21 June 2008

American vs Human Life

Shylock, the despised Jew in The Merchant of Venice, passionately points out to the Christian elite the ridiculous nature of thinking that one group of people is superior or inferior to another: “I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands,organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, heal'd by the same means, warm'd and cool'd by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die?” The culmination of the hatred meted out to the Jews was the holocaust. There are many other examples throughout history where a self-proclaimed superior race has killed thousands and millions of other people whom they deemed to be inferior. We know this has happened; we study it in our history classes. This superiority is a trait which is most often found amongst the empires and super-powers of the world. The British were clearly guilty of it, as were the Mongols, Ottomans, Romans and so on. Surely now, in an age of education, rationality and reason, we have learned from history and are not making the same mistakes all over again… right?

On the 26th May I listened to Start the Week on Radio 4. Robert Kagan, the chief advisor for John McCain, was on the programme discussing his new book. The discussion turned to the war in Iraq and Neil Labute, a fellow American and play-write, asked the following question: “Have things really gone as badly as projected?... Is there some sense that we look at 4000 dead and say ‘those are acceptable losses actually, in a war that has gone on for five years.’? Any other war that you mention, that we have been a part of, the numbers have been astronomical compared to that.” Did he just say 4000 dead? Knowing instantly that the death toll in Iraq was way above that I decided to do some digging… this is what I found.

The initial figure of 4000 was easy to find. At the time the interview was recorded a total of 4385 coalition forces had been killed in the Iraq war and occupation. As far as I remember from my maths classes, if you are going to round this number in any way, especially as it represents lives, the figure should be rounded up to 4500. So, why would the figure be rounded down to 4000? Well, if you subtract from 4385 the number of dead soldiers who were not in the US army the figure becomes 4075. The two Americans on the programme were judging the war according to the amount of American life lost! What about the other soldiers who have given their lives? What about the reporters who have been killed? What about the Iraqi civilians? When assessing the effectiveness of the war, shouldn’t these things be brought into consideration?

Let us consider just one of these; the acceptability of the war as regards civilians. There are, in just war theory, two ways in which a war can be considered just or unjust. The first is jus ad bellum or the justice of war. A war may be deemed to be just in this way if there is good reason for declaring war. This is (or has been until recently) limited to acts of international aggression or internal genocide on the part of a head of state or powerful aggressor. The war in Afghanistan, by this definition, may be considered just, whilst (and I hope we are beyond debating this point) the war in Iraq is clearly in breech of this parameter. The second measure of a just war is jus in bello or justice in war. This is judged by the way in which warring factions act within a war. Justice in this regard is achieved by focussing violence towards the military force of the aggressor and should limit any collateral damage. Even when ignoring the countless atrocities committed by the US and coalition forces against the people of Iraq it is clear to see how the war in Iraq is unjust in terms of jus in bello. The number of civilians violently killed in Iraq since 2003 as a result of the war is contestable. Moderate estimates place the figure between 80 and 150,000. The Lancet study suggests a much higher figure of 601,027 with a further 53,938 dying as result of poor healthcare and infrastructure; a less well published negative impact of war. This report, however, has received huge criticism for placing the figure so much higher than any other agency. Because of this I can’t really use their figures but why would I? After all, the Lancet is only one of the oldest and most historically accurate and reliable medical journals in the world. One thing that the Lancet did report which has not been contested is that at least 31% of the violent deaths are attributed to the coalition forces. Only 24% have been linked to ‘the enemy’ and the rest, reported as ‘unknown,’ would likely be distributed fairly evenly between the two.

