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Monday, August 23, 2004
Internet at home again. Hurrah. Kind of nice not having to rush around on the internet at the library. Nice to be able to download Alan Smith's goal from Saturday. (Beautiful stuff). The interenet seems fast too - I got about 400k/sec downloading a Frank Lampard compilation. Maybe it's faster 'cause there's a wider range of choices out here, so less people on each service.
I'm not quite sure how to describe Halifax. Over the course of the past week, M has likened it to both London and cottage country :) I like it though - it certainly is easy-going. In my three weeks here, I've only heard one car's horn. New York is the worst for that.
I read Joe Sacco's Palestine on the weekend, which was really interesting, given that I know very little about that conflict. I got something out of it that was similar to what I felt after both a talk about terrorism I went too, and my experience seeing Belfast. That is, the violence in each of these situations is not senseless or the result of crazy or fanatical people. The reactions of the Palestinians, or people in Belfast, or terrorists in India, is directly a result of the circumstances they are in. That does not make it right, or justified, but it is not irrational. In each case, the people feel they have no power, no say, are helpless, and they feel the only option left is violence. In Palestine, a Palestinian elder tells Sacco that the youth in his community are not allowed to participate in team sports. They are actively encouraged to join one of the various terrorist organizations. In the terrrorism talk, the women talking mentioned that joining a militia or terrorist group is often the only reasonably-paying job that people have available to them. They join because they need money! In Belfast, it is impossible to understand the circumstances people there live in without being there - they are under watch constantly. Circumstances like that breed fear and violent reactions.
Again, I am not saying that these people should be acting violently, but rather that their decision to act violently is not unreasonable. Given their situation, it is a completely understandable reaction. To label their violent acts as the acts of fanatacism or "fringe elements" or whatever other term the media uses is to simply make the problem worse.
I'm not quite sure how to describe Halifax. Over the course of the past week, M has likened it to both London and cottage country :) I like it though - it certainly is easy-going. In my three weeks here, I've only heard one car's horn. New York is the worst for that.
I read Joe Sacco's Palestine on the weekend, which was really interesting, given that I know very little about that conflict. I got something out of it that was similar to what I felt after both a talk about terrorism I went too, and my experience seeing Belfast. That is, the violence in each of these situations is not senseless or the result of crazy or fanatical people. The reactions of the Palestinians, or people in Belfast, or terrorists in India, is directly a result of the circumstances they are in. That does not make it right, or justified, but it is not irrational. In each case, the people feel they have no power, no say, are helpless, and they feel the only option left is violence. In Palestine, a Palestinian elder tells Sacco that the youth in his community are not allowed to participate in team sports. They are actively encouraged to join one of the various terrorist organizations. In the terrrorism talk, the women talking mentioned that joining a militia or terrorist group is often the only reasonably-paying job that people have available to them. They join because they need money! In Belfast, it is impossible to understand the circumstances people there live in without being there - they are under watch constantly. Circumstances like that breed fear and violent reactions.
Again, I am not saying that these people should be acting violently, but rather that their decision to act violently is not unreasonable. Given their situation, it is a completely understandable reaction. To label their violent acts as the acts of fanatacism or "fringe elements" or whatever other term the media uses is to simply make the problem worse.
