by Paul,
on 1/29/2007.

Every once in a while i stumble on an article like this one, from the NT times.

I don't know how i feel about reading these. I'm embarrassed that i'm interested in it, because it feels voyeuristic. I'm kinda glad i got a chance to read about what's going on. But being so detached from it, the only point of reference i have is war movies. But in stories like this one, the people are really dying. No actor to blur the distinction. It makes me pretty sad when i think too hard about it.

Blogger Eric said,

Why would you feel embarrassed about tyring to educate yourself about the realities of this, or any, war? I believe that we don't get enough of this kind of information because it makes people sad, which can be an "inconvenience" or "demoralizer."

I think everyone needs to be acutlely aware of the harsh realities of war -- inlcuding all the gory details. Perhaps then the choice to go to war will be a last resort rather than a pre-emptive strategy.

Blogger Paul said,

The most shameful part is that i pursue violence for entertainment (band of brothers is one of my favorite moving-picture things.) so what's to differentiate this 'real' depiction of war to a 'sorta-real' depiction i see on the tube.

You could probably make a case that our government's censorship (FCC) regulating everything EXCEPT violence is a conspiracy to make the populous okay with violence so we can fight wars and kill tens of thousands of people with minimal popular backlash.

I think people are 'okay with violence' through TV/Movies because 1. they have confronted it so often that they no longer make emotional connections with it. and 2. because they see so many 'fake' depictions of it that your brain does not confront the issue of death and violence as personal.

Blogger Paul said,

Maybe i'm just embarrassed that reading that article isn't more painful for me. That i'm not moved enough by it.

Blogger Eric said,

I agree that we are all probably jaded by violence in the media. I have enjoyed many violent movies but I don't know if that would make me more accepting of the idea of war (unless accompanied by a steady stream of patriotic propoganda).

Justification for the violence is easier for us to accept because there hasn't been a war on our hometown main street in a very long time. It's been in someone else's backyard (Europe, Asia, Middle East). Of course, I would rather have it this way than to live in a country where generation after generation knows nothing but war...

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