I know JJuggle has some threads about war and peace.
It’s wonderful that unicyclists here are more interested in politics than the Michael Jackson trial. But if TV News ia any measure, we are a unique bunch.
Anyway, with the genocide in Darfur getting so little attention (deja vu?), I think of ML King’s quote:
“Man’s inhumanity to man is not only perpetrated by the vitriolic actions of those who are bad. It is also perpetrated by the vitiating inaction of those who are good.”
Cheers,
Billy
“The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” - Albert Einstein
Look at Bugmans sig 
King’s quote is much more akin to the Burke quote “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
Both share the culpability for evil between the evil doers and those who fail to struggle against them.
The Einstein quote places the blame squarely on those who do not work against evil, not the evil itself. On the face of it this is preposterous.
I can not locate the essay in which Einstein made that statement, but can speculate one of two possibilities.
The first is that he took evil as axiomatic and in that context the quote makes sense. I don’t know about Burke but I believe that King could imagine a world free of evil. If Einstein couldn’t, then it is logical that the danger would result directly from nothing being done about it. But for the quote to be meaningful, we have to know.
The other is that he was engaging in a bit of hyperbole to make his point.
It is interesting that in looking for the source of the Einstein quote it turns out that it’s widely used by both conservatives and liberals to make points. Which only goes to my assertion that out of context it is impossible to definitively interpret.
Re: Darfur and ML King and genocide
One of the problems with the war in Sudan is that it is hard to tell whether the driving force behind the hatred/genocide is greed or ignorance. Do they hate each other because one group is predominantly Muslim and one group is predominantly Christian? Or Is it because the North Sudanese (Muslims) control the money and the South Sudanese (Christians) want it.
To use the “good” and “bad” labels from the MLK quote, who are the “good” and the “bad” here and what is the “vitiating inaction” that the good should be engaging in? Should it be left to the “good people” of Sudan to act or should that action come from some outside source acting as the world’s police? I really don’t know here. I work with Nuer people from South Sudan everyday. I know how they feel about it. I know what they want–they, by and large, want the U.S. to force and enforce peace in Sudan and force the North Sudanese government to act justly with the finances.
One more observation in case we don’t have enough to raise everyone’s hackles: It is much like the Civil War in the U.S. as well as the removal/genocide of Native Americans during the 1800s. It seems to be driven by a good deal of both greed and ignorance on the part of the aggressor.
Jethro, You make great points, and I’m glad you came in with your personal information. We all sem so far away from that genocide. Your last coments, like others I’ve posted, could be directed to our unicycling soldier in the Mid East.
JJuggle, Einstein is also correct. That is, there will always be people who want to bomb and war and inadvertently kill innocent kids. They only pose a danger to the world because no one stops them. Thus, if good people stopped the bad people, the world would NOT be a dangerous place.
Einstein was a genious, so I wouldn’t expect the average mortal to comprehend this immediately…
Lastly, neither liberals nor conservatives corner the market on good people/good deeds, though both would have you think so…
Billy
So, relatively speaking, Einstein was a blame the victim kind of guy. Fair enough. 
Evolution = Mass Confusion Squared
JJuggle, Are you being provocative? If you keep this up, evil may reign down on you. It’s Listserv Karma.
The good "do-nothings’ like you are not the victims, just the blamed.
By the way, we’re almost all blame the victim people. I’ll find the link to the psych research that demos this.
Billy
Excuse me, I’m a good “do almost nothing”. There’s a big difference in that I get to sleep some nights.
I’m guessing this has something to do with electricity.
Just to be Clear… I have cornered the market.
Bugman: I understand your signature, but what does THIS mean??!
JJuggle: Re: Blaming the victim, see Just World Hypothesis here:
http://www.units.muohio.edu/psybersite/justworld/interpersonal.shtm Blame the victim
Billy
http://www.fair.org/extra/best-of-extra/rape-blame.html
There is a problem with the previous link. Sorry. I thought I was really advancing technologically, and I don’t know what happened…
Bugman,
You’ve been getting increasingly enigmatic. Your last post is far too deep. Would you care to add a word or two.
And if this keeps up, your doctor will have to recommend a week off from the bug spray for your own mental health!
Billy
^I believe he was answering your question about what his sig means.
Wow, my sig seems a bit ironic now. Hmm, time to change it yet again…?
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