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Good heavens.
Aug. 14th, 2008 01:03 pmI just have to say that Russia's invasion of Georgia is on my mind quite a bit these days. What a complicated situation. International diplomacy fascinates me, from that "I wouldn't even know where to begin" perspective.
I wonder how these geopolitical events will filter back to influence the behaviors and attitudes of the American public. For example, right now Americans (the privilege middle/upper classes) are generally preoccupied with things like being "green" and minding one's carbon footprint and gas prices and the costs of suburbia.
These kinds of preoccupations are a luxury for those in crises, whether the crisis takes the form of the threat of violence, corruption, starvation or a lack of shelter or clean water. I paint these crises with a broad and global brush, although they are so much more tangible and simpler to understand than something like global warming, which can only be appreciated as a theoretical construct. How do we respond to this kind of world? How does my lifestyle reflect my response?
And the Olympics--how do we put the Olympics into rightful context in the face of such violence?
I wonder how these geopolitical events will filter back to influence the behaviors and attitudes of the American public. For example, right now Americans (the privilege middle/upper classes) are generally preoccupied with things like being "green" and minding one's carbon footprint and gas prices and the costs of suburbia.
These kinds of preoccupations are a luxury for those in crises, whether the crisis takes the form of the threat of violence, corruption, starvation or a lack of shelter or clean water. I paint these crises with a broad and global brush, although they are so much more tangible and simpler to understand than something like global warming, which can only be appreciated as a theoretical construct. How do we respond to this kind of world? How does my lifestyle reflect my response?
And the Olympics--how do we put the Olympics into rightful context in the face of such violence?
