The same concept can really be applied to any issue, take for example the things people do in the Middle East, I watched the film black hawk down recently and there was a scene in which the pilot had been captured by a crowd of “skinnies” as they referred to them, he was laying on a cot when I believe one of their luitenants (idfk how to spell that) came into talk to the pilot, he said he was a ranger, he kills his people, and the pilot said he’s not a ranger, that he was a pilot, the luitenant then offered him a cig, he says
“Heh, that’s right, none of you Americans smoke anymore, you all live long, dull, uninteresting lives,”
“What do you want with me?”
“You have taken hostages? We, have you”
“My government will never negotiate for me”
“Then perhaps, you and I, can negotiate, soldier, to soldier”
“I’m not in charge”
“That’s right, you have the power to kill but not negotiate, in Somalia, killing is negotiation, do you really think, if you capture our general, that we will simply put down our weapons? And adopt American Democracy? That the killing will stop? Well know this, without victory, there calm be no peace, there will always be killing, you see, that’s how things are in our world”
The pilot didn’t reply. But that scene really got me thinking, to the Somalians, the Americans were threatening their way of life, it was a cruel one, but it was all they knew, to us? They looked like monsters, but to them? It was normal, it was justified. I believe that, we are all the culmination of the things we each experience. We all act a certain way because of the things we’ve endured, and in a way I think it’s beautiful, the fact that, there are so many different ways of life due to the things people have endured, some of which are very cruel and violent, some of which are dull and uninteresting, and some can be beneficial to mankind, that conversation was one of the most important scenes in the movie and I wonder if it had happened in reality as well or if it was just thrown in there for the sake of the film. I would’ve asked the Somalian luteniant if the world he lived in was the one he wanted, if he enjoyed it, or if he was just doing what he had to do, or perhaps both.