07-23-2003, 10:45 PM
... but the answer is always synthesis.
When two forces oppose each other, the positives almost always emerge when they combine to form something positive, rather than locking horns in permanent opposition. Israel/Palestine could be a model of cooperation in the middle east, an exemplar for progress for the decrepit regimes surrounding it. Israel certainly represents a higher level of democracy; that could be a tremendous positive if it could be shared or taught, rather than lorded over the Arabs, or used to justify hostilities.
I don't think history has shown that permanent opposition has ever created progress. Quite the contrary, I think its most successful moments have been when cooperation, moderation and tolerance have moved forward, for one reason or another. It was the Marshall plan, and not the Treaty of Versailles, that liberated Europe form centuries of infighting. My own country failed worst when various groups tried to dominate, or to separate, in an attempt to squelch pluralism and diversity. The successes have almost always come from the most synthetic solutions.
Magnanimity is almost always the first step. The powerful must willingly yield to the weak, not out of ethics, but out of practicality. It is the only first step that works.
Jester
When two forces oppose each other, the positives almost always emerge when they combine to form something positive, rather than locking horns in permanent opposition. Israel/Palestine could be a model of cooperation in the middle east, an exemplar for progress for the decrepit regimes surrounding it. Israel certainly represents a higher level of democracy; that could be a tremendous positive if it could be shared or taught, rather than lorded over the Arabs, or used to justify hostilities.
I don't think history has shown that permanent opposition has ever created progress. Quite the contrary, I think its most successful moments have been when cooperation, moderation and tolerance have moved forward, for one reason or another. It was the Marshall plan, and not the Treaty of Versailles, that liberated Europe form centuries of infighting. My own country failed worst when various groups tried to dominate, or to separate, in an attempt to squelch pluralism and diversity. The successes have almost always come from the most synthetic solutions.
Magnanimity is almost always the first step. The powerful must willingly yield to the weak, not out of ethics, but out of practicality. It is the only first step that works.
Jester