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I missed the point of this article. Its title suggests it will explain something Americans don’t understand but then closes by saying no one understands what is going on.
Some points I understand... That the war in Iraq is the very definition of counter-productive, I get. Seems like most Americans these days understand the war in Iraq was the absolute wrong thing to do as well. So maybe the author means that American policy makers don’t “understand?” That torture and making martyrs is not the way, I get. It may not be a majority of Americans who get those two things yet but it’s hardly fair to ignore tens of millions of us who do and are affecting a change in the ranks of policy makers, thank you.
Maybe the author has a different definition of multiculturalism than I do but it’s an absurd notion to think governments can force everyone to assimilate to single social and religious standards. And the key example is religion. Denying someone the ability to practice their faith when it doesn’t interfere with anyone else’s ability to do so is going to create the exact same anger and resentment that illegitimate occupations and the like do. I mean, what is the alternative to multiculturalism? Ask China in fifty years how well it’s worked to try stamping out or killing things like religious expression or anything else considered to be an influence on personal lives greater than or equal to government policy.
Probably because I’m a stupid, boorish American but this article didn’t clear anything up for me. It only leaves me feeling like there is no solution to any of this and if so, what’s the point of trying to understand? What a depressing and hopeless piece.
