ALISSA J. RUBIN, a New York Times correspondent shared her lessons learned from the Iraq war, reminding me of the difficulties humanity face in coping with global climate destabilization.
“Americans wanted to believe that their version of democracy was just waiting to spring to life in Iraq — a peaceful multiethnic, multireligious society adhering to the rule of law. That longing to find in another country a mirror of ourselves trumped cold analysis and led to years of denial…” “…turning away from the inconvenient realities of ethnic and religious differences, the depth of animosities, of struggles for power and territory.” [emphasis mine]
Isn’t a peaceful multiethnic, multireligious society adhering to the rule of law a prerequisite for achieving sustainability, and humanity’s coping with climate crisis? If we can’t believe in that global possibility, if believing in it is just denial and turning away from inconvenient realities, *sigh* what hope is there?
“So the lesson I take away is never to underestimate hatred or history or the complexity of alien places.”
Eventually, I realized that the key to overcoming all of this hatred is educating people, raising their consciousness, that this hatred is premised on a beautiful lie. All of the historical animosity presumes that Earth will be here for us. It takes for granted that disputed territory will be liveable and productive as it had been.
In other words terrorists springing from ethnic and religious histories, rather than being the embodiment of evil, are nieve hopeful people wearing rose colored glasses. They’re two year olds fighting over a bowl of cereal, in a burning house.
Those who cling to ethnic hatred are the ones in denial or ignorance of inconvenient realities.
