“A conservative,” the wag once wrote, “is a liberal mugged by reality.”
FbL sends along a link to a Sunday Observer/Guardian Unlimited article written by Andrew Anthony, a once-proud member of the British liberal left. Anthony found his own epiphany on 9/11, and – having momentarily felt the fear of personal loss – wondered at how some of his allies perceived the meaning of the day:
A number of commentaries that articulated this response quickly began to appear in different newspapers. Perhaps the most indignant came, with impressive alacrity, on 13 September in my daily newspaper, the voice of liberal Britain, the Guardian. ‘Nearly two days after the horrific suicide attacks on civilian workers in New York and Washington,’ wrote Seumas Milne, ‘it has become painfully clear that most Americans simply don’t get it… Shock, rage and grief there has been aplenty. But any glimmer of recognition of why people might have been driven to carry out such atrocities, sacrificing their own lives in the process – or why the United States is hated with such bitterness, not only in Arab and Muslim countries, but across the developing world – seems almost entirely absent.’
One doesn’t need to work for a newspaper – though it probably helps – to realise that Milne was underselling his own speed of analytical thought. To get his piece published on the 13th meant that he would have needed to have completed it by around 6pm or 7pm on the 12th. Allowing for its considered tone, which must have been the product of several hours of sober reflection, it would be fair to assume that he would have begun writing it, at the latest, at around 2pm. In other words, at about 9am New York time. That left the Americans a whole 24 hours to absorb the shock, deal with the grief and then move on to some cold, hard self-criticism. And they flunked it.
From there Anthony spends most of his time looking inward, at home, rather than across the waters. What he finds gives him but cold comfort. A girl is attacked and, Kitty Genovese style, onlookers watch through shaded eyes, unwilling to “get involved.”
“Call the police,” is the refrain, but Anthony knows all too well that it in a modern, liberal democracy, it is the job of the constabulary to arrest criminals, not to deter them. He stands up to her attackers and for his efforts receives small thanks.
Whither then “community”? What obligations do we have to one another? In real time, I mean. Not just when the taxes are due.
Andrew Anthony doesn’t answer. But it’s a question that still needs asking.
(Note: For those who would follow links, go to section three first and then to two – they are flipped.)
He describes similar attacks happening regularly throughout Britain, which just astounds me. Maybe I have become steeped in the military world, but I just can’t wrap my brain around bystanders not doing SOMETHING. I can’t think of man among my friends who WOULDN’T intervene. Most of the women I call Friend would, too, though they might not go rushing in single-handedly.
Even for me, when I think of such a situation, I can’t imagine myself just standing by. I’d be rallying people to counter-attack en masse, screaming threats from a safe distance, pulling out or borrowing a camera/cellphone and taking their pictures, or even throwing things at them to divert their attention to me and then running like hell into a crowd if they follow. I mean, SOMETHING!! The writer got them to disperse just by yelling, so a lot can be done unarmed.
I just don’t get it… where is the care for one’s fellow beings, the humanity? Why doesn’t righteous anger well up inside them like it does me when I have dealt with an abused child or watched children pick on a classmate when I taught? (hurtful teasing in the only circumstance under which my students ever saw my eyes “blaze,” and that alone was usually enough to “scare them straight).” What is wrong with those people??!
Heh. I’m sure someone will suggest that they are simply Sheep (rather than Sheepdogs). But I think that would be an insult to true Sheep.
I don’t know Fbl, I just don’t know…
I don’t understand it and I probably never will. I have kind of schooled myself at this point, 6 years after 9-11, to not understand…
I lived in a very dangerous area for a short while. I remember throwing my young son to the ground and covering his body when gunfire erupted. I rolled him under a car. We were out to a diner to get a slice of pie… I will never forget it. I would do the same for anyone.
I just found myself wondering where he was living that he was experiencing that much crime. I’ve heard burglary was a problem, but is London really that bad these days?
Hmmm…. Not certain, but the sheep/sheepdog analogy isn’t too badly represented in this scenario. Herd animals react differently mainly based upon how fast they reproduce. If a predator attacks a flock of birds, as an example, they all run and mingle and shout alarm cries so the predator has a difficult time picking out a target. Some birds will turn and attack a predator, mainly in defense of the young. For sheep, they have no natural weapons so they pretty much just run, or even die of heart attacks on the spot in apparent sympathy. It’s truly a beast that has been domesticated beyond any ability to survive in the wild. Contrast with a deer, who will leave young behind to show herself and draw predators off, and bison who form two concentric circles around the young with the cows in the middle and the bulls at the outside facing outward. I think the only reason the sheep/sheepdog analogy found footing was because sheep are the French Poodle of the animal world, so ravaged by domestication that they no longer qualify as anything other than pet or livestock.
At one time London was the largest city in the world and had incredibly low crime. It was during this time that a gentleman never wandered about without pistol or sword, and appropriate clothing. Society embraced that, the magesty of the law along with the idea that people were to uphold the law and abide by the norms of that society. Negative social behavior was dealt with quickly. Likewise, in our own supposed “Wild West” period a fair number of folks went about armed but the crime rate was actually lower than in present-day Omaha. There’s a certain number of criminals out there, but so long as the law-abiding and law-enforcing are in greater numbers they can be dealt with. When the law-abiding and law-enforcing are separate entities, it it not long before the criminals gain the upper hand.
I’m reminded of a conversation I heard at the Buffalo Chip campground, near Stugis SD several years back. The state of SD has 800K residents, about 7% of which are legally carrying weapons and never have to use them. The rally had 600K people in an area with normally 15K people. One gentleman from out of the area opined as to how it would be easy to obtain some spending money and some beverages to quench his thirst if they went and procured same using threat of violence from a local establishment. A second voice responded, “Never mess with the locals. The Hells Angels will kill you over a bad deal, the Banditos over territory, but the locals will kill you because you’re breaking the law. It’s cheaper to just buy the beer and ride home.” I had to kind of chuckle at that, the economics of crime stated out loud at a biker rally.
– Max
FbL said: “…I just don’t get it… where is the care for one’s fellow beings, the humanity? Why doesn’t righteous anger well up inside them…”
The case of the “flying Omans” is an illustration of why people don’t want to get involved anymore. To get involved means to BE involved – from start to finish. And many times that in-between-time is filled with fear, threats, etc… My own dear Hubby – good man that he is – doesn’t even like it when I call 911 to report a drunk driver. He doesn’t want me involved.
But I’m with you FbL – how can a person NOT get involved when you see a crime being committed? It feels like my civic duty – even if it is to pick up a cell phone and report an erratic or drunk driver from the relative anonymity of my car.
Perhaps Mr. Milne – and his ilk – should examine Britain’s history before they start finger pointing at anyone else. A history of empire building didn’t make them many friends in centuries past. And before they start poking the U.S. in the eye, they should remember who helped them defeat the Nazis and Russia in WWII.