On hatred and love and Norway
Mar. 21st, 2003 08:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
misscamI got a review recently - about OFUM of course - remarking how I hated George Bush with a pure, burning passion. It's not like it's very hard to pick up on my dislike for the Git. Spend five minutes in conversation with me and you're bound to pick it up. But do I hate him?
It's quite easy to delcare hatred, isn't it? In most cases it doesn't run nearly deep enough. It does take a lot of passion to hate someone rather than just disliking them. And somewhere between those two is loathing. Until quite recently I think the Shrub was merely loathed by me. It's not just that he stands for everything I don't in so many ways - I have a great deal of respect for many people I utterly disagree with. Bush, however, *embodies* much of what I will passionatly fight against. For one, he is a Republican. I am on the other side of the spectrum by far, growing up in the social democracy of Norway. We're already off to a clash of opinions here. He is also a Christian fundamentalist, and like many fundamentalists he scares me. (I mean no offence to those of faith - I know many gracious, giving people of faith. But fundamentalism scares the bejeesus out of me). His idea of Good and Evil, Black and White, Against or With us, seems to be so dangerous applied to the world. There is but shades of grey. In many cases, we see only black and white beacause we wish to. It's so simple, isn't it?
And yet so terribly dangerous. The US is not good. France is not good. I am not good. Most of us are just doing the best we can, living our lives not wholly of good, not wholly of evil. (Note the most. I do believe there are exceptions) Then there's the death penalty. Bush as Texas governor allowed more executions than any other governor. I oppose the death penalty under all cirumstances (matter of principle. If I say it's all right under some cirumstances, I am being rather hypocritical). There are many reasons for it, I won't go into them all.
He has shown little knowledge for the world outside the US. And really, without knowledge of it, can you love it? How I am to believe you care for the people of Iraq when you seem to care little for the people of Sudan, engaged in a bloody civil war as we speak? What of the people of Burma? Afghanistan? Chetchenia? The US seem to set itself up as some benign world policeman, and I just can't believe it.
There are many, any reasons why I would loathe George W. Bush then (I have more than the ones listed, they are merely examples). But do I hate him?
I came to the rather startling discovery that I do indeed the other day. He was adressing the American people, just having launched the war on Iraq, and I had to turn the telly off. I stomped out of the house and stood in the bright sunlight of Brisbane and realised I hated him. Not just dislike or loathing - hatred. I felt rather ugly about it. It's not a very nice thing, after all, but then, humans are not very nice creatures.
All I can say for myself is that I do not hate him lightly. I have no wish to hate him. I don't hate Howard, for instance, who has been the target of my ire as well quite frequently and a much more personal level than Bush (Tampa incident, for instance). Only once before have I felt this - personal, I guess - hatred. When 15 year old Benjamin was stabbed to death in Norway on a cold January night, his crime being of African decent. His killer was a neo Nazi. I felt that day such unimaginable hatred and anger, twisting my very heart. But when they finally sentenced the killers, I just felt sad. For them, for us, for Benjamin's mother and Benjamin, dying alone in the darkness. Even hatred dies. Seems hard to believe at times, with Israel and Palestine and endless bloodshed, but it does.
Perhaps one day I won't hate Bush. Much depends what he does with Iraq. I haven't much hope, and plenty of fear. Not a good place to be. I would like to trust Bush, as he is undoubtedly the most powerful person in the world. I can't. I'd like to not hate him. I'd like to be a better person. I'd like for war to end. I'd like for a lot of things, really, but it's not likely I will get them.
My history lecturer and I had a bit of discussion on Tuesday, as I remarked I would be able to accept an UN-led war on Iraq (I wouldn't be comfortable with it, but I would accept it). He remarked that most nations act in their own interest, although some small nations and inviduals may genuinly believe in having the UN for the better of the world - such as Norway. I do wonder. My country is shielded in so many ways, so eager to be Helpful and Important. Bit annoying at times, I reckon. But still... I miss Norway on days like this (not that I don't like Australia. I really do in many ways). Or maybe it's my childhood I miss.
