International Politics

[Cord Wiljes]

Dear all:

It is very difficult to talk about the war in Iraq rationally. There
seem to be mainly three groups: "Pro war", "anti war" and "no comment".
Communication between these three groups is nearly impossible because
everybody is so emotional about it. I think this war is a topic of grave
importance which everybody who wants to should talk about, even if it is
off topic here on DCML.

Please let me suggest one thing: Try to put yourself into the shoes of
the other side: How would you feel if you were a citizen of Baghdad? An
U.S. soldier in the desert of Kuwait? The man with the most power and
thus heaviest responsibility in the world? If a family member of yours
had been a victim of 9-11? Or had starved because a multinational
company maximized its profits by exploiting your country's resources?

People with other opinions are neither evil nor stupid, they just come
to different conclusions. Nobody knows the future so nobody can claim to
know with absolute certainty what the right path of action is. So even
if one has a firm opinion on the current war in Iraq (and I certainly
do) we should aspire keeping an open mind for discussions with those who
don't share the same view.

There have been books investigating the role of Disney comics in world
politics, namely:

  + Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart. How to Read Donald Duck:
Imperialist Ideology in the Disney Comic.
  + David Kuzle: Dagobert und Donald Duck. Welteroberung aus der
Entenperspektive.

Both books show the Ducks in a different light than we Duck fans see
them. Are they right? Are we right? The truth probably lies somewhere in
the middle. Or to quote Aristoteles: "The good is always a middle
between too much and too less."

Cord