Given this information is there any way that we can judge the war in Iraq to be acceptable? Can we say that the war on terror has been a measured response to the terrorist threat? Everything from the decision to declare war on Iraq to the attitude of the Soldiers and the disrespect they have meted out to Iraqi civilians demonstrates the danger of having a powerful nation which believes it is superior to the rest of the world. When researching the exact number of people who died in the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre I found the following:

TOTAL COUNT 2,976
minus foreigners - 236
AMERICANS 2,740

I just love how the font size and use of capitals changes to denote significance. While we are doing a bit of maths let me share with you a calculation I have made. If we take 115,000 (as a conservative estimate for the number of Iraqi civilians killed since 2003 because of the war), divide it by 100 and multiply it by 31 to work out the absolute minimum number of civilians killed by the US led coalition (35,650) then divide that by 6841 (the number of Americans killed in the World Trade Centre attacks plus the number of US soldiers killed so far in Iraq) we emerge with the number 5.2. The life of an Iraqi civilian, therefore, is valued at a fifth of an American life… the same value placed upon black slaves in America at the time of Independence.

Just as it is hard to blame the individual Christian for the hatred they felt towards the Jews, it is clear that American pride and superiority is the result of years of propaganda. If you preach and teach and promote and sell and defend and ‘prove’ a point enough, eventually a whole nation can be convinced that a lie is true. This, however, does not remove that nation from the consequences of its attitude and resultant actions. Shylock went on to say, “And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The Villainy you teach me I will execute; and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.” Empires rise when a people erroneously believe that they are superior to the rest of the world and use that belief to claim their dominance. It is this same illusion of superiority which eventually turns the rest of the world against, and leads to the downfall of, an empire. This process, however, as is clear with the collapsing empire of the USA, often claims the lives of many innocent people.

14 June 2008

Man's Best Friend

The alien spacecraft have positioned themselves over the world’s key cities. People flee in their millions. In Los Angeles Will Smith’s girlfriend sits in traffic as the alien ship opens a hatch and launches its weapon: a high-energy beam of light which triggers a radiating surge of seemingly never-ending flame. Seeing the devastating explosion approaching in her rear-view mirror, Smith’s girlfriend grabs her child and dashes into the tunnel ahead. She manages to kick down a maintenance door and hide inside. With the few seconds she has between kicking down the door and the flames reaching her she could have herded as many of the thousands of people about to experience a fiery death into her miraculously safe hiding hole. What does she decide to do?


That’s right. We are all familiar with this scene from Independence Day. In the moment when a single person could have saved scores of human lives this person decides to save the life of her dog… and didn’t we all breathe a sigh of relief when we saw that the dog was safe and paid little or no thought to the countless human lives just lost? What relevance does this have to real life, you may be asking. Well, let me postulate.

We (the UK) own more than 7.3 million dogs! The cost of keeping a dog reaches thousands of pounds a year, yet we do it. Why? My Father’s wife has correctly noticed that not only are his dogs his best friends, they are his only friends. My in-laws have a beautiful golden retriever which has become part of the family, so much so that he is often included in family photos. What is wrong with this, you may ask. Well, in these two cases, probably nothing. My Father’s dogs not just his only friends, they are his guard dogs… he has 2 Rottweiler protecting his property in a remote part of South Africa. The money spent on my in-laws dog is easily over-shadowed by the money they donate to charitable causes. These justifications, however, are the exception rather than the rule. Most people own dogs as a luxury rather than as a necessity and pay out huge amounts of money in ensuring their dog’s well-being. It is often these same people who shudder at the thought of parting with any of their well-earned cash in the support of another human being through charitable organisations. Does this not make them just as accountable for the death and suffering of others as is the character from Independence Day described above? So why do we do it?

We develop an attachment to our animals. They are loveable pets with unique characters and we think of them as almost human. There is nothing wrong with this but surely there is something wrong with feeling less attached to others of our same species than we do to our pets. The philosopher Lecky described human concern as an expanding circle. We are initially concerned with our own well-being, then with that of our family, our class, our nation, neighbouring nations and then all humanity. Only when we are concerned about and engaged in ensuring the welfare of all of these should we then concern ourselves with protecting animal life. This seems to make sense to me but what is apparent is that many, mostly within affluent nations, have taken the final priority, animal life, and placed it after their family and before any other human-being. Despite our exposure to the poverty and suffering in the world (to which we belong and for which we are responsible) through the media we manage to feel sorrow but few of us feel any attachment or responsibility. Yet we are willing to create unnecessary attachments to and accept responsibility for a creature less worthy of our attention. While I do not doubt that animals have feelings I know that the thoughts and feelings of a human-being are deeper, more complex and more important than that of any other animal. While there is nothing wrong with forming emotional attachments to animals, such as dogs, can the time, effort and money expended on these animals be justified if we do any less for our own species, especially those who have little opportunity to raise themselves above the suffering of poverty?

