Violence... The story so far

Editorial

Original post 08 Aug 2005 -- Updated 16 April 2010

To be sure, the world cannot be remade in a year, and maybe not in a generation, or even two. But we believe it can be done. Diplomacy, however, seems foreign to the hawks in Washington--especially the empathetic kind. They seem to believe we survive without friendly trading partners and allies in keeping world peace! Consider the following attitudes and their probable effects:

Authoritarian Diplomacy

America-First	Consequence of Trend
Energy	America uses disproportionate fractions of world supplies.
Minerals	America uses disproportionate fractions of world supplies.
Ecology	America at odds with other nations over air quality & global warming.
United Nations	America has shirked its responsibilities.
Agriculture	Americans growing obese while some nations starve.
Various Inequalities	Produces anger, envy, and possibly enmity and racism.

Those Affected	Effects That Boomerang
Allies	Allies become non-allies on air quality, global warming, nation rebuilding, & racism—things that matter.
Neutrals	All six attitudes lead neutral "friends" to question us.
Potential Enemies	All six attitudes used against us in battle for moral high ground.
Feudal Despots	Encouraged and enriched by our oil, mineral, and social policies.
American People	These attitudes produce arrogance in too many, sadness, shame, and political opposition in others.

Empathetic Diplomacy

World-First	Consequence of Trend
Energy	Reduce waste; assist others in energy management.
Minerals	Assist others in resource management.
Ecology	Equitable distribution of responsibility for solutions.
United Nations	Equitable assumption of responsibilities.
Agriculture	Encourage education, freedom, and market economies.
Various Inequalities	Wealth disparities reduced; equal opportunity for education realized while still rewarding ability.

Those Affected	Effects That Benefit All
Allies	Alliances strengthen and increase in number and quality.
Neutrals	Gain respect and alliance when needed.
Potential Enemies	Remove much of their motivation; recover moral high ground.
Feudal Despots	Will lose allies in new world order.
American People	Bill of Rights and Four Freedoms equivalents enjoyed by all world citizens.

Propaganda of the time notwithstanding, we chased terrorists with armies only to discover Iraq was not mounting weapons of mass destruction, nor Hussein having anything to do with al Qa'ida. Militarily, Iraq was a paper tiger. But it was a nation compared with the unstable shambles that how exist.

At last we have military and civilian leaders who know how to chase terrorists and rebuild countries while we are at it. And remarkably, it is working, especially in the tribal regions of Afghanistan.

No longer are we are doing the opposite: motivating yet more terrorists while they hone their skills, strengthen their numbers, injure us economically. We are not out of the woods, but there is light at the end of the tunnel if we do not backslide.

When we (Christians) deliberately increase economic and social asymmetries with the Islamic world, it is easy to see how terrorism arises. This web site is part of our answer. We hope our approach is a voice of reason for all humankind.

What do you think the ratio between the economic power of the US to al Qa'ida is? A hundred to one? A million to one? It is much nearer the latter.

Just as certainly, there is a problem in world society: a rag-tag band can shake a modern goliath to its core, and more if history finds that that rag-tag band was the straw that tipped us over the tipping point of decline relative to other industrial powers during the coming century. Watch the dollar exchange rates as an early harbinger of that decline. Look for the Euro and Asian currencies to strengthen significantly against the dollar in the coming decade.

9-11 hurt us. But our response to it hurt us manifold more. We have no one but ourselves to blame for that fate. However all that works out, we are now on the right track, at least for a time.