A very tragic event took place yesterday at Fort Hood, Texas where a soldier (a Major and a psychiatrist) killed 12 fellow soldiers and wounded another 30. One's heart goes out to the wounded, the dead and their families. It is bad enough that these soldiers get killed in the war theatre, it is all the more tragic that it happened at their own base in the home country.
However, it makes another issue very obvious, that violence breeds violence. The US indeed is a very violent society. And let us dispel the myth that it undertakes wars to spread democracy. It is actually spreading violence which is having its impact on the home territory. It took violence to Afghanistan which has become more violent than it was after former Soviet invasion; now that violence has spread to neighbouring Pakistan. Democracy in Afghanistan is very doubtful but violence indeed is for real. The same is true for Iraq. Violence has tremendously increased since the invasion of Iraq and it has spread into the whole Middle East. There must be a way to end this cycle of violence.
A good start will be to end these wars. The soldiers who are going to come back may suffer from PTSD and violence in society will continue by some for sometime to come; but with proper treatment it can be minimized. Of course violence in general in society continues which needs to be controlled.
A new kind of violence came on the horizon after Obama was elected President. The teabaggers and birthers are inciting violence. The outcome will be very undesirable. Especially gun totting teabbagers are indeed dangerous. This dangerous movement must be nipped in the bud. Then there are businesses who survive on violence and wars, such businesses who produce weapons. Efforts must be made that they find some other kind of business. Green energy business maybe the one to go into. Currently it is a very sad situation in the US and around the world. Americans approved two wars started by Bush at the cost of thousands of lives and trillions of dollars but have taken up arms to defeat healthcare reform. Will it get anymore ironic? There sure is a need for cultural change.