Peter Singer, a philosopher from Australia (I hope I am not the only one who was pleasantly surprised that such a combination existed) uses the analogy of a drowning child to portray our responsibility to each other. He asks us to imagine we are walking to university or work and we see a child drowning in a shallow pond. Does the fact that there are others who could help closer to the pond than you are make your responsibility to help any less? No. Does the fact that you will get muddy and wet and no-doubt be late for work/university justify your inaction? Of course not. You are obliged to do all within your power to help that child. For a relatively insignificant cost on your part (soggy shoes, muddy trousers and an hour or so missed at work) you are able to make a hugely significant change in the life of another.

Independence Day may be fiction but there is some reality to it. We seem to value animal life more highly than we value human life. The cost of keeping a dog is significant yet 22% of British households decide to make that sacrifice. The cost of funding the digging of wells, the building of sanitation facilities, the teaching of effective irrigation practices, all of which preserve human life, is relatively insignificant yet we are reluctant to part with our money for such projects. I know/hope that I am not the only one who thinks that it is strange and immoral that some people are less likely to part with their money to benefit the life of another human being than they are to keep a pet.

30 May 2008

Recycling Regulation

If laws against murder were abolished today do you think we would witness an increase of homicides? I really don’t think so. I cannot imagine that anyone I know, or whom I have ever met, would suddenly say, “Great! Now I can kill that bloke next door who insists on mowing his lawn ridiculously early every Saturday morning!” That is just not how we are wired. The vast majority of people refrain from murder because it is wrong, not because there is a law stopping them from doing so. If laws were the only thing determining our actions we would see people keeping to 70mph on the motorway and that just doesn’t happen!

Laws act as barriers but what I would argue is that there are already in place natural barriers which act to shape behaviour. For instance, we know that murder is wrong. This knowledge is called conscience. We know that going too fast is dangerous but we also know that at times travelling at 80mph is no more dangerous than travelling at 70mph. This knowledge is called common-sense. These are natural barriers and are apparent in all of us. These two things not only stop us from doing what is wrong but they also help us to do what is right. What is evident, however, is that both conscience and common-sense can be and often are eroded away, even to the point that some people justify murder and others think it is a good idea to drive at ridiculous speeds at inappropriate times and in inappropriate places.

What has any of this to do with recycling? Well, a short but true story may help to explain:

My Wife started working as a secretary in an office about 18 months ago. When she arrived she found that no recycling system had been established. She promptly set about placing a bin under each desk specifically for paper waste. As often as necessary she would empty these bins and at the end of each week would bring the waste-paper home. Some of it was good quality and printed just on one side which we kept and used as scrap. The rest would fit quite happily into our large recycling wheelie-bin which only ever reached a quarter full with our recyclable household waste. Not so long ago my Wife’s office was visited by a no-doubt highly paid government official promoting the local council’s recycling program. He asked who was responsible for the recycling to which my Wife explained that she was. She was told that she was breaking the law and must stop immediately and if the company wanted to recycle they must do it through a registered recycling company.

Environmentalism is a wonderful thing. Whether or not we can slow climate change by decreasing our dependency on carbon is actually irrelevant. We should all be getting involved in ‘saving the planet’ because it is the right thing to do. This is why I was so pleased to see government and NGOs working so hard in this country (and around the world) to promote, encourage and facilitate ‘green’ projects such as recycling. This encouragement is exactly what is needed. It has proven difficult, however, to turn 100% of people on to ideas such as recycling: we don’t have the time because our lives are consumed with work; we are fed misinformation about the importance of recycling (by powerful entities which would no-doubt suffer from a green society) and so on. What I simply cannot understand, given these corrosive, man-made barriers to doing what is right, is why in the world a law would be passed making it even harder to do the right thing! My Wife recognises the moral duty and common-sense of recycling and, acting on the encouragement and facilities provided to her, she did what she knew was right and turned a whole office eco-friendly! Unfortunately, legislation has reared its ugly head and created an unnecessary barrier for people to do the right thing.

