[Mb-civic] London bombings

[Barbara Siomos]

Your Daughter is very strong and brave, you must be very proud.... :-)

Hope there is peace soon.

barbara

-----Original Message-----
From: Alexander Harper
Sent: Fri, 8 Jul 2005 06:29:59 -0700
To: MB-Civic at islandlists.com
Subject: [Mb-civic] London bombings

Jeffrey Sachs, the US economist, who is in the UK for the G8 summit, wrote this in his today's blog.

Friday July 8, 2005

Yesterday when the bombs went off in London I was about a mile away. I therefore witnessed one of the greatest triumphs and resources of modern life against the backdrop of yet another heinous crime. Londoners reacted to the disaster not with shock, violence, or disarray, but with unfailing professionalism, industriousness, concern, and emphatically, civility. There were no pogroms, attacks on London’s large Muslim population, Rather there were statements of praise for the Muslim community, for its integral role in London life. There was no rush to judgment, no bluster, no jingoism, only the steady voices of British politicians directing a democratic response to this most undemocratic of deeds.

London, in short, showed even in a moment of real peril, uncertainty, and grief, that it is truly, uniquely one of the great centers of a world civilization, a civilization in which all races, religions, and creeds can live together peacefully, creatively, productively. I feel about London what I feel about my own home of New York City. Both are what mathematicians call a “proof by existence,” in this case a proof that globalization can work, that divisions among people according to religion, ethnicity, language, can be overcome through a commitment to common purposes among people living in close proximity. London must be the way of the future, of an urbanized internationalized life in the 21st century, for if not, our world will likely succumb to hatred, violence, and despair on our very crowded planet. 

Tony Blair showed true leadership yesterday when he declared that the work of the G8 summit in addressing poverty and global climate change was now more important than ever, that the terrorists would not deflect the work of the political leaders in addressing deep economic and ecological problems that gravely threaten the planet and that stoke the violence and conflicts of our times. George Bush spoke well when he declared that an ideology of compassionate concern for the world’s poor would triumph over an ideology of hate. Both men owe the world this much, and yesterday they delivered. Their war in Iraq was gravely misconceived and dangerous; their words yesterday were highly constructive and extremely important. 

We are not, thank goodness, in World War III as some of America’s hotheads have believed since September 11. To believe such is to risk making it a tragic reality. In truth, our struggle is not of one culture against another, but a struggle for our common survival on a fragile planet threatened by too many weapons, too much environmental destruction, too much extreme poverty and disease, too many young unemployed men in the Middle East deprived of hope and dignity, too many fundamentalist misconceptions in a world that has been built by science which can be harnessed by ignoramuses and psychopaths. The cell phone can be both the creator of global connectivity and the detonator of urban mayhem. 

We are surely in store for many more shocks ahead: terrrorist attacks, massive droughts and other extreme climate events caused by manmade climate change, disease pandemics, and more. Yet we are also more equipped than ever before, with our great wealth and technology, to confront these challenges. Our biggest threats are not psychopaths but also our own ignorance and lack of will. If the G-8 commitments to Africa and climate change are watered down today by “political realities,” for example, we will pay a very heavy price for this neglect in the future. 

Our world is complex and non-linear. It is as unpredictable as yesterday morning’s bombings. We must be smart, smarter even than yesterday, to overcome the risks that we face. A war on terror is needed, but only as part of a broader war on poverty, intolerance, environmental degradation, and injustice which fuel so much global instability. The greatest answer indeed that the world’s leaders assembled at Glenneagles can give to yesterday’s criminal attack is a shoulder-to-shoulder commitment to address the pressing concerns of poverty, injustice, and environmental destruction in an open, just, and meaningful way. To find their way in this profound challenge, the political leaders should look to the spirit of London. It is a unique lodestar for a safer and prosperous world in the 21st Century. 

Unquote

I am in the UK at the moment visiting family + friends. My No2 daughter, who had been evacuated from the underground at Kings X caught a bus to continue to work. Within a few minutes another bus a few blocks from her blew up, anihilating, maiming and eviscerating many of those on board. But for the grace of God (?), luck (?), chance(?),destiny (?)my family and I have been spared an unbearable horror. The age old question "Why me? Why should I have been spared when others were not?" Is obviously in one's mind. 

I am, though, proud of the british today. Our legendary phlegm/sang froid shows us at its best at times like this, just as 9/11 brought out the best in New Yorkers. I hope that we do not allow these fiends to change the sort of people we are and judging by the way normality has returned to London today I do not believe that they will . I think we might be asking ourselves, however, even if our Dear Leaders do not appear to be (asking themselves), just why these people hate us so much. All this stuff about their doing it "because they hate freedom" is starting to wear a little thin.

Al Baraka

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