My Favorite Martian.. talking about Aggression
"Much of the good that man has done, has been undone by the aggression inflicted by him on his own kind. While he has grown in his capacity of understanding and using things around him, he remains persistently blind to his own faults. Starting from the hairy creature, emerging from the cave wielding a club thirty thousand years ago, right up to a modern Yale graduate with a nuclear arsenal at his disposal, his emotional apparatus remains practically the same." These provocative remarks came from the little green man whom I found perched up on top of my bookshelf yesterday. If men from Mars are known for their cold objectivity, this extra terrestrial (ET) lived up to the reputation. He continued: "Although cleverest amongst all the animals inhabiting the planet, why is he the only one who inflicts pain and kills his own species and destroys the environment his life depends upon? Despite being the only creature endowed with consciousness on earth, why is he incapable of introspection and self-correction?"
He went on "The only change I notice, is that the methods and forms of aggression have become more effective and sophisticated as the humankind advanced. Bullet is not the only weapon of aggression any more. You can also control the world by killing with kindness. Give clever development loans to the rulers who surrender their sovereignty to you, and let them embezzle, making their poor subjects to pay back. Save their shaky thrones in return of the resources they sell to you cheap, and allow them to tyrannize their people. Stir up revolts, proxy wars and civil commotion using covert methods, and bring down the leaders who refuse to comply with your agenda. Anybody, who fails to see aggression in the method, will see plenty of it in the results. Millions can be seen dying of hunger, malnutrition and sickness caused by poverty in failing economies. Thousands are killing each other using arms, mysteriously supplied to them from the developed world."
"You do not mention terrorism which is the burning issue today!" I wondered.
"Of course terrorism is another form of aggression outside the pale of law. It is practiced by states as well as people, and is meant to coerce each other for a political or economic end. The difference is that the states perpetrate the crime with impunity and get away with murders, while the individuals get hanged for retaliating against it", he promptly replied. "Both kill innocent people. Unless both are held accountable to justice and punished, this tit-for-tat vendetta will continue." he added.
"Terrorist groups are essentially the aggrieved people of the client states of the superpowers. Such states, by their inability to defend the interest of their own people, have effectively privatized war by default ...( Eduardo Galeano). Finding no justice at home or in any international forum, they are driven to militancy to make themselves heard. They kill and get killed, accepting punishment in advance, while telling the world that the life it offered to them was woefully not worth living. 'People versus Superpower', is a new phenomenon that has appeared after the near demise of the state in a Unipolar world. It has to be recognized and codified under an updated Geneva Convention and the International Court of Justice, which are restricted to dealing with 'State versus State' disputes. Why on earth you men cannot see the obvious? "
"I still cannot find an answer." I said hesitatingly "Every one justifies his own aggression to counter other's aggression and no one agrees on who started it. Every war is claimed to be in the interest of peace. I suggest you read these highly respected scholars who have spent their lifetime in investigating the human mind and behavior. Perhaps tomorrow morning we can resume our dialogue."
The Martian had assimilated all that was offered with his supersonic perception, and was ready with his comments the next morning:
"I find different scholars addressing the issue from different points of view. One is the instictivist school, founded by Darwin and led by ethologists like Konrad Lorenz and Desmond Morris. They believe that aggression is innate in animals, including humans, which was developed as a useful instinct during evolution. In the wild, it was used for defending territory and improvement of the species by selection, but never for killing members of the same species. However, social inhibitions and controls of the organized human society, have subsequently distorted this natural urge to destructiveness. This can be corrected by channeling the instinct into constructive activities through a new approach of education, sublimation and imprinting rational responsibility on the mind of the child. The youth, as they question the old values of their parents' generation, can be made aware of the new challenges faced by the mankind and their militant enthusiasm directed towards resolving them. So far, the demagogues have been tapping their energies to serve their vested interests. "
"The behaviorist school, led by the B. F. Skinner on the other hand, denies existence of aggressive instincts and believe that human behavior is a product of the social conditioning that man undergoes while growing up in his society. Accordingly, behavior can be changed, 'by changing the conditions of which it is a function'. A 'technology of behavior' need to be developed that will use positive reinforcement to recondition human behavior. That can lead to a new culture, where greater good of others becomes a virtue and pure self interest a sin. "
"Erich Fromm, a great mind in contemporary philosophy, finds these approaches reductionist, and based exclusively on either the 'hardware' aspect of nature or the 'software' of nurture. What they altogether ignore are those great qualities, which make man stand out amongst animals. Although accusing man of killing his own kind, they have not given him the credit of laying down his own life for the love of others, a non-instinctual act for any animal. It is not an urge to kill, but love for life that is man's true socio-biological heritage, which is lost in the acquisitive distortions of modern times. It has to be rediscovered and nourished trough genuine freedom and doing away with all forms of exploitative controls. That would need radical changes in the existing social and political structures that are responsible for tolerating and even promoting the destructive aggression that the world suffer from."
