when they fail to condemn and hunt down the so called violation of their so called beliefs then I have no choice to consider that they encourage them.

Likewise, when a hellfire missle or a US made 2000lb bomb “falls” on a building in Gaza, they—the other side—might have no other choice but consider that we—the innocent taxpayers—might be encouraging things.

I really, really, REALLY like the Monkeysphere meme, because it’s so right on the money that (IMO) it should be considered “Philosophy (Simplified)”

PS: You know what the workaround for Dunbar’s number is? To consciously be misanthropic enough so that there’s always room to accommodate someone abstract in your 150 when the rage strikes you.

You might want to read a little wider.

2. I agree with DOF.  9/11 was different.  Nuff said.

I think a better reaction than the fear, confusion, anger, and other responses would have been, how can we keep this from happening?  And actually thought about it, rather than assume we must attack them back.  Killing terrorism is a little more complex than dropping bombs.

To question 2; it’s because it was deliberate intent.  It wasn’t people being killed on the highway, or a large number of individual murders, it was 19 people murdering almost three thousand people in a leveraged attack, with tremendous economic impact and the promise of much more. 

I am not nearly as frightened by the 9/11 attack as I am by the unreasoning rage it has brought out in nearly everyone.  We have squandered our moral high ground in the search for the illusion of security.

9/11 is now a unit of measure, like “fully loaded 747s crashing” or “Columbines”.  As in; “The US death toll from smoking is 130 9/11s”.

We have a general population growth of about 7,400 people in the US every day. Some are born, some immigrate legally, some illegally jump the fence.

But day-in, day-out, it adds roughly 7,400 per day.

So we lost 3,000 people one day. Yes, it’s poignant. It’s filled with pathos. The TV was VERY dramatic. Many people showed great gravitas….

But again, …7,400 each day.

Folks there’s a glut of human capital out there. I don’t even blink that we had 30,000 domestic gunshot deaths last year. Or however many car deaths.

I watched the whole 9/11 thing for about 24 hrs. Have a TV right here next to my workstation so caught it all—from the first hit, to the public saying, “Where the f*ck’s the president anyway?”. To the wee hours the next day.

I guess, I’m surprised by the general reaction. It’s not that I’m heartless; but I didn’t know these people, and we all die. It’s not like dying is a unique event. You’re headed down that road too.

So my question is thus:

1. Am I a prick for not being as moved as many apparently are?

2. Why are the rest of you so moved over 9/11? TV coverage? Empathy? Proper framing? Nationalism? It seems to transcend political orientation.

Human pysche seems to dictate that we don’t just lay down, but instead we get up and defend ourselves.

Which explains why so many people want to start lobbing nukes in the general direction of people who have the same religion as the 9/11 attackers.  However counterproductive that might be. 

I don’t mean to diss Cajun here – lots of people feel that way.  Who didn’t, for varying periods of time after 9/11? 

Human nature is what it is.  But it is also a danger to us.  As Gandhi said, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”.  It is not fuzzy idealism, it is a starkly practical warning.