When Chaos Gets Ugly...

You know, it’s kind of hard right now to write anything and not mention world events or one’s opinion about them. It’s amazing that only three letters set side by side can represent such an ugly concept, but there they sit.

But I’m not going to talk about that. Rather, I’m going to discuss what I’ve seen happening right here right now in my own proverbial backyard. Regardless of the personal opinion of each individual about what is and is not “right” to be doing in the world, I have found a really interesting trend among a large percentage of the population to which I have been exposed in recent weeks. I find this trend somewhat disturbing and am having a difficult time making sense of said trend—perhaps the readers here can help illuminate the corners of my misunderstanding. Rather than go into the particulars initially, I’ll demonstrate a couple of representational interactions…

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INTERACTION NUMBER 1:

The Scene: A busy street near a local university.

The Time: Four in the afternoon on a Friday

The Players: One clean-cut boy next door type sporting Greek letters on his shirt
One not-so-clean-cut boy carrying a hand-made cardboard sign

The Action: Not-So-Clean-Cut Boy is standing quietly on the sidewalk holding a cardboard sign with the words “What Would Jesus Bomb?” written in black magic marker. As cars drive past, some wave, some honk, and some scream obscenities. I, personally, find the message on his sign very thought provoking and observe him quietly standing there. Along comes the Clean-Cut Boy Sporting Greek Letters—he must pass the gentleman with the sign in order to continue along his trajectory toward the campus dormitories. As he approaches the guy with the sign, he pauses, gathering energy before his outburst.

The dialog: “Who would Jesus bomb? He would bomb Sadam Hussein, Iraq, and all the little freaks like you.” This is said in a voice loud enough to be heard over the traffic of a busy street for at least two blocks. Not-So-Clean-Cut Boy shrugs and continues standing there quietly. Clean-Cut Boy continues yelling, though there were no more clearly recognizable phrases in English—perhaps the propulsion power of his wildly gesticulating arms disturbed the air in his vicinity enough that his further sentiments were rendered inaudible.

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INTERACTION NUMBER 2:

The Scene: An internet email group

The Time: Mostly afternoons

The Players: A group of very loosely affiliated people, most of whom have never met one another, who have come together to discuss world events.

The Words:

Member #1: Posts reprinted piece about an elderly lady who threatens to shove an umbrella into the orifice of a war protester and open it. The subject line of the post is “Woo Hoo.”

Member # 2: "It's so funny... I just have such a difficult time grasping that there are people who actually wish death upon other people and are proud of it. It is also difficult for me to grasp that people who wish death to no one are seen as irritating and (gasp!) unpatriotic. Anyone who has a war in their own backyard understands the value of peace. Anyone who wishes for war has obviously never been caught in the middle of one."

Member # 1: "I am the last person that would jump up and down and scream "yeah! war!" Lately, however, I also seem to be the first person that I have heard state bluntly that the mid-east is overdue for a smackdown… I believe in fighting for our right to be moronic and bad-mouth our country. I get pissed off when idiots like Farrah make a show of US support by DRAGGING an American Flag train on her dress. But hey - that's our right. I can send out this e-mail because people are "over there" fighting for US. We have a lot (LOT of problems) but coddling outspoken morons is NOT one of them. That is worth fighting for. Anytime, anywhere."

Member # 3: "Maybe you are starting to see the light. Trust me when I tell you that if we killed every Arab in the Middle East, this world would be a better and happier more peaceful planet."

Member # 1: "[Member # 3], please get off my side."

Member # 2: "I do not think that I am a morally advanced enough being to unequivocally state who does and who does not deserve a "smackdown." The Middle East has always been a place of conflict. It is a tribal culture in an inhospitable climate where people are, and always have been, competing for very limited resources. There are many people in this world (and not just in the Middle East) who believe that war, conflict, and fighting are an inevitable and necessary part of life--as long as people believe that, it will be true. By believing that ourselves, we are contributing to the problem, not solving it."

Member # 4: "People who protest this war are ignorant of the facts. I believe, as you do, that we need to fight to protect our freedoms even if it means that dildos like those who are performing "die-ins" have that same right.....however, under that right, any one who disrespects the flag should loose the freedom that that flag protects...the red stripe represent the blood that was shed for freedom. That's one major thing that I can't stand. Don't disrespect the colors."

Member # 2: "Whatever meaning the flag has for people is that which they personally ascribe to it--it is that way with all symbols. In reality, it is just a piece of fabric which we have invested with meaning. By the way, why is it assumed that anyone who is against the war is a moron?"

Member # 4: "Instead of protesting the US..accusing us of shedding innocent blood, why don't you open your ignorant eyes to what's really going on. The flag is just fabric????? Girl, you need to go to school...it's a symbol, NOT JUST FABRIC and anyone defacing that symbol should be subject to consequences. Do you even know what the colors, stripes, and stars mean? Apparently you don't otherwise you would feel more passion about the very FABRIC that America is made of. My suggestion to you dear, is to get educated as to what's going on. Talk to your local Armed Forces person, release yourself from your political bondage and join the real world."