No, I do miss Norway. Okay, we're self-centered and like to believe we're important. Okay, we're annoying and a wee bit... full of ourselves, really . But we're small, shielded and not very malicious. We're generally quite liberal and forward-thinking. We care for the world. We do have a jellyfish spined PM, but at least he ain't a Shrub. I miss Home. Norway used to annoy me. But like all things, you see it so much clearer from a distance (like from, say, the other side of the world). I'm of course being terribly patriotic and annoying. But unlike Bush, I have no illusions my country is the best country in the world. It's just the best country for me. And I love it; its fjords and mountains and cold, windy autumn mornings and silly little people and quiet Sundays and desire for peace.
I can't wait to go home and pretend the world is better than it is.
(I do realise that perhaps Bush loves the US as I love Norway. Perhaps - perhaps one day we humans will love and care for all of the world as much as the little corner we live in. Could we then truly wage war upon one another? I wonder.)
It's quite easy to delcare hatred, isn't it? In most cases it doesn't run nearly deep enough. It does take a lot of passion to hate someone rather than just disliking them. And somewhere between those two is loathing. Until quite recently I think the Shrub was merely loathed by me. It's not just that he stands for everything I don't in so many ways - I have a great deal of respect for many people I utterly disagree with. Bush, however, *embodies* much of what I will passionatly fight against. For one, he is a Republican. I am on the other side of the spectrum by far, growing up in the social democracy of Norway. We're already off to a clash of opinions here. He is also a Christian fundamentalist, and like many fundamentalists he scares me. (I mean no offence to those of faith - I know many gracious, giving people of faith. But fundamentalism scares the bejeesus out of me). His idea of Good and Evil, Black and White, Against or With us, seems to be so dangerous applied to the world. There is but shades of grey. In many cases, we see only black and white beacause we wish to. It's so simple, isn't it?
And yet so terribly dangerous. The US is not good. France is not good. I am not good. Most of us are just doing the best we can, living our lives not wholly of good, not wholly of evil. (Note the most. I do believe there are exceptions) Then there's the death penalty. Bush as Texas governor allowed more executions than any other governor. I oppose the death penalty under all cirumstances (matter of principle. If I say it's all right under some cirumstances, I am being rather hypocritical). There are many reasons for it, I won't go into them all.
He has shown little knowledge for the world outside the US. And really, without knowledge of it, can you love it? How I am to believe you care for the people of Iraq when you seem to care little for the people of Sudan, engaged in a bloody civil war as we speak? What of the people of Burma? Afghanistan? Chetchenia? The US seem to set itself up as some benign world policeman, and I just can't believe it.
There are many, any reasons why I would loathe George W. Bush then (I have more than the ones listed, they are merely examples). But do I hate him?
I came to the rather startling discovery that I do indeed the other day. He was adressing the American people, just having launched the war on Iraq, and I had to turn the telly off. I stomped out of the house and stood in the bright sunlight of Brisbane and realised I hated him. Not just dislike or loathing - hatred. I felt rather ugly about it. It's not a very nice thing, after all, but then, humans are not very nice creatures.
All I can say for myself is that I do not hate him lightly. I have no wish to hate him. I don't hate Howard, for instance, who has been the target of my ire as well quite frequently and a much more personal level than Bush (Tampa incident, for instance). Only once before have I felt this - personal, I guess - hatred. When 15 year old Benjamin was stabbed to death in Norway on a cold January night, his crime being of African decent. His killer was a neo Nazi. I felt that day such unimaginable hatred and anger, twisting my very heart. But when they finally sentenced the killers, I just felt sad. For them, for us, for Benjamin's mother and Benjamin, dying alone in the darkness. Even hatred dies. Seems hard to believe at times, with Israel and Palestine and endless bloodshed, but it does.
