From: Damien Broderick (damienb@unimelb.edu.au)
Date: Thu Apr 10 2003 - 22:16:38 MDT
At 10:44 PM 4/10/03 -0400, Eliezer wrote:
>Why is it that US troops aren't stopping the looting? It seems like a
>very poor sign of things to come, but perhaps there is a good explanation
>I am not familiar with.
How is it that Muslims (of several varieties) are looting in the first
place? One of the claims often made in favor of nasty Islamic countries is
that `at least people respect your property'; you can leave your bag
unattended and nobody will touch it, etc. Images of thieves' hands cut off.
Maybe this restraint, if it's ever existed, is not internalized, but merely
a prudent response to the threat of authorities with a thousand eyes. Or
maybe an event of this magnitude is a cultural singularity where the usual
values go on the blink. Maybe it's situational, and people feel they're
just reclaiming what was stolen from them by the thugs in charge. (But one
hears of hospitals filled with injured and dying being looted.)
Damien Broderick
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