Serious threat to American peace and democracy
Dear editor,
Regardless of the five lives unnecessarily lost in the January 6, 2021 insurrection of our capitol by American domestic terrorists from the incitement of reckless-lying Donald Trump and his herd of heartless cronies, we still can breathe a sigh of relief for dodging a bullet. The mob’s intent to execute Speaker Nancy Pelosi and lynch Vice President Mike Pence would have been nothing imaginable in recent American history of any state of lawlessness.
We are however still not out of the woods with the same terrorists planning more violent protests from January 16 to 20 across the nations with threats, this time, of exercising their second-amendment rights of coming out fully armed for combat just to stop the inauguration of President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris.
The FBI has confirmed the orders of the terrorists asking their colleagues to converge at Washington DC on January 20, with their weapons to prevent any democrats from entering the city for the inauguration ceremony. They have also given their rules of engagement clearly aimed at starting an armed conflict if challenged by state or federal law enforcement officials. Thousands of National Guards and police officers have been mobilized to protect the city and the ceremony; but the magnitude of the looming threat is unpredictable.
Trump is still unrepentant for his reckless behavior last week and we continue to see imbecilic Republican senators like Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham acting as if everything is perfectly normal.
I was worried about the January 6, incident but terribly scared about what could happen next week in the USA. Let us pray!
Samsudeen Sarr
USA
Killer instinct and evil predisposition?
“What happens when good people are put into an evil place? Do they triumph or does the situation dominate their past history and morality?” Philip Zimbardo.
One of the witnesses before the TRRC remarked that every person has a “killer instinct” in him or her, however minute or suppressed it could. That its usage depends on the circumstances one finds himself or herself and how it is nurtured. He argued it could be manifested even in the killing of an insect. The Chair mentioned the names of two individuals, presumably US soldiers, who, regardless the provocation and urge, and the “killer instinct” in them, refused to kill, overcame the instinct to kill.
In his latest piece “Who is capable of evil?”, Mmajiki posits that everyone is capable of evil, and good. That “what we are capable of doing depends on our motivation, the environment, the opportunity and our ability to get away with our actions…”
Then why do presumably “good” people commit evil? What motivates them to act or commit evil? What makes them forget their morality or enable them suppress the “good” in them?
Are humans inherently evil or inherently good? Are we all capable of evil, even if we do not act evil? If we are, can we excuse our or others’ evil? What’s the role of “free will” in our evil doing even if we are capable of evil?
Whatever, if we are capable of evil, we are also capable of greater good.
Njundu Drammeh
Fajara
