THE

LIST

NEWS & VIEWS

Based on reader response, I have decided to devote one more Special Edition of The E-List to the single topic that is being most discussed this week, the terrorist assault on the world that was executed in New York and Washington on September 11, perhaps giving forever a new, sardonic meaning to “911.” This issue is mostly reader response to the editorial in the last issue. If you didn’t read my original remarks, and would like to, you will find them here. If you want to skip my next few paragraphs and jump straight to the reader responses, click here.

No, this isn’t what this newsletter is going to be about from this day forward; but it is what it is about right now. Next issue will be back on the regular track. If you already have heard and discussed the World Trade Center at least one time too many and you need a break from it, I’ll not be offended if you close your browser this instant. Otherwise, I invite you to read some of the letters from your fellow readers living in many parts of our world. Also, please feel free to tell me whether you want this topic discussed any further (in the typically opinionated “News & Views” section) in future issues.

E-List readers have said, from the beginning, that they want and enjoy special discussions that make them think and challenge points of view. Our early editorials on DDoS attacks and other security issues brought this to the fore, and I received several sad responses when I wrote that I would have to back off from that for a while due to other commitments. You have told me you want topical items, and there is nothing more topical, at the moment, than the unfolding story of the world’s response to terrorism. All technological issues we otherwise might discuss exist, at the moment, in the context of this one topic. A fundamental part of my life philosophy, which underlies my newsgroup presence, the existence of this web site, and the writing and publication of The E-List, is the premise of “Life as service.” In this spirit, I offer my views on what is needed in our present reframing of the architecture of our lives. The reframing will not last very long. Its impact, however, will.

Perhaps the single finest media writing on this last week emerged from Leonard Pitts, Jr. of The Miami Herald. So long as it stays online, you can read it for yourself, here, and I encourage you to do so. It appeared the morning after the attacks, and I think no one has captured the spirit of our nation, its people, and our expected response as well as Pitts. Intervening days already have confirmed the core of what he wrote. It’s a wonderfully truthful read. I recommend it.

Historically, E-List readers haven’t been shy about writing me when they disagree with me! I expected quite a lot of that on Issue No. 17. But I got almost no disagreement. I’ve included all divergent views in the letters quoted below, beginning with one from a correspondent who lives in a land where terrorism has had an immediate, day-to-day impact on people’s lives for many years.

Several readers wrote to me offering the piercing words of Sen. John McCain, which each writer quoted a little differently, and which I recall as, “I say to our enemies: We are coming. May God have mercy on your souls. We will not.” Many correspondents were terribly complimentary in their praising of the editorial in the last issue of The E-List. I’m certain, though, that it was the ideas, more than the writer, that touched them. It feels uncomfortably immodest to publish some of these responses. On the other hand, it feels far more arrogant to think that I shouldn’t, since I was just the messenger who happened to be on hand.

READER RESPONSES

Let me sadly express my sorrow for the thousands killed in the evil attack to WTC and the tragedy that happened. Being a member of a nation that gave more than 30,000 victims to terror over the last fifteen years, it is not easy for me to obey to “Don’t hate.” Although we did not have any such single big attack, we lived with the horror of terror, so many civil people including babies, intellectuals, security staff, and soldiers were killed, we could not travel safely, we avoided going to big marketplaces with our kids. It is not easy not to hate terrorists. It may be better to say, “Do not act with hate.” Every individual even remotely related with this attack must be picked up and punished severely. Any individual involved in any terrorist attack must get the same. What should be avoided is a mass punishment, which lends sympathy to these evil actions among other nations... God bless innocents. — T.B., Turkey

As a former neighbour to your north, now living in the Land of Oz, I watched in disbelief, the events that took place the other morning (late night to me). Putting to one side, the “rivalry” between nations, the one thing, that I think ALL nations must admire, is the “Pride and Love of Nation” that lives in the hearts of the people of the USA. It is uplifting to behold; and to be able to write the words of reason, as you have, when every fibre of your being must be demanding retribution, is an amazing attribute. Jim, to you, your country and ALL countries, and in particular the families of those affected, my deepest condolences and utmost admiration for your strength through these desperate times. Take gentle care. — A.D., Australia

