From: John Beckett 

"Antti Kurenniemi"  wrote
in message news::
> Tee hee, I always have to giggle when I see statements like that. I don't
> think there's ever been a time in the history of mankind when you couldn't
> have said "new rules for getting on in the world" and
"being nice won't work
> anymore".

Well OK. However, IMHO there really is a new phase in human development
that has started in the last 20 years or so.

Zealots have been able to delude themselves into forming armies for
centuries. The priest says "X is good and Y is bad". Then 100,000
soldiers give their lives for X, while slaughtering Y.

Technology provides a new slant to this old story. While the western
cultures get fat and comfortable, certain other cultures now have
communication, transport and weapon systems that mean 1000, or 100, or even
10 fanatics can cause major mayhem.

For 9/11, roughly 100 people spent a year planning their own deaths in a
way calculated to cause the maximum amount of horror for western culture. I
have no idea how to counter that sort of enthusiasm, but I really doubt if
being nice would help. Abandoning Israel may help, but given where we are
now, I think that concessions such as that would only increase the fervour
of the  9/11 supporters. (BTW, I do not want to abandon Israel.)

John

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