Friday, March 24, 2006

(More than) Malice in Wonderland


Napoleon Bonaparte sez: “Never ascribe to malice which can be explained by incompetence.”

Whether it’s Democrats or Republicans committing the atrocities, legislating the repression, or gouging yet another hole in the social safety net, I’m not one to flippantly use words like “evil” or “Nazi” to describe them. Take the circumstances surrounding Hurricane Katrina. “Bush doesn’t care about black people,” we hear. That might be true but, even so, I’m more apt to assume monumental incompetence or sheer indifference in the Gulf Coast...rather than malice aforethought. Be clear: I’m not excusing anyone; I’m just recognizing that callous negligence can often play a primary role in tragedy and atrocity.


Let’s face it: Hyperbole aside, Clinton, Bush, Powell, or Rumsfeld did not sit around in smoke-filled rooms and plot the wanton slaughter of Iraqi babies...they just seem indifferent to it as they pursue other goals. (The over-referenced Nazi regime, on the other hand, made it their overt policy to systematically kill non-combatants.) Sure, there have always been individual U.S. soldiers guilty of premeditated murder...but America’s leaders—drunk with power, so-called patriotism, and the unshakeable conviction they are always right—more typically engage in something closer to criminally negligent homicide.

Again, none of this excuses or justifies the indefensible transgressions of the American Empire. Rather, I feel it humanizes the perpetrators and thus prevents us from feeling superior. It’s far more comforting to see vast conspiracies everywhere than to recognize our role in this twisted, misguided society. Assigning qualities like “evil” to U.S. presidents or corporate CEOs gives the impression that they are unique...that other humans (e.g. us and people like us) are not capable of similar acts. Wake up call: We’re all potential Dubyas, Bubbas, or even Eichmanns. As I see it, this is not about a handful of unusually malicious individuals...but rather the need to cultivate a society in which justice, solidarity, and non-violence are revered as the highest purpose of human endeavor.

I dunno… that’s my two cents.

What do you think?

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Posted on 03/24 at 06:25 AM
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