"The rationalists like Bertrand Russell warn that the technology of mass killing has excelled to a level of terminal efficiency and puts the future of mankind at stake. The existing political forms are obsolete and unable to avert the catastrophe. Reason is the human attribute that opened up the doors of knowledge. It can be used for banishing war as effectively as it was employed for developing weapons of mass destruction. A number of centuries-old enemies in Europe have succeeded in seeing the last of wars, by deciding to pool up their dignity, freedom and resources instead of fighting over them. There is no reason why, peace zones like the European Union cannot be replicated and eventually consolidated to cover the entire world. The answer lies in working towards a World Government with universal disarmament of the state, which can be built upon the foundation of the United Nations." "So what is your conclusion", I asked earnestly.
"Although your scholars may differ on the roots of aggression, they all agree that its fruits have turned poisonous. What passed for a sovereign right so far, may clash with the well being of the world. If some nation continue to pollute excessively, that will result in an environmental disaster of global magnitude. If they build nuclear arsenals to demand subjugation from the rest of the world, a surprise retaliation may make the planet inhabitable. Nations have to re-learn living together as a world community, the same way as the individuals learnt to live in a civil society. Each one having the right to property, but accepting punishment for depriving others of the same; allowed to grow strong, but barred from intimidating the weak; free to accumulate wealth, but surrendering portion of it for the less fortunate. They must be held accountable to international justice and submit to its verdict the same way as people abide by the laws they frame in order to live in peace, or indeed live at all. This calls for shedding the old culture of rule of the strongest to a new one of rule of law."
I could see a ray of hope but had seen enough of torment inflicted by man over man, not to jump to conclusion, and asked: "But who on earth is going to design the new culture and when?"
"Luckily the dream of Utopia is not as alien to man, as I am to you " added the ET with a glint in his eyes "and new culture is part of it. At present the profit- makers dominate the scene, and they have made a virtue of consumption and acquisition, which necessitates unwarranted exploitation of human and natural resources. Culture is nobody's monopoly, it is a drama written by its own actors who change the plot as it is played out. The designers of a postmodern culture are already there and can be seen at work rallying for world peace, human rights, and poverty alleviation in the world capitals and in their respective fields of action. Some soft pedal their message of love and peace in the dreams of humanity ---- the mothers who sing lullabies of flowers and fairies to beautify the imagination of their young ones; the story -tellers, the poets and the artists whose creativity gives birth to awareness of life and compassion, and the teachers who nurture the minds in their charge to help them decide in favor of peace when war seem imminent; and the promoters of sports and inventors of games who offer outlet to emotions and training to young minds. Others are the enthusiasts ---- the scholars who devote their lives in discovering the cause and effect of human behavior; the scientists who foretell the ugly consequences of aggression, the citizen who refuses to buy from a polluter and the exploiter, and the law-makers who contrive barriers against covert oppression. Last but not the least, are the youthful militants of peace, who question the decadent values of domination and challenge the mightiest on their faces ---- against their designs of invading weaker nations; for what they are doing to the environment of the world and economies of the underdeveloped nations; and for what they are not doing for the starving masses around the world. Millions like you must identify yourselves with them, get organized to dethrone the culture of selfish and exploitative nationalism and replace it with the mission of global well being. The citizens of the world need to join these designers of new culture, to support and encourage them to gather momentum and to win."
Before I could interject "But..." The Martian had disappeared, perhaps to prod another confused mind into action.
