A jihad for critical thinking

" It cud have been me. I was planning to leave late frm office. If i had my landing at VT wud have coincided with the shootings.

The leopolds where the shootings happened, that was psychotic, i mean, most of us journos are regular at leo's and mondy's (next to it). "

Someone dear wrote that to me today. My near and dear are okay. But I still couldn't sleep much yesterday night. One of the worst things in life should be when you have that sinking, helpless and nervous feeling AND you can't do anything about it.

The problem with the discourse being exclusively focused on the macro policies, say GWOT, (in addition to the horrible acronyms that is) is that it indeed makes us, the common people, feel powerless, helpless, dependent. In addition, what any elected government in any open society can do will always have its limits.

The micro, the individual is important.

Perhaps more.

In fact, more.

And I thought of him - the other.

So, picture him for a second. A 17-21 year old middle class boy. Frustrated - dissatisfied with his life, frustrated emotionally, sexually, spiritually. It is quite easy as most of us were that boy once. For most, the frustration is sort of channeled at the hapless middle aged parents, sometimes the 'system'.


He is their target.

He is an easy target. He does not have any life experience. He does not have any perspective. He has seen very little of the world, of life. Enlisting him is exceptionally easy for any demagogue. Pretend he is respected, he is important, that he is part of something important, part of something historic. Promise him future salvation.

After he gets enlisted, almost always he is lost to us. He becomes the other. Most of the time there is no compromise. We, our agencies, our governments have to kill him. To pretend otherwise would be to lie too.

He is our target too. With our thoughts, our art, our work, being us, reaching out to him, we have to enlist him in our jihad - our jihad for critical thinking.

We have to teach him that philosophies, thought systems, 'faiths', religions are all for Man.

Man is not for them. Man is their standard.
That there is no higher standard.

We have to teach him that philosophies can be life affirming or death cultish. That nothing can remain unquestioned as any word of god.

We have to convince him. We have to enlist him.