Taking on evil

Darfur. Sudan. Once purely an African nation, now an Arab nation, with armed Arab Janjaweed militia killing native (ie, non-Muslim, non-Arab) people. Not content to take responsibility for its own actions, the Sudanese government is blaming Jews and Israel for its violence. So, what is to be done for the thousands suffering from this new Holocaust?

Right and wrong are ethical decisions, good and evil are moral ones. Looking forward, the suffering and conflict will continue unless some intervention is done. But the intervention must be successful or at least better than the status quo. Can that be guaranteed in the post-Iraq War world?

Liberals say that Iraq has reduced our credibility, but DocBrain thinks that Iraq has shown the resolve of those opposed to peace rather than our lack of credibility. In the politically correct world of "nice war", we cannot win against a foe who does not fight as we do. The British lost to the revolutionary army mainly because of sneaky tactics, not because they were outgunned or outmanned.

Perhaps Islam is a peaceful religion, perhaps not. It is not important. What DocBrain sees is that, just as some blacks hide their evil behind cries of "white racism", some Muslims hide their evil behind finger pointing at Jews, Israel, Danish comic writers, the Pope, America, Britain, and George Bush, to name a few. Some politicians hide their desire for power behind criticism of our country and our president. So, we wind up with Democrats, politically biased professors, and liberals pointing fingers at our country and George Bush for trying to do the right thing but failing, and Islamofascists pointing their finger at America and George Bush because they are afraid he might succeed. Just as some people back their own kind against outsiders in a primitive xenophobic fashion, so we see some blacks backing evildoers because they are a "brother" and some Muslims backing evildoers because they are Muslim. This crazy approach leads to the concept of the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and the schizophrenic situation of blacks in America sympathizing with Muslims who, in Africa, are killing, torturing, raping and starving the native blacks. Similarly, you get schizophrenic American Jews siding with extremist Arabs who have killed women and children for just being Jewish. Furthermore, liberals are drawn into support of Muslims, who, if given the power, would end many of the cherished and hard fought for rights that liberals enjoy.

If you believe that the trifecta of evil is White, Christian/Conservative, and Male, then you will come at this issue from one position. If you believe the White, Christian/Conservative Male sees all that is different from him as evil, then you will react similarly. This painting of evil flies well in the non-white world and in the liberal world. As in all great fictions and conspiracies, it cannot be disproven and does contain a kernel of truth. It is the one fiction that unites multiple factions here and abroad.

Liberals demand that the Bush administration lead the UN into doing something in Darfur, even though there is apathy in most countries to action. DocBrain believes that this apathy is due to a lack of moral fiber combined with a lack of compassion. What is preventing liberal sons and daughters in America from becoming "soldiers of fortune" in Darfur? I believe that if liberals in America would move past their stereotypic biases to become more logical in their determination of good and evil, right and wrong, they would be able to actuate positive changes in the world.

Once upon a time, it indeed was the White, Christian/Conservative Man who had the biases that caused untold suffering. Now it is the irrational, unforgiving, backwards looking, reaction to this past that is causing, or at least aiding and abetting, the suffering. Time for good and right minded people to move on before evil triumphs.

9-11

Why did 9-11 happen? On one hand, it was a group of less than 20 people who carried out the attack. On the other hand, it demonstrated that there are a lot of people in the world who would be very happy if bad things happened to Americans.

One of the great things about the United States is that we cherish our freedoms, which are based upon unalienable rights that come from the Creator. Over the centuries, we have had to erode our freedoms for various reasons. The one that impacts us the most is the concept of equality, which has been extended from equality under the law to equality in many other arenas. Our freedoms have also been compromised by a desire to protect us from harm, domestic and foreign.

We have legislated away the right to drive drunk. Random stops, searches and arrests are all legal, not because the drunk has done anything wrong, but out of desire to protect. Similarly, we have IRS audits, metal detectors preventing taking of weapons into schools, courts and planes, and no smoking laws.

DocBrain believes that it is the government's job to protect us and our job to tell the government exactly how much protection we want. We have that right in the USA, and that is an element of what is great about our country. What some people do not understand is that it is the majority of the American people who are pushing our government to protect us, not our government forcing us to closer scrutiny.

Now, it seems prudent to DocBrain for the government to do what it takes to protect us from Islamoterrorism. This does produce some levels of discomfort among those who are pro-American Muslims and among those who advocate violent overthrow of our government and are not Muslim.

It is important that we empower our government to solve the problem of Islamoterrorism as soon as possible, so that we can feel safe in taking our freedoms back. To do otherwise is to prolong our self-imposed reduction of freedom.

One last word. Our Constitution is a contract between the citizens of the USA and the government. Rights guaranteed in the constitution do not extend to non-citizens, nor do non-citizens have any specific obligations to the USA. If we choose, we can give some rights to non-citizens, but these are purely gifts and can be revoked by us at any time. If you do not see a difference between a non-citizen and a citizen in terms of rights under the Constitution, then you probably have no concept of your duties to your country.

In for a win-win

Immigration is a contentious issue. Who should be allowed in? Who should be allowed to stay? Who should be kicked out?

DocBrain thinks that immigration should be win-win, at the very least!

The Immigrants

• Usually come looking for opportunity denied in their native land, but occasionally for other reasons, such as to reunite with family or to escape harm.
• Some come for the comfort of being cared for by societies that treasure all life.
• Some come to cause mischief.

The country receiving the immigrant

• May have needs unmet by the current population
• May have limited resources that cannot support all who would come for family unity, comfort or refuge.
• May have limited resources, legal restrictions, or inability to find those who would come in and cause harm.

The immigrant's prior country

• May or may not have need for the immigrant's skills or labor

So, immigration is an issue with multiple impacts. Immigrants usually have more moxie, more drive than those who stay behind, and therefore deprive their native land of that character trait.

The question is: what part of the good in the world should be evenly distributed and what part should be distributed according to some other formula (country of residence, heredity, performance, effort and/or luck)? How we answer this question determines the fate of humanity. DocBrain thinks that some elements have to be win-win, and immigration should be one of those issues.

More on distribution of good next time.