The author is an independent commentator based in Karachi, Pakistan
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TX
I have desired to post my opinion because I feel that we, humans, need to understand about ourselves. What we are doing, destroying other people's lives just for something else that is not even worth the situation is completely negative. And one thing that makes me even more stunned is that the Canadians are also supporting America to conquer the battle. I, myself, am a Canadian but I feel that we should not reach out for the American's hands to support them. Is this our fight? No, it's between the American's and Iraq and other known countries. I was taught in school that if you are a bully's friend and he asks you to help him fight his enemy for whatsoever reason, then you should never agree to that situation. If this is what Canada has taught me and other fellow educated people, then why are we committing the same problem that Canada has taught us to solve? But not only that, Allah has stated in the Qur'an that he created every human being equally, which is from mud and clay....but from his creation...some of the mud and clay were soft, hard, white, brown, tan, etc. The only biggest problem in the world is coping with other humans the same way that we want to be treated and how Allah wants us to be? Do you think that anything will go wrong if we stick to the Qur'an, Allah's message, and our prophet's message?(peace be uppon him) This is defenitly a simple question and a simple answer. I believe that most of the people in the world have dirty hearts which needs to be purified by words from Allah and his best messengers. We are fighting the way a dumb animal would fight....without seeing what we are doing, we are creating major sins that needs to be understood and repented. We are all equal, brother's and sisters, and yet we kill and destroy many people's lives, without knowing how awful their pain and suffering would be like. Inshallah, if pure hearted humans die, they will feel no pain. Thank You!
Masud Taher
age
http://www.bangla2000.com/mboard/vbulletin.asp?ID=1730
I do not claim to know the veracity of these statements but they are highly interesting. I also find it ironic that the US knew of Saddam's atrocities long ago (and most were peformed prior to 1991)and turned a blind eye to them. If they cared so much about the Iraqi people why did they not help them then? The US also supplied much of the chemical agents to Iraq that were used against Iran. So when he did their bidding, he was allowed dispensation for his actions. However, now he is being called to the carpet for deeds performed 15 years ago. Now that it suits US interests, we have decided to stop him. Truth be told, UN sanctions have crippled that country probably as much (if not more) than his oppressive regime. This does not excuse Saddam, but it pains me to see Muslims and human beings in general, line up in support for such an untimely and misappropriated show of force and aggression. And it pains me more to see the Muslims begging for assistance from non-Muslims, just like in Muslim Spain, instead of joining together, and taking care of our own dirty laundry.
As Salaamu alaikum
How can I contact S.A. Abidi?
Best greetings and keep courage.
my dear brother in islam i read yuor news builten.
iam very happy that yuo send to me very best knowledge.
thank you
yours brother in islam
shafi ur Rahman falahi
iam in short of word to express my joy on the you are rendering to me and other muslim brotherss all over the world ican only say 'jazakumullahukhair'more grace to your ellbow keep up the good work of spreading the true religion see you in jannat in shaallah.
This piece is highly intellectual and profoundly philosophical. It is one the best pieces I've ever read in my entire life and hope to read more with the believe that, this world would understand them...and act accordingly.
Masalaam.
inshaallah you are in best health to my brothers/sisters reading kindly my comments.
i would just like to say i think it is wonderful how you take the time to send us brilliant newsletters,i appreciate it so much i do really believe ALLAH is so happy with you.
thankyou my friends
khuda hafiz.
my wishes ,thanks and walmest regards to your actiona in the name of our almighty.
Adiba Khan-converted sister.
Jay Howard
The Religious Research Project
This is the revolt of Shayaateens (Evils & Jinns).
Probably a "dajjaal messiah".
The Kaafirs cannot see their world (A'laam-e-misaal).
The believers understand these plots very well. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
113: 1. Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the Dawn
113: 2. From the mischief of created things;
113: 3. From the mischief of Darkness as it overspreads;
113: 4. From the mischief of those who practise secret arts;
113: 5. And from the mischief of the envious one as he practises envy.
Ameen
makes your ideas clearer in Several Dimensions.
S.All.a Th.ank All.a U.
It is the individuals who have to take the steps. As Muslims we believe, I will stand before the Lord on the day of Judgement and be asked, of my deeds. Not what someone else has done, but what my reaction was. Not how someone else reacted, but how I tried to stop oppression.
If everyone tried to change, what they had control over, rather than worry over what they cannot change, then there would indeed be a enormous change, (Inshallah) for the better.
Consider all those youths who join the armies of the World, if they refused to fight or even join in the first place. Would there be armies to wage wars?
The unfortunate part is I believe that everybody on the top knows the issues...so what is left to happen is a major catastrophe and then start to pick up the threads from there...Oh God will we never learn?....
We must trust in God but we also must tie our camels. If not what happens to our camel is our fault.