Member # 2: "Why is no one allowed to have a differing opinion without being attacked? Is this what the "land of the free" is all about? Yes, I know the symbolism of the American flag--imbedded into the symbolism of the flag is the idea of war and the blood blood blood which always must be shed for freedom--but it is still just a piece of fabric and not worth getting upset about. I could sew something which represented my most deeply held values, but if I then act in a way which goes against those values, the hypocrisy of that act would negate anything that I was trying to represent by waving it around. I could take a popsicle stick with some gum on it and invest it with meaning, and if other people bought that symbolism, then it would be a crime to burn it.

"The perspective from which I view the world is not one where I identify myself as anything other than a person who lives in the world. I do not consider myself "an American" or "white" or any other exclusive and limiting category. This world is a closed system, meaning that all of us have to live here and it would really be best if we could find a way to do so which promotes safety and equality to everyone. I also know that people here and elsewhere often do not understand the big picture of the particular sect or country in which they live because no one wants to identify themselves as being on the "wrong side." Everyone wants to believe that they are the "good guy" and their enemy is the "bad guy." Nothing is ever as clear-cut as this--there are many valid perspectives.

"I do live in the real world, thank you very much. It shows a great deal of insecurity to attack that which is different from you--anger is just the outward manifestation of fear, thus the ongoing conflicted state within which much of this world has historically existed. Again, no one has answered the question I pointedly asked in the last post--why is it assumed that everyone who is against the war is a moron? To me, name calling and "putting down" unequivocally any whose opinion differs just shows one's lack of understanding. I respect the beliefs of all people, not just those who I identify as being like myself. If we could all, globally, learn to do this a little more, we could perhaps insure a future more peaceful than the past."

Member # 4: "Are you watching the same TV I am??? Please, open your eyes! Do you not know that we are liberators? Please open your eyes. This is a proud moment in US History. This makes me proud to be an AMERICAN. I feel sorry for you. You are so blind!!! Americans have lost their lives to free people from wickedness...from the clutches of North Korea, from the executions and holocaust in Israel and England. The lists go on and on...the US fights for human rights and dignity.... You see, they see with open eyes and hearts. Again....please open yours."

Member # 2: "No, I am not watching the same TV you are. I think that I mentioned I haven't watched TV in a very long time. If you are so very certain about the intentions of the American government, then why have you not answered any of the questions I've asked in previous posts? Why do you assume that anyone who doesn't agree with you about the way the world should be run is blind or ignorant? It must be nice to be more intelligent and enlightened than Albert Einstein, Ghandi, Martin Luther King and the Dalai Lama all put together. If war works so well to end atrocity, then why do atrocities still exist?

"I have no doubt that the actual people who are over there fighting are doing so for the right reasons--I am not questioning their motives. I do, however, question the motives of the larger governmental body and I think that it is irresponsible not to do so considering its past record of cashing in on world violence. We are the largest arms dealer in the world--who do you think is making all the bucks on global conflict? If we're all about peace and liberation, then why won't we sign the treaties which make arms dealing illegal? If we care about the well-being of everyone, then why don't we sign the acts implemented to make our environment a livable place in the future? If America is all about liberation and human rights, then why did we supply Sadam Hussein with weapons in the first place? The human rights conditions in Iraq were already terrible while we were doing this, so what's up with that? Why do we suddenly care now when we didn't then? If we "fight for human rights and dignity" then explain our trade policy with China? Explain why we trained and sent weapons to Afghanistan, to the very same organization who later claimed responsibility for 9/11? If we are oh so benevolent, then what is up with this behavior? I have many, many questions which need to have fact-based answers before I'll start proudly waving my flag around. If you have these answers, I am certainly willing to listen."

Group Altogether: Silence. Intermittent metaphoric chirping of crickets.

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The questions that I have pertaining to these interactions is this: What is so “UnAmerican” about being dedicated to the idea of peace and voicing that opinion? What makes people so angry at the mere idea of peace? Isn’t this somewhat of an oxymoronic reaction?

Theoretical Interaction:

Monkey # 1: “Hi. I don’t believe that conflict and violence are good ideas.”

Monkey # 2: “What?!? You no good *(#*$&(#)@($*)#)@!!!! How can you be such an idiot? You make me reeeeeeally mad. Why I ought’a….”

I just don’t understand. World peace has never existed—is this why? What is it about the idea of a world without violence which causes people to react with such violence? Is this idea really that threatening? And if so, who or what does it threaten?

Is it perhaps the result of an assumed false dichotomy? Either you’re A) in support of war or B) in support of fascist regimes? This does not allow for any room in between these two extreme positions, which really leaves out the beliefs of a large percentage of the population. Why is everything viewed as “one thing or the other thing”, in terms of black and white, us and them, the good guys and the bad guys? Are we really this limited in our thinking? Isn’t this the kind of thinking which causes war and violence in the first place?

If you have any answers, please email me with your wisdom and insight. This Observational Monkey is having a really tough time seeing the logic or sense of these trends. Though, as a Dedicated Observer of the Human Condition, I will keep a stiff and slightly upwardly curved upper lip as I continue with my Covert Experimentation and Keeping of Records.