--In
the course of events in Iraq, I was bombarded with questions that we all are
asking whether we support the war or not. I’ve
asked myself these questions so many times I’ve forgotten the
origin. Maybe it was me or maybe it lies with the media or acquaintances.
The questions are: How did the “Middle East” and the “West” reach
this point of cultural departure? What is the source of this apparent
hatred bin Laden and al Queda have for the United States? Why have
so many Arab nations stagnated? Why are there so many
apparent similarities between Arab and Latin countries? Could it
be the seven hundred-year occupation of Spain by the Arabs? Or is
there a cultural connection that would give me a clue to their apparent
stagnation compared to “Western” powers?
--After discovering the answers I
was looking for, I found what might be a solution for the American
ghetto—our poor minorities. The same solution might be
applied in Iraq. Although it had been proven a success in the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries elevating the poor into the
middle class, it is again not authoritative and by no means the
only solution. It is merely a suggestion on a direction one could
follow. Americans have stagnated on this problem at home and
have accepted temporary fixes as permanent solutions. We, after
all, are also a developing country. To not learn and explore
is to be stagnant—for us as well.
Men's minds seemed limited to near horizons—to their
village, their city, their province, their country. Beyond that
they could not see—or chose not to see…It is for
reasons such as these that it becomes especially urgent for Americans—who
are, whether or not they wish to be, citizens of the world—to
begin to think in global terms…We must determine that
where ignorance was shall knowledge be, and the best avenue to
such an end is, of course, historical knowledge. - Jack
C. Estrin
|
