an undefeated general.

    More and more it’s become important to me how Obama handles this mess he helped to create.  Will he take responsibility, publicly, for its flaws, in an honest way, as opposed to same old same old political rhetoric, albeit very charming?

    I don’t think anyone won’t forgive a failure if you did everything you could and still failed.  Sure, you’ll get called names and stuff, but you’ll be forgiven for the most part.

    Buhdy has written about this, how certain benchmarks will shape Obama’s character as President.

    It’s weird for me because for the first time I’m older than a US President.  I voted for him, in fact, because I figured the younger folks deserved their turn even if I would want to yell at all of ’em to get off my lawn, lol.

    Good essay, Compound F.

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