A Lack of Focus

Sometimes you can see something coming a long way away.  Sometimes it is so evidently clear what is going to happen, yet we’re surprised by it when it hits us, when it finally comes and is either more than we expected or different from what we expected.  It is evidently clear that in the United States to expect change is to be naive.  To expect the system to work in your favor is an illusion only the imbecile should be allowed to fall under.  Yet one has to worry about the extreme lack of focus that the general public seems to have.

Yes George Zimmerman was always going to be found not guilty.  This is not because the man was innocent, or even because of some racist plot by the court.  Mr. Zimmerman was going to be found not guilty because the prosecution did not prepare itself well for that case.  He was going to be found not guilty because the prosecution overreached in its attempt to control the media tempest that came with the case.  Mr. Zimmerman was going to be found not guilty because his lawyers put a dead teenager on trial and the prosecution never stopped them from doing so, and the judge never told them to do otherwise.  Mr. Zimmerman was going to be found not guilty because Florida is a backwards state where a woman can shoot a round into the air and get 20 years for trying to defend herself against an abusive spouse.

Yet I reserve all judgment on Mr. Zimmerman.  This is because being found not guilty is not his fault.  Yes he made some poor choices that night –young Mr. Martin would still be alive if Zimmerman had stayed in his car –but the one at blame in this whole situation is the culture in which Mr. Zimmerman is immersed.  The people who are guilty in Mr. Martin’s death are the Florida residents who sat idly as their government passed a law which amounted to nothing more than a license to kill.  The stand your ground law is one which will eventually turn Florida into the Wild Wild West.  Don’t get me wrong, I strongly believe every citizen has the right not to be fucked with.  If someone comes into your house uninvited and is a threat to you, I think you should have the right to shoot him.  If someone approaches you in the street and threatens you or tries to still from you, I believe you have the right to defend yourself.  What I don’t believe in is the regular citizen’s right to carry a gun as he goes out looking for troublemakers.  If the trouble does not come to a man or a woman, he or she has no right to go looking for it.  Mr. Zimmerman went looking for trouble, because the Florida law gave him the impression that it was his duty as a private citizen to do so.

Beyond all the discussions about race and what did or did not happen that night, I think it is vital that we take a close look at the kinds of laws we pass, because arming an already stressed and underemployed population is just asking for trouble.

Syria Is Gone

The conflict in Syria does not look like it will subside anytime soon.  It seems every single day there is a new story about the atrocities taking place in that country.  It is amazing to think that this conflict started out because the Syrian people protested against their government.  Those of us living in the West take it for granted that we can protest against our government whenever we're unhappy with what they're doing. Yet in this Middle Eastern country, a smile protest tut s into a civil war which is taking for longer than it needs to.  

There is no guarantee that if President Bashar Assad had stepped down the country would be better.  As we can see in a lot of countries where a dictatorship cedes control, the country struggles to form a new identity for itself.  But despite the uncertainties that come along with newly unveiled democracy (see Egypt) Assad should have given his people the  opportunity to realize this fleeting dream of democracy, but as is  the case throughout history, the ruling class always underestimates the resolve of those they seek to control.

The bigger issue coming out of the conflict in Syria, has little to do with whether Assad will step down or not. The fact of the matter is that the Syrian regime is bound to lose.  Assad himself must know by now that doom is written in his future.  Assad's decision not to step down when the conflict started has created a future for Syria which no Syrian would have wanted.  Because of Assad, sectarian division and violence will become the norm.  And a Syrian identity will cease to exist.

It might seem unfair to lay all the blame at Assad's feet, after all the rebels have a role to play in the distinction just as much as anybody else.  But when you're a leader, it is your responsibility to make sure that you lead, and that you keep things from getting out of hand.  Assad's biggest problem is a failure to manage.  And beyond that, it is the erroneous decision not to have a proper exit strategy at hand.  War is the worst exit strategy any manager can have, and the end will not look good for Assad.  Unfortunately for Syrians, their next chapter is going to be equally demure.  Many people will die before this conflict ends.  Neighbors will kill one another, and each other's children.  In the end the Syria they know will no longer exist.  In its place will be a populated land struggling to identify itself in a region troubled by the melange of modernity and tradition.