@jaymathesmusic: Reading “The Forty Days of Musa Dagh” right now. Why can’t we prevent history from repeating itself? Oh yeah, now I remember: politics.

Clarification: I’m reading a translation, in English…  The picture to the left is a copy of the first edition.

I’m only one hundred pages in to the book right now, but a lot of what I’ve read so far sounds vaguely familiar: Nazi Germany, Sudan, and the Trail of Tears all come to mind.

I do have one, big clarification, though, on my tweet: I think there are occasions where the main reason countries do no intervene in preventing genocide is because they do not have the resources – financial or otherwise – to stop it. For all practical purposes, this was probably a big factor in WW2. Not most of Europe together could stop Nazi Germany, even though they wanted to.

I think at the heart of this global problem is the fact that people inherently react to events with self preservation as the highest priority. I can bring this theory in to the practical: I love my son. Very much. But when he runs at me when I’m lying on the floor, full-speed, and I don’t see him until the last instant, my only reaction is to lift my arm, shielding my body from the blow, regardless of the consequences to him. Thank God I haven’t hurt him yet this way, but he has definitely lost his breath on a number of occasions.

I’d just like to humbly conclude by saying that this is an area of great interest to me, and one that I know almost nothing about. I tend* to be a serious cynic when in comes politics, and the American political system, in particular, and this obviously affects my views here. I’m open to discovering the truth behind what I’m talking about – even if it means revising my entire view of the matter.