I have been watching the news covering the events currrently ongoing in Libya. Thankfully the Uk is evacuating its citizens as is other countries. What surprises me is the call (from some) for the west to do more and get more involved. There are two reasons why i believe this to be wrong. Firstly the past has shown us that people that we have helped in the past have sadly become enemies and aggressors further down the line. Secondly, however well intentioned the west would only be accused of being involved in something that it has no business being involved in or just trying to control the oil supplies. I feel real sympaphy for any innocent victims but hope and believe that all my government should do is protect its own people and stay out of it.
"The art of policing is, in order not to punish often, to punish severely." Napoleon
"They will permit me to walk into the gas chamber and, paradoxically, die calmly. For i have learned the hard, the lethal way to put them to work.
I earnestly submit my society can learn to reach those thousands of youngsters following in my footsteps to do the same in a much easier way, provided only if it is willing to call upon its reason and its humanity rather than its executioners and its desire to punish, punish, punish." Caryl Chessman
Is the loss of liberty punishment enough?
To punish or to reason with and attempt to change?
These questions and the answers to them seem to change with newly elected goverments, or whichever one is popular with the public, its media or psychologists of the day. The result seems to be no real direction or conviction to really sorting out which approach is correct, effective and to the benefit of society in the long term.
While watching the rescue of the 33 miners from Chile i wondered why some stories grab the attention of the media and some don't. During the time these men have been trapped and then thankfully rescued safely there have been numerous incidents with greater risk to or loss of life that hardly got any coverage at all. I concluded that it was because it was like a real life big brother situation which could make you think i am being negative about the coverage. The opposite is true, the world is devoid of emotion alot of the time, it does not fit into our busy lives these days, so when a story comes along that triggers these emotions it can only be a good thing (when the ending is a happy one). When the first miner came out his son was waiting there patiently and calmly but as soon as he saw his father come out of the tunnel he started to cry, it was so natural and real and very moving. The world really does need a happy ending from time to time, it gives people a lift even those who not directly effected.
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