| on the middle east |
[Mar. 24th, 2002|05:58 pm]
matt
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im on the plane to minnesota, reading the economist, and the following thoughts come to mind what a shame that the middle east would sacrifice the very bright but misguided youths of 9/11. these were skilled tacticians and had the talent to be pilots, they could have created much value in their life but chose to die. i feel i understand the middle east better - the wealth and lack of things to do creates insufferable boredom and out of it rises people like osama bin laden who are just looking for opportunity. we dont have that sense of boredom, with middle class debt over our heads. our dependence on oil fuels their wealth and rots their sense of struggle. they dont want for mtv as we do- they lead a life that may not have the trappings of wealth such as i might have here in nyc but rather a better life relative to their fathers.
im also thinking about the catholic church scandal. the church was at one time a place for the best and brightest but as it became fat and complacent and lost touch it lost the soul of people like me who could have brought their skill to bear in a modern world. priests should do what i do - consult, travel, teach.
boredom and complacency are the great evils of our time. it encourages hippieish transcendental navel gazing and excessive introspection, like was my youthful downfall, or drugs, or dependence on psychotherapy, or cultism. saudi arabia, for what it is worth, suffers exactly the same problem as england- too much doley scum , i feel deep down but hesitate to say. its a different kind, mind you, these princes of saud, but theyre doley scum nonetheless.
anyway, enough idle chat. back to reading and off to austin minnesota, spamtown usa. be seeing you! |
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