I was moved by your E-List message about the unprovoked attack on our country, and very much appreciate, and agree with, your point of view. Having served with the Air Force in Viet Nam, I personally witnessed mind-numbing destruction and death, but directed at military targets or targets with military significance. And, the destruction I and others dealt was directed with the intention of protecting our people and our facilities from enemy attack. The animals that directed the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon did so with the intention of killing innocent civilians. They deserve no mercy or quarter. But I, like you, fervently pray that our fellow countrymen will not go seeking revenge based on the religious beliefs or national origin of other Americans. I would hate to see a repeat of the internment of Americans of Japanese origin after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which was an attack on military targets. This would play into the hands of our enemies. I hope that this tragedy sends a message to the civilized world that these rabid dogs must be hunted down and exterminated wherever they are found, but in a measured, carefully analyzed manner. It’s time to take the kid gloves off!!! I will be sending your thoughtful message to all of my friends. — D.M.

Your special issue — Simple, elegant, touching and timely. America is not alone. — H.G., Australia

Thank you for your words of wisdom. Knowledge is power, compassion is what makes us a great nation, and you certainly have both. — M.G.

Don’t be so modest! Of course we agree with you. Thank you for your kind words. You are a respected person, and it it good to hear your message of tolerance. Not hatred, not justification, but just what you said. — L.C.

Many, many thanks for your words at Aumha! They are among the most sane I have come across so far. Yes, I fear that a major reaction will be hatred, and it’s understandable on this very human level, but I know that this will only deepen the problem and not be the way of healing. Collectively and individually we face a wake-up call, appearing in many forms and many guises. And perhaps — who knows? — this is what we really need and want. However one looks at it, it is a call for love. I just want to thank you again, Jim. I’m a recent subscriber to your list... and I think you have a really fantastic site.... God bless. — J.B.

Words of wisdom and eloquence. Please send a copy to The New York Times and The Washington Post. — B.

Amen, Jim. Amen. — T.W.

Feedback

POSTSCRIPT

Shortly after the issue of The E-List was published, I received (in response to it) the following powerful letter. It is from a friend. It expresses a point of view that neither I nor any other correspondents have expressed. It deserves to be read and felt, for reasons I won’t begin to enumerate. I have, therefore, added it in this revised posting of this issue. (The author is enough of a public figure that his name likely would be recognized and who, therefore, is left anonymous.)

Jim,

I have had to ponder deeply about whether to even express my true feelings about these events in public. Were I a single man, I’d be less timorous, but having a family causes one to step more carefully. One never knows at what point reasonable conversation and debate can become a crime in our society. Still, if you see fit, you have my permission to share this around...

My single most prevalent, personal response to the events of Tuesday was guilt. Deep, almost unbearable, guilt — to the core of my soul. Guilt that I had not devoted every moment of my life to ridding the world of injustice. An anguish and frustration that came of the knowledge that even had I thus devoted my life, I would still have felt this guilt for having failed.

I, as much or more than any suicide terrorist, as much or more than any evil mastermind, am guilty of the deaths of 6,000-plus souls on Tuesday. Guilty for not having done whatever I could to help rid this world of the pain and suffering that is the real root cause of such calamity.

I still feel guilt for not having gotten off that bus traveling through the Venezuelan countryside 25 years ago, for not having walked back to that hut by the side of the road, for not having offered that dripping roasted chicken I was gorging myself on to that beautiful if filthy little 2-year-old girl sitting on top of a mound of garbage twice the height of her home, playing with God-knows-what trinket she had found in that refuse, chewing on.... I hate to think.

And I am guilty of so many thousands of similar failures in my own life, for being an American, a member of the one society that is actually, possibly capable of truly ridding the world of hunger and physical misery, and for not, as a member of that society, having succeeded, or even having really tried.

Someone once coined a phrase that includes, in part, “winning the hearts and minds of men. ” (It’s difficult to find the origins of that phrase, as it is much used.) Osama bin Laden and his kind have managed to win a few hearts and minds to such a degree that they are willing to sacrifice their lives and thousands of others for what they believed to be an honorable cause. For honor is the only possible motive that could have induced them to commit such acts. The honor of their people for having done what they thought necessary to bring justice to their people. It must require an immense sense of responsibility to live for years in a material paradise such as San Diego, to eat well and live comfortably, to reap all the benefits of life in the great American society, and to then climb aboard an airliner and proceed to kill thousands and commit suicide, all in the hopes that it will somehow, some way, some day, result in a better life for their children — for however twisted the logic that dictated their actions, that had to have been the rationale behind their actions.

