Kevin's Watch

Lots of people have things they focus on, don't they, like things they research a lot? Do I condemn someone researching multiple sclerosis because it doesn't kill as many people as HIV or whatever, or if I studied smallpox would I be at fault for at the same time not studying diseases that are still a major menace or something?

But... I don't want to just be rhetorical like that... I can't do much to influence my government's current policies overseas, but I feel like I could do more to influence my society's recognition of certain past things, which could have repercussions for the government's self-image in relation to my society. Like if Turkey admitted to what happened all those generations ago in Armenia: what would that mean for Turks resisting contemporary repressive maneuvers re: Kurds, for example? I don't know, though. [EDIT: I don't even know what's happening to the Kurds near/in Turkey anymore, if there's still that war or revolt or whatever it was.]

EDIT 2: Also, 1971 was the year John Rawls published A Theory of Justice, which was the most profound treatise on ethics since the writings of Kant (well, that's my opinion anyway; it was at the very least alongside Mill and Moore's post-Kantian thought). And he did this as a reaction to the war in Vietnam, in some part (the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Rawls suggests that part was very significant to the cause). Because I'm a student of ethical philosophy as well as the history of the topic itself, that a certain war played a substantial role in a major development in morality's intellectual evolution, well...

Also, so much as I love the Covenant series, and am familiar with Donaldson's relationship with the Vietnam War (his conscientious-objector status and presence on campus during the Kent State(?) shootings), that primes me more to read about this subject...

Hashi Lebwohl wrote:Why the focus on the Vietnam War, then? It ended 40 years ago and the things we have been doing in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are just as bad. There are Pakistani people who now fear mostly-sunny skies because the lack of cloud cover means that drones may strike at any time. We are inflicting psychological damage on at least one country and yet I don't see anyone protesting that. There isn't anyone standing up against the things we have been doing because no one wants to look like they are helping the terrorists win.

Who are these Pakistani folks who are fearing drone strikes? Would they be the ones living in the mountains near the Afghanistan border, perhaps affiliated with the Taliban?

Mighara Sovmadhi wrote:Lots of people have things they focus on, don't they, like things they research a lot? Do I condemn someone researching multiple sclerosis because it doesn't kill as many people as HIV or whatever, or if I studied smallpox would I be at fault for at the same time not studying diseases that are still a major menace or something?

I see your point. I wasn't condemning you, by the way, just asking a question and you answered it.

Not enough people speak out or question things these days, all those mostly nonsensical posts on various social media sites notwithstanding. That isn't protesting--it is being lazy and engaging with the least amount of effort possible.