September 11, 2006

Part 1

So I see that it is September 11.

I just realized this has a special meaning for a lot of people in the world.

It has a special meaning for me too, but much different for me than for many people with power in the part of the world I was born and raised in.

That part of the world is now called the USA.

It is really just some land on the world, pretty much like the land on other parts of the world. But in that part of the world, there are people who think, believe, feel and act differently than in other parts.

A lot of people in the rest of the world don’t like the people in that part of the world. Some of them want to kill the people in that part of the world.

I have been trying to get people in that part of the world to ask the question “Why do they want to kill us?” and to really think about the answers in a more intelligent, or let’s say emotionally intelligent way. I have been trying to get them not to listen to one human being with a big mouth named George Bush who says things that only make more people want to kill the people in that part of the world.

This one human being, named George by his father and mother a long time ago, has a lot of power and influence. He has way too much, in my opinion. The people in his part of the world have too much power I would say. They can kill too many people. They are not using their power in a healthy way.

I tried to get some interest in something like a petition to stop the use of lethal and destructive weapons. I didn’t get a lot of people from that part of the world writing me in support. But I will keep trying in my own small way to open people’s minds. To touch their hearts.

I know there are better ways to raise children and teenagers. I know there are better ways to use power. I know there are better ways to stop the killing than to kill and destroy. Or to divide the world into different parts called countries and different belief systems called religions.

I know all of this. So I will keep writing what I know and keep trying to allow new ideas into my mind and to let my mind generate new ideas. And to keep following my feelings which tell me that there is a better way. My pain is what tells me. My pain tells me what needs to be changed. My pain tells me what I need and what children and teenagers need.

I would like to end this on a really profound note. But I can’t think of anything profound. So I will just end it with a line from Ocean:

Hugs to anyone who needs one.

S. Hein
Sept 11, 2006
Salta, Argentina

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Part 2

I just came across this picture. It is a little girl from Lebanon the week that the Israelis were bombing it to bloody bits.

I think it is fitting to write about this little girl on September 11, 2006.

I think it is fitting because the United States could have prevented what we see in this picture. This little girl didn’t need to be crying hysterically. She didn’t need to be traumatized like this, probably for life.

The United States is unquestionably the most powerful country in the world, when it comes to the ability to kill and destroy. And traumatize. May I add “terrorize?”

The United States, or at least the political party in power for the recent past, is not using its power wisely. They are using it irresponsibly. They did not respond in a wise or an emotionally intelligent way to what happened in New York on September 11, 2001. So five years later, the killing continues. And it will continue for many years to come.

Yet the USA could have prevented this little girl's tears and fears. The United States could have used its power to prevent Israel from doing what it did in Lebanon. Instead it continues to talk the same rhetoric about “fighting terrorism.”

All George Bush’s rhetoric did not prevent this little girl’s home from being bombed. It did not prevent all the hatred caused by the Israelis against them and the Americans by many people around the world. If not hatred, then resentment, and if not resentment then a further loss of respect and admiration. As I have traveled over the past 20 or so years I have seen first hand the eroding respect and admiration for the USA. It is dropping as steadily as one of the American made bombs.

I believe it is long past time for the American government to take a different course.

Too many Americans have not learned the bloody lessons from Sept 11, 2001. I wonder how many more deaths it will take for them to learn. I know that many Americans do not agree with George Bush and with those who believe the way to stop killing and destruction is by more killing and destruction. The elections were very close. Yet George Bush, who I consider the most dangerous person in history, won another term.

The entire world will long have to suffer the consequences of the lack of judgment and lack of healthy emotional intelligence when those who voted for George Bush re-elected him to mislead the most lethal country ever known to mankind.

The United States could use its power to disarm countries like Israel, a country that depends so much on the USA for support. It would have a more difficult time with, say, North Korea, because it doesn't have the same kind of influence there. But the USA could have prevented Israel from its inhumane bombing, one result of which was what we see in this child's face.

The United States could be using its educational system to raise a new generation of international peace activists. Instead of "No child left behind" the theme could be "No teachers with a violent mind."

The United States could be using its universities to teach scientists who would work for companies making non-lethal weapons instead of the deadly ones they now produce by the thousands. These deadly and hate producing weapons are not only misused by people like George Bush in the USA, but they are manufactured for export and blatant profit-making.

Yes, the people in the United States could have prevented what happened in Lebanon. They could have prevented this girl's pain. They could have prevented the escalation in the hatred towards Israel and the USA. It doesn't even take one week in good emotional intelligence course to know that bombing people's homes, streets and offices won't reduce their hatred towards you. I say a "good" course because most courses are designed to help a person be more "successful", which usually means to be more productive, to sell more of something, or to be more emotionally skilled in your ability to manipulate people who work for you or take orders from you in other settings such as schools. Most courses don't even discuss the topic of wars and killing. I learned more in a one-day course on conflict management than the leaders of Israel, and USA seem to know about it. That was the rule of de-escalating the conflict, not moving it to a higher and more dangerous level.

The people in the USA don't have as much influence on the Arab countries as they do in Israel. So if they want to be leaders in any direction, they must use the influence they have. I suggest they lead us away from killing and destruction. And I look forward to they day when they elect someone who we can call a real leader and not a mis-leader.

S. Hein
September 11, 2006
Salta, Argentina

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By the way, if you cry when you stare at this little girl's face, please let me know. You are a rare person.

And if you want to give her a hug and promise you will do everything you can to stop the killing in the world, then I believe you have high emotional intelligence. I don't care, by the way, if you use drugs, or disobey your teachers or can't do geometry or think about killing yourself or aren't considered a "success" by those around you. I don't agree with the so called experts in emotional intelligence. I have my own definition and measures of it.

So if you are really moved to action by just looking into her face and thinking about the way the world is right now, then I say you have exceptionally high emotional intelligence.