We have the capacity to know right from wrong and act accordingly. Unfortunately, the world is full of corrupting elements which encourage us to act contrary to our conscience and common-sense. Legislation may have a place in controlling these forces but where it most certainly has no place is dictating what we should and shouldn’t do. Things which are universally good should be encouraged but not forced. Conversely, things which are bad should be discouraged but trying to force people not to do these things is futile. We have laws against murder yet people still do it. We would find it far more rewarding to focus our efforts on encouraging good and discouraging bad actions rather than trying to solve everything with new laws.

I know this has turned into a bit of an ideological rant but it is important. We should never be discouraged from doing what is right! Please join with me and write to your local authority calling for a de-regulation of recycling practices and any other thing you feel is discouraging us from doing the right thing.

23 May 2008

Motorised Mosquitoes

Have you ever been woken by the distinct humming of a mosquito in the middle of the night? At first you try to ignore it but it drifts closer and closer to your face until you can take it no longer. In that moment you will do whatever is required to kill the annoyance. In a similar vein I hope that I am not alone in fantasising about taking a baseball bat to the helmets of moped riders as they pass through my neighbourhood in the early hours of the morning. As I lay there, sleepless from the incessant humming that seems to ring through my head long after the bike has passed on, I imagine myself going to a sports shop and asking for a baseball bat. I specifically do not want a cricket bat as I may be tempted to use that for actually playing cricket. The baseball bat would be solely for the purpose of whacking moped riders in the helmet, in the hope that I might knock some sense into their hollow heads, because why else would one want a baseball bat if not for committing retributive acts of violence?

Luckily for my would-be victims I am a pacifist. That is not to say that I think that their desire to own such an icon of anti-social behaviour is justified. In my sleepless state, once I have put off more violent thoughts, I hear cars drift along the main road and wonder why these adolescent moped riders can't just wait until they are responsible and old enough to own a car! Cars are much safer, more fun, very useful and they are quiet enough to not disturb my slumber as they pass, at much higher speeds than mopeds, along the main road. I live 6 miles from Heathrow Airport and the gigantic jumbo-jets, which fly all through the night, do not disturb me!

As I mentioned earlier, these riders are teenagers. I was a teenager only 4 years ago and I only knew two people who owned mopeds. Yes, moped ownership is a relatively recent phenomenon for the youths of the UK. It now seems that every Tesco car park comes equipped with a gang of moped riders. They are mostly boys but can be seen sharing their cigarettes with girls in bomber jackets wearing big hooped earrings. Now, don't get me wrong, I am all for freedom... but that is exactly why I have an objection. Who decided that a teenager’s right to have a social life that extends beyond the realms of what is healthy is more important than my right to sleep?


When I was a social teenager I would get on my bike and pedal my way to whatever party or gathering was going on. Then when it was over I would ride home again! I probably travelled greater distances then than people do now on their mopeds and I did so in relative silence. This practice has, on reflection, benefited me physically and spiritually. It helped me to get regular exercise and expose myself to moments of self-reflection and meditation. Neither of these are available on the back of a motorised mosquito.

Although I could make all sorts of sweeping statements about the correlations between moped ownership and a plethora of negative social impacts, such as teenage obesity, gang violence, family breakdown and so on (all of which have a degree of credibility) my point is far more simple than that. Youth is a wonderful time when one has a fair amount of disposable income and time. It is also a time when a good night’s sleep is not essential to survival. Just as I would not deprive them of their Reebok Classics, Kappa tracksuits (or whatever ridiculous fashions it is they wear now) and wasted evenings hanging around bus stops, is it really too much to ask to not be deprived of my sleep?

Another disturbed night’s sleep has left me questioning my status as a pacifist. Luckily, once again, for the knights of the motorised mosquito there is a further barrier to me attacking them... I have neither the time nor the money to get to a sports shop and buy my weapon of choice for their punishment.