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Have I ever called them heroes?
You want me to say that the firebombing of Edo was perpetrated by mad people? Ok, it was. This is nothing new to me, nothing new for me to say, either. I don't appreciate being boxed into a corner that I'm pretty sure you know I don't belong in. What this man is expressing is nothing new and no less irrational than any other call for slaughter. But it is still irrational and still wrong.
---------- Post added at 04:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:43 PM ----------
I realize that the word 'mad' is rhetorical and not a medical diagnosis. That doesn't negate the fact that there are medical diagnoses for people who rationalize extreme action. And I don't doubt for a second that most people in positions of great (or perceived great) power suffer from them to some extent. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
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Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce
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