Comments on: Hating America

By: Don Quijote

Don Quijote — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 01:06:30 +0000

The question is, what would America have to do to an individual person for us to say, “that person is justified in hating America”?

It all depends...

If I was a Guatemalan whose democratically elected government was overthrown by the US and who witnessed his country go through thirty years of civil war and the genocide of Indians, I would have a damn good reason to hate America.

If I was a Nicaraguan who had witnessed the successfully overthrow a US backed dictatorship, who had watched the US fund and train the Contras with the goal of reinstating a US backed dictatorship through the use of terror & death-squads I would have a damn good reason to hate America.

If I was a Salvadorian who had witnessed the US funding and training right wing death-squads with the goal of keeping a US backed dictatorship in power, I would have a damn good reason to hate America.

If I was a Chilean who had witnessed the US overthrowing a legitimately elected government and funding and training a secret police (DINA) with the goal of keeping a US backed dictatorship in power, I would have a damn good reason to hate America.

If I was an Iranian who had witnessed the US overthrowing a legitimately elected government and funding and training a secret police (SAVAK) with the goal of keeping a US backed dictatorship in power, I would have a damn good reason to hate America.

By: runasim

runasim — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:49:52 +0000

Except that the word 'hate' takes the discussion up a notch, this is closely related to whiltlebower rights, questions about the right to secede, the dissoultion of countries into separate entities, disobeying orders ehen they're morally reprehensible, and so on.
Sometimes doing the 'right ' thing is the wrong thing and vice-versa.

By: runasim

runasim — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:31:25 +0000

It's an excellent observation about the detainees. It's about consequendesl

What US policies often lack is the ability to understand and calculate in how the movie plays through the eyes of the enemy (real or potential).
Many a war, as well as political fight, could be avoided if we honed up on that art.

Of course, there are those who consider it treason to even talk like that., more fools they..

By: Lynx

Lynx — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:04:31 +0000

“does years of extra-legal detention in an isolated prison where innocent people are tortured qualify?”

Uhhmm YES! Hell, I bet the torture happiest “lets getim Terrists” you can find in the darkest corner of the blogosphere would end up hating America if he were imprisoned and tortured for several years by his government and on top of it saw that many Americans think it's just fine because “he's a terrorist”.

By: ChrisWWW

ChrisWWW — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:55:00 +0000

It's pretty much impossible to deny that someone would be acting illogically if they hated America after being wrongly detained and tortured.

The murkier question is what that understandable hatred entitles you to. What forms of retribution are morally justified?