Seeing as I haven't had a blog post in awhile, it seems fitting that this one be spurred on by some monumental event that is currently the topic of every single news channel around the country. Also, seeing as I seem to have some sort of a pathological inability to talk about something happy on this blog, I'm gonna make this one depressing to think about. There are a lot of sad things in the world today, and I think this one, what's going on right now, is approaching the top of my list.
Okay, maybe that came out a bit wrong. Let me back up a bit so that I don't sound like a complete and utter moron. Well, okay, foot in mouth, and let's move on. I think it's sad that death is something that can be happy.
Disclaimer moment: Bin Laden Death = Good thing. Not sad. Good. Say it with me: good not sad good not sad good not sad good not sad. Okay. That's out of the way now.
My point doesn't really have anything to do with Bin Laden. I mean, it does, if only because that made me think about it, but really it's about society in general. This is more of a reaction to a reaction than a reaction to the actual event (Think Chris Crocker, but hopefully with at least a little bit more sanity.)
I'm thinking less about the political and social ramifications of all of this and more about what has led up to this moment. I'm thinking about what there has to be so that an entire society can look at the death of an individual and cheer. I'm also cheering along with everyone else, and I think that's a little bit upsetting.
A friend of mine just pointed out on the facebook machine that every death is sad, and I kind of get the point there. As kids, our moral codes are pretty basic (y'know, assuming we aren't all sociopaths). Stealing = wrong. Killing = bad. Dissecting the neighbor's pet = frowned upon. Smiling at strangers = good. Being a meany = not good. Well, turns out the world isn't as simple as that, and I don't like it. I applaud you, facebook friend, for holding on to that belief, but I just don't have it anymore. I envy you.
Instead, I have the belief that sometimes to value life we have to kill, and I think I just figured that out a few seconds ago, and I also think that I don't like my own belief very much. It isn't something that's going to change, because it's only logical. Obviously the man has significantly diminished the worth of his own life (and by "significantly" I mean, "to-the-point-where-I-would-rather-die-of-cholera-than-save-his-life-ever"). But the fact that anyone can commit actions that would so degrade them in my eyes (I'm pretty accepting, right?) just points to how sad the world is.
Summary: the world sucks. I'll just go get over it now.
(P.S. - this happy death topic narrowly beat out my utter repulsion at the use of the phrase "sand monkey" on one of my friend's profiles, inspired by the Osama Bin Laden event. Normally I'd use that kind of an event to rant about the way people form their opinions, but I don't have time for that, and something a bit more depressing than that inspired me. But I just needed to point that out; racial slurs, of any sort, will not be tolerated in my presence.)
