tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046628493283608233.post4186521078341132152..comments2023-10-29T05:29:58.599-04:00Comments on Right-Side-of-Lowell: BystandersUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3046628493283608233.post-59884609919657816132009-03-17T21:13:00.000-04:002009-03-17T21:13:00.000-04:00Cliff,I loved this post -- of course, it's way too...Cliff,<BR/><BR/>I loved this post -- of course, it's way too easy to look back on something and just say "Well, this is what I would have done" and just take some super moral high-road with perfect 20/20 hindsight. But obviously there were Vichy supporters in France and the colonies, and there were also plenty of Americans who supported or at least condoned slavery prior to our Civil War. <BR/><BR/>The best way to answer the "What would you really have done?" question is just to answer this: "What are you doing now?" The modern examples you cited are good..and if people are skittish about sending money away to charities or whatever, here are some ideas -- teach a kid how to read, volunteer to coach a team, donate food or money to soup kitchen, etc. <BR/><BR/>Also, as to the *innocence* thing, this comes up a lot with U.S. foreign policy. People use hindsight to stake their position and try to capture moral high ground. Take Iraq for example -- I don't really give a damn what someone thinks about what we should've done in 2003, but I care a lot about 2009. But still, people try to frame the entire discussion around the 'but we shouldn't be there anyway' line to gain some type of innocence, when really they were probably a bystander at best. <BR/><BR/>As I love to say, it's hard to make policy and it's easy to throw spitballs (..cue up the Teddy Roosevelt 'man in the arena' quote)..<BR/><BR/>best,<BR/>gpThe New Englanderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06201310505648616855noreply@blogger.com