Perhaps one day I won't hate Bush. Much depends what he does with Iraq. I haven't much hope, and plenty of fear. Not a good place to be. I would like to trust Bush, as he is undoubtedly the most powerful person in the world. I can't. I'd like to not hate him. I'd like to be a better person. I'd like for war to end. I'd like for a lot of things, really, but it's not likely I will get them.
My history lecturer and I had a bit of discussion on Tuesday, as I remarked I would be able to accept an UN-led war on Iraq (I wouldn't be comfortable with it, but I would accept it). He remarked that most nations act in their own interest, although some small nations and inviduals may genuinly believe in having the UN for the better of the world - such as Norway. I do wonder. My country is shielded in so many ways, so eager to be Helpful and Important. Bit annoying at times, I reckon. But still... I miss Norway on days like this (not that I don't like Australia. I really do in many ways). Or maybe it's my childhood I miss.
No, I do miss Norway. Okay, we're self-centered and like to believe we're important. Okay, we're annoying and a wee bit... full of ourselves, really . But we're small, shielded and not very malicious. We're generally quite liberal and forward-thinking. We care for the world. We do have a jellyfish spined PM, but at least he ain't a Shrub. I miss Home. Norway used to annoy me. But like all things, you see it so much clearer from a distance (like from, say, the other side of the world). I'm of course being terribly patriotic and annoying. But unlike Bush, I have no illusions my country is the best country in the world. It's just the best country for me. And I love it; its fjords and mountains and cold, windy autumn mornings and silly little people and quiet Sundays and desire for peace.
I can't wait to go home and pretend the world is better than it is.
(I do realise that perhaps Bush loves the US as I love Norway. Perhaps - perhaps one day we humans will love and care for all of the world as much as the little corner we live in. Could we then truly wage war upon one another? I wonder.)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2003-03-21 04:05 am (UTC)In my opinion, hate is too strong a word for someone who is doing what they think is, ultimately, best for the world. You cannot blame the World Leaders for what they believe in. Right now, the only person who is the subject of my extreme hate, is Saddam Hussein.
Yet when I walk in the countryside of my country, ride my pony, have fun, hang out with my mates, I always find new hope (will hurt myself later for realising I sound very much like Aragorn), because, ultimately, they cannot destroy and take away everything.
Have hope, Cam. Hang onto what you believe, and love Norway all the more!
~Purist~
*sigh*
Date: 2003-03-21 08:35 am (UTC)If I was, I wouldn't have to wrestle my muse, I'd be dancing with it...
I wouldn't worry
Date: 2003-03-22 05:30 am (UTC)And you know what? I hate them back, probably a great deal more than you do Bush. I grew up among these people. I know what they're really like, away from the cameras where they must pretend to be reasonable. If I had my way, the entire leadership of the Republican Party would be in federal prisons, awaiting charges not of "sedition" but of treason for their illegal putsch against the U.S. government in 2000.
No, I don't think Dubya loves this country. He may think he loves people who think like him -- "real Americans", you know. I also don't believe he's really running the show; never in his life has he shown the brains to be a sinister mastermind. For the real villains here, look at the people around him who are "guiding" him . . . and the spineless American people, who have accepted an illegal coup as docilely as sheep under the butcher's knife.
(Big sigh . . .) Anyway . . .
Norway has much to recommend it, I'll admit. So does Canada. I have major beefs with both countries over environmental/conservation issues, but then I have those with every country I've ever heard of. If only the Ecotopia Ernest Callenbach had written about had come to pass . . . I'd friggin' emigrate there in a second.
It is more than unfortunate that the only real law in human politics of any sort is "might makes right". This ensures that whoever holds the most power is usually totally unqualified to have it.
