We all feel guilt at some level (even agents). We feel guilt because we are white, well educated, affluent, born and brought up in a western democracy.
For those of us who have come up from the council estates, sangatte refugee camp or are members of sasgurus family () we feel guilt about leaving our fellow paupers behind.
We tend to deal with our guilt in a number of ways. One way is to pretend the problems of others do not exist, and we develop a cold indifferent defence. One of the most popular and cowardly (because it involves no sacrifice-like giving to charity, or taking a year out to help children in say Darfur) is to become a critic of the very institutions that have created and preserved the freedoms and wealth that we enjoy.
Trashing George Bush is such a target. He represents thoroughly the capitalist west that so many of the guilty find such an easy target. A lot of them vote for socialism on the mistaken belief that socialism somehow helps the worse off in society- a proven fallacy that has confused many of the closet lefties.
So entrenched is the hatred of these totems of guilt that GWB, and the USA are deemed to be worse than Russians despite the fact that the people of Russia enjoy few of the priviliges that the rest of us enjoy. But hey there is no price too high in making us feel better about ourselves.
So who do you take your guilt out on?
For those of us who have come up from the council estates, sangatte refugee camp or are members of sasgurus family () we feel guilt about leaving our fellow paupers behind.
We tend to deal with our guilt in a number of ways. One way is to pretend the problems of others do not exist, and we develop a cold indifferent defence. One of the most popular and cowardly (because it involves no sacrifice-like giving to charity, or taking a year out to help children in say Darfur) is to become a critic of the very institutions that have created and preserved the freedoms and wealth that we enjoy.
Trashing George Bush is such a target. He represents thoroughly the capitalist west that so many of the guilty find such an easy target. A lot of them vote for socialism on the mistaken belief that socialism somehow helps the worse off in society- a proven fallacy that has confused many of the closet lefties.
So entrenched is the hatred of these totems of guilt that GWB, and the USA are deemed to be worse than Russians despite the fact that the people of Russia enjoy few of the priviliges that the rest of us enjoy. But hey there is no price too high in making us feel better about ourselves.
So who do you take your guilt out on?
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