Israel - Iran War, page-1252 - HotCopper | ASX Share Prices, Stock Market & Share Trading Forum

Originally posted by pintohoo: ↑

''I looked up and saw a man inside the plane and realised for the first time that people - humans - were doing those horrible things. I remember my sense of utter astonishment and I can see that scene in my mind's eye, even now, and still wonder what kind of plane it was to display the pilot, definitely not a bomber plane . . . and remember my huge sense of relief when it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, without dropping a bomb or taking a shot at me.
I also had years of disliking the sound of aeroplanes, even when already in Australia . . .''

morning, hope you're well

2 points -

*I have a friend whose grandmother (now deceased) had fear all her life when she heard a plane. Great fear. - She was a kid in WW2 in a city which was bombed.
These things never go away.

* your point about not understanding that the planes had humans in them. Is very relevant - we see it every day on the news with tanks or planes etc ---------- when one side 'shoots the plane down' or 'kills the tank' or 'destroys the tank'

the poor buggers in the tank never get a mention, the noise, then the incineration and lack of air and screaming death --------------- rarely does one see it mentioned.

And of course planes bombing or artillery firing - at what?? They don't know - they never know exactly who is under the incoming bomb - they may be 'told' something - but, they just don't know

Sometimes, they do know that it's a hospital or whatever and they go ahead anyway.

But mostly remoteness keeps them insulated from knowing that they just dropped hell on a small girl on a bike with her dolly in the back seat and pink streamers on the bike

This is humans and this is how we detach ourselves from the reality of what we do. (one way anyway).

Proudly they come home from war as 'bomber pilots' or 'the person who drops the bomb' - they were brave fighters --

well - to me - firing an artillery shell or launching a rocket or dropping a bomb from miles away and killing children ---------- never sounded much like bravery

tis amazing what humans do

the ones below - we did 'knowingly' ------------ how can any human live with themselves for this?

View attachment 7088661

View attachment 7088670

Expand

@pintohoo - there are human beings who are not 'human' or have had bad luck in the selection of their initial 'traits', which makes them unable to 'feel'. Some are brought up to be that way by inhuman parents (often fathers, sometimes, mothers too - Hitler' s father was a total monster, found this out from reading an English history book) - and some are 'made that way' by life.
I am grateful that I have the capacity to be empathic, but I also understand that people who can be willfully inhumane, "know not, what they are doing" as J.C. said.
I fully believe that there are humans, who cannot see beyond their own egos, who do not feel what others feel, through no fault of their own.
How I cope with the mass destruction of human lives? by saying to myself, it is an individual life which is being destroyed, which is pain enough of itself - the magnitude of numbers does neither increase, nor decrease the individual's suffering.
AND; we all have to die at one point, let's hope it is gentle.

Many of our 'leaders' are that way, particularly in autocratic society, which societies often have a state religion which also supports that kind of inhumanity to 'others' - who are classified as the 'enemy' -

I watched an interesting doku last night called 'Zelenskyy' - and there was one very telling moment where Putin walked into what we could call 'Assembly' room, which consisted of a huge desk (Putin's) and his 'government ministers' sitting at a distance of some 4 or 5 meters, arranged in a semi-circle - and he instructed them to agree with him - they were sitting there, totally at attention, stiff, until he walked into the room, no change, stone-faced they 'awaited the Master' - he then proposed his policy towards Ukraina - and expected agreement, by each one, individually agreeing; - one poor fellow didn't agree, but eventually stumbled around, obviously in terror, agreeing with the boss, and Putin's face in the meantime had turned red - and the poor fellow by then a jabbering idiot - eventually 'agreeing' with the boss. It was a very telling scene - I wonder what kind of punishment is meted out for not agreeing.

This scene changed my view on Putin totally - we should be happy to be living in a democracy, however much we might dislike certain aspects of it.
Need to do some 'real' work round here -
Go well
Taurisk