We Americans have it good. We have it so good that even the most knowledgeable and conscientious of us cannot conceive of how good we have it. But our material wealth is very directly borne on the backs of millions of starving and miserable people in other parts of the world (and even in the streets of our own cities and the farm-worker shacks of our own countryside.) The hearts and minds of starving and miserable people are very easily won — you just have to feed and clothe them. The honor of men who’s families are starving and miserable is just as easily appealed to — you simply promise that their actions, however self-sacrificing, will result in food, clothing and shelter for their loved ones — or at least their children’s children. It might all get wrapped up in religious rhetoric, it might get all twisted out of shape by evil intentions, greed and politics, but it will have as its root sustenance the belief that what they are doing is for the betterment not of mankind, but of the lot of their own people! Plus, of course, there is the added lure of suicide, the ultimate escape from their own guilt for not having figured out a better way to get what all men want — well-being for themselves and their loved ones.

Our leaders now say that the answer is all-out war against terrorism. To seek out and destroy, or at least severely punish, the accomplices of the perpetrators (the perpetrators themselves now beyond reach), their leaders, their backers, even the societies who’s leaders harbor or otherwise give succor to the “terrorists. ” What foolishness! If we were truly honest and followed a true chain of logic, we should all put down our remote controls and commit mass suicide. For we are all as guilty as, or more guilty than, even Osama bin Laden himself for the terror of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. Our so-called wealth, and our very real well-being, is the result of supporting and sharing in the spoils of the oppressive acts of our leaders, both political and financial. We are the direct benefactors of the starvation and misery of so many others...

The example of the men who perpetrated these acts is prompting hundreds if not thousands of men and boys from among the ranks of the oppressed, hungry, and miserable into volunteering for more such heroic actions. Going after the “terrorists, ” their backers, and so forth — killing more people, creating more misery in this world, of any kind — is not going to win the hearts and minds of those men and boys. And if we don’t win them, whether or not we win the battle against Osama bin Laden and his associates, we will have lost the “War Against Terrorism. ”

Well, Jim, it’s 1 o’clock in the afternoon, a wonderfully beautiful Sunday afternoon. I hear children in the neighborhood playing, laughing and crying. I hear lawn mowers and weed-eaters. I hear the pleasant conversation of people leaving the little church across the street after praying to their God. When I’ve finished writing this, I will check to see if any other well-fed and well-housed people need help making their modern-miracle machines behave themselves, and I will then take a cup of expensive coffee out to my garden, I will light a $3 cigar and inspect my garden, review my roses. I will play with my two well-fed dogs, and I will, as much as possible, strive to feel contented and at peace....

All the while telling my unutterably guilty conscience to hush, there’s nothing I can do....

Feedback

AFTER THOUGHTS

Every single chapter in The Koran begins with these words: “In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.” If, in our initial response, we feel impelled to judge an entire people by a common standard, I believe we should begin with these words, repeated 115 times in their scriptures, and fundamental to their beliefs and their lives. If any among them do not appear to live in accordance with these principles, let us judge them as exceptions, not as the rule.

In fact, whatever your point of view of these attacks and our possible responses — whether you are crying for compassion, confused and uncertain, or have identified an enemy that you feel we need to know very well — it seems to me that this is an exceptionally good time for all of us to understand The Koran on our own, and not as fragmented hearsay. Pick up a copy and read it. (Penguin Classics has an excellent and inexpensive edition, translated by N.J. Dawood.)

Especially to our Jewish readers and friends, in this country and abroad, I wish a Happy New Year. May we all find renewal. Shalom.

Feedback

Warmly,

Jim Eshelman

THE NECESSARY LEGAL STUFF
DISCLAIMER: Any information given in this newsletter, or on any other part of the Windows Support Center website, is researched by me and believed to be accurate. However, I cannot guarantee, and do not guarantee, that all the information provided will work on all computer systems, for all users, all the time. Also, I sometimes make mistakes (that’s life!), and it is possible I made one or more of them here. All information herein is offered as-is and without warranty of any kind. In other words, I rely on the best information sources I can, and do my best to get it to you accurately; and, thereafter, you take your life in your own hands if you trust me on it. Neither James Eshelman, this site, outside contributors to this site, people quoted on this site, nor my cat is/are responsible for any loss, injury, or damage, direct or consequential, resulting from application of any information presented here.

The E-List. Copyright © 2001 by James A. Eshelman. All Rights Reserved.

Return to the TOP of the Page.