JUSTICE WANTED/THE WAY WE THINK

I don’t have all the answers: In fact, I have mostly questions. When I was a little girl, I drove my father to distraction by asking him again and again, “DADDY, WHY?”


My father always had good answers, and when he didn’t know the answers, he knew how to go about finding them. He taught me how to do that. Later on, I learned that this art is called “research”. But there are so many questions for which classical research methods provide no satisfactory answers. Now that my father is no longer here to help me understand, I ask these questions in my own mind again and again. WHY ? WHY ?


For example, at the start of the 21st century, we see former U.S. president Bill Clinton playing the role of a Johnny-come-lately saviour of the oppressed. It’s never too late to do good. But when people speak of his record, he is remembered for the sordid tidbit with Monica Lewinsky.


1. Why don’t we remember that he lied and he lied and he lied? No one mentions that. I think it’s more important than his personal affairs. All powerful men are tempted because women are drawn to them and they can’t resist enjoying the goodies. That issue was between him and his wife. But he lied to the people who elected him and who depended on him and who paid his salary, and I can’t find any way to justify his bald-faced lies. Why lie unless you are afraid and/or power hungry? Was the White House that comfy?


2. Even more important is the fact that Bill Clinton deliberately turned his back on thousands of men, women and children while they were being slaughtered in Rwanda when he had the power to act. I can’t figure out how a man can live with himself knowing that he has the power to save innocent people from being butchered and he decides not to do anything about it. Why is it that no one talks about that? Why? When we fail to study history, we are doomed to repeat it.

3. And then I wonder how much we are influenced by the superficial. Our society is fixated on beauty. Would we think about Bill Clinton differently if he were a homely looking person? Are we moved too much by George W's or Stephen Harper's smiles and friendly waves? This might appear to be a trivial question in the light of the previous one, but, perhaps it is something we really need to think about. When we decide to vote for someone, are we looking at the person's character and his or her record, or are we swayed by the images they project with the help of their spin doctors? It's worth some serious consideration. When we cast one vote, we help to tilt the world.

Phyllis Carter
Victims' Voices