Sunday, November 13, 2005

A Heretical Balancing Act!


Balancing the human cost of doing nothing vs. the human cost of doing the wrong thing vs. the human cost of muddling through vs. the human cost of trial and error and large-scale social engineering vs. the human cost of historical imperatives vs. the human cost of all things made inevitable on account of someone’s ideological predilections, avarice, mismanagement and/or downright stupidity vs. the human cost of philosophizing at times of trouble when some action, almost any action, is terribly needed…

Well, what can I say? It all boils down to following the dictates of your heart really, for no amount of rational analysis is going to get us anywhere when we are in the midst of all this mayhem. We cannot forgo rational analysis all together, of course. Still, in the final analysis, you have to stop analyzing and go with what feels right. Just feels right. We should never underestimate the value of human intuition. No, it’s not enough. But when everything else fails…

Meanwhile, Syrian dissident Kamal Labwani is putting on his usual brave face in front of his accusers, and the US official rhetoric has for the first time included emphasis on democratization and human rights in Syria.

The ropewalk towards disaster continues.