Re: I wouldn't worry
Date: 2003-03-23 02:57 pm (UTC)Bush, on the other hand, is the face of this, the personification. He may not be the brains, but he is the face. So I hate him, with deep passion and conviction (though I am much nicer than dad, who wants to shoot all of the US into space). And I have read Michael Moore.
Issues with Norway... Let me guess... Whaling? Shooting wolves? Our fishing? *tries to think of more* I'm sure there's more Norwegian booboos concerning environment, but I can't think of them right now. Been away too long. Sniffle.
Norway's got its flaw like everyone else (and nice little skeletons out of the closet. Shame on us for what we did to the Lapps. Shame!), but we're small and rather Not Important, which sometimes is a good thing. A very good thing.
Re: I wouldn't worry
Date: 2003-03-24 09:03 pm (UTC)When I lived in Chicago, I did know the rank-and-file, lower-class conservatives and right-wingers, far better than I would ever have wanted to. Bush is just a face to me, but the kind of people who put him in office and back him now are more than just faces. That's where my hatred of conservatism comes from. So yeah, maybe it does come down to personal experience or the lack of it.
Michael Moore . . . now there's a real hero. I by no means agree with everything he says, but to do what he did at the Oscars took guts. Too bad there aren't enough like him to make much difference -- if there were, you'd see a very, very different America.
Here's an article for anyone interested: Power and Weakness, a looong Policy Review article on why the U.S. and Europe see the world so differently.
Re: I wouldn't worry
Date: 2003-03-25 06:24 pm (UTC)I do like Michael Moore, even if I don't agree with all he says. But then I do live in a different world. Europe and America is different. I don't quite agree with the paper you linked too (but an interesting read) because Europe is so many different things. He seems to rather ignore poor Eastern Europe, for one thing. But then, I come from a tiny country that has always been tiny and my perspective will always be clouded by it. I see power, I see a threat. That's the rality when you're small.
Re: I wouldn't worry
Date: 2003-03-28 06:11 am (UTC)Well, I don't entirely agree with the paper's conclusions, either; it seems to put most of the blame on Europe. I just thought it was on a somewhat more mature level than "Europeans just hate us because we're the best nation in the world!" or suchlike s*&t. And above all, its point about how both having power and lacking power alter a nation's perceptions is an excellent one.
Agreement from an American
Date: 2003-03-27 08:40 am (UTC)I must readily agree with you on the war issue. I find no point in it at all. Although I am an American born and raised, I feel that what Bush is doing is wrong. It's not like Iraq was a threat to us when he made the decision. Now on the other hand I could have seen the United States still trying to get Osama. He made a move against us first. Ahhh, well. Such is life, I guess.
Carla (city_cat_2001@yahoo.com)
Boy, do I feel like an idiot and actions could have been taken to prevent this 'war'
Date: 2003-03-28 01:30 pm (UTC)Anyway, I agree with you. Bush could of done something else besides war. I especially agree on the part where you state that we're practically in a Civil War.
Scratch that, we are.
The country is split in half, those for war and those who oppose it. I have seen friendships break because of the differences of opinions one 'war.' My family is practically breaking up because of this. Why? My dad and sister are strong Republicans, my mom is neutral and I have no idea how to feel. I feel this could of been prevented, not only in the Bush Administration but in the Clinton one as well, if not more. I'm not even going to get started on Clinton because just thinking about what he did(or a more correct term: didn't) during his reign will just make my fingers sore.
I also think that Bush should be concentrated on our poor economy. I guess he was thinking, like in WWII, war would help us out. The result as thus far: nothings' changed. We're stuck in the same situation as we've been in.
I'm taking each day at a time, but I never know when I won't have any more days to take, or my loved ones will. It's scary times. Also, I guess he thought that we wouldn't be attack on the home front, but we will be. Not now, but soon.
I've run lost of what else I should say, so I'm ending my comment here.
Nellie (aka Gundulf the Beige on ff)
"I'd rather be in Capeside? Please, Canada is much more splendid." ~ My friend Sam