Against revenge
The International Re-evaluation Counseling Communities
The government of the U.S., other governments, and much of the media
are making statements aimed at generating support for policies of
revenge. This is to be expected in these circumstances, but can and
must be actively opposed if we are to end, throughout the world, the
likelihood of such attacks continuing to happen.
The destruction of the persons responsible for the terrorist acts
will not make us safe. The military punishment of small countries
with any connection to the terrorists will not make us safe. We can
easily understand the feelings that lead in these directions, indeed
we may have some of these feelings ourselves. We know, though, that
these feelings must not be acted upon, instead we must find
intelligent policies and solutions that will actually move us and the
world forward.
Desperate, destructive, irrational acts of terrorism are done by
people who have been terribly hurt by the conditions in which they
have had to exist. The conditions of life for a large fraction of
the world's population remain so very desperate, as they have been
for generations, that some of the minds of those who endure those
conditions simply lose their sense of humanity.
As long as these desperately poor, dangerously unhealthy and
oppressive conditions exist for any people in the world, we all will
be in danger of someone's irrational acts of violence. Finding and
killing those who have committed terrorist acts will stop those
individuals but it will not stop more people from the suffering that
creates such individuals.
We must develop policies that end poverty and oppression everywhere
and for everyone. We have both the intelligence to develop these
policies and the resources to carry them out. We, together, must
actively develop and pursue policies that will value every person, no
matter where they live, no matter what their religion, race, or
nationality is. This is something that we are capable of, but we
must give up the well-established pattern of life that has had
sections of the world's populations benefiting from the enforced
poverty of others. We humans have developed enough resources so that
no one needs to live in poverty. That can never provide security.
There is enough for all of us.
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The International Re-evaluation Counseling Communities
719 2nd Avenue North, Seattle, Washington 98109 USA
Telephone (206)284-0311 Fax (206)-284-8429