Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Paris, France; of Paris, Europe!
Courage mes amis! Nous sommes tous Parisien!
This is the most terrible, the most horrific topic to write about. TERRORISM! So many people have died because of it. So little things have ever changed in its aftermath and most of the times for the worse, too. Yet, hatred dominates.
From racism to terrorism, radicalization of political thinking has brought us back in front of the monster we thought we had buried with WWII and definitely by the end of the so called "cold war", as marked by the fall of the Berlin wall. Fear! This new age of terrorism is a silent and undeclared war against humanity, against "Europe" and the values established by The Enlightenment, embodied in the tripartite motto "Liberté, égalité, fraternité".
Yet, this still remains our predominantly European (western) view of history, politics and geopolitics. But the world is not confined within the boundaries of the EU castle we have so meticulously tried to build. This has become evident with the recent refugee crisis, as millions of people flee Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, on top of millions of people fleeing Africa, because of ethnic/tribal/religious cleansing, terrorism and/or genocide.
This influx of people seeking refuge or asylum and why not, a better future, a better life has brought us Europeans to our knees. Yet, this surge in violence is not the outcome of our own radicalization because of the immigration wave but the outcome of the radicalization of people with completely opposite political and social values (disguised as religion) who now seek our extinction! This is a challenge that for better or for worse we cannot evade. Because the complete motto is:
"Liberté, égalité, fraternité ou la mort"
We Greeks achieved our own independence with this slogan "Ελευθερία ή θάνατος"
Although this is the base of idealism, dying (or killing others for that matter) for an idea or a higher cause, I would prefer to die defending an idea than die by an act of terrorism.
The counter argument is that all wars are aggressive wars as there is always an attacking side as well as a defending one. And if history teaches us, all wars had a lower motive usually the domination of land (expanding population), a scarce resource (economy), or geopolitical influence. This time is no different.
This time, we are defending Europe!
Courage mes amis! Nous sommes tous Parisien!
This is the most terrible, the most horrific topic to write about. TERRORISM! So many people have died because of it. So little things have ever changed in its aftermath and most of the times for the worse, too. Yet, hatred dominates.
From racism to terrorism, radicalization of political thinking has brought us back in front of the monster we thought we had buried with WWII and definitely by the end of the so called "cold war", as marked by the fall of the Berlin wall. Fear! This new age of terrorism is a silent and undeclared war against humanity, against "Europe" and the values established by The Enlightenment, embodied in the tripartite motto "Liberté, égalité, fraternité".
Yet, this still remains our predominantly European (western) view of history, politics and geopolitics. But the world is not confined within the boundaries of the EU castle we have so meticulously tried to build. This has become evident with the recent refugee crisis, as millions of people flee Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, on top of millions of people fleeing Africa, because of ethnic/tribal/religious cleansing, terrorism and/or genocide.
This influx of people seeking refuge or asylum and why not, a better future, a better life has brought us Europeans to our knees. Yet, this surge in violence is not the outcome of our own radicalization because of the immigration wave but the outcome of the radicalization of people with completely opposite political and social values (disguised as religion) who now seek our extinction! This is a challenge that for better or for worse we cannot evade. Because the complete motto is:
"Liberté, égalité, fraternité ou la mort"
We Greeks achieved our own independence with this slogan "Ελευθερία ή θάνατος"
Although this is the base of idealism, dying (or killing others for that matter) for an idea or a higher cause, I would prefer to die defending an idea than die by an act of terrorism.
The counter argument is that all wars are aggressive wars as there is always an attacking side as well as a defending one. And if history teaches us, all wars had a lower motive usually the domination of land (expanding population), a scarce resource (economy), or geopolitical influence. This time is no different.
This time, we are defending Europe!
No comments:
Post a Comment
You can post your feedback or comment. Please remember to be polite and brief.