Poppy field in Musa Qala, Helmand province. Recent scenes from Afghanistan - The Big Picture - Boston.com
And now, my beauties, something with poison in it, I think. With poison in it, but attractive to the eye -- and soothing to the smell. Poppies... poppies... poppies...
Posted by: Gagdad Bob at April 1, 2009 6:09 PMCurrently watching The Greeks - Crucible of Civilization. Netflix.
Democracy was not a sure thing. The narrator intones that, indeed, life was nasty, brutish and short before the notion of government by the people created a society in which all people could willingly invest their energies and profit communally from the increased prosperity. Law, philosophy, science, theater, literature all followed.
Looking at these incredible, wrenching pictures I try not to descend into despair as I look at the primitive-seeming existence in that bleak god-forsaken land.
I shudder at that existence, the lack of knowledge and access to the world that we take for granted.
And the fact of our refined sensibilities (a luxury) illustrated by a warning about two of the pictures that depict carnage. How different from a culture that finds entertainment in the competition for the carcass of a calf.
Contrast those scenes to the formal rituals of grief for our fallen soldiers. Measured steps. Polished wood. A general genuflects before a grieving woman.
Civilization.
Our debt to those who have died so that our freedoms may be preserved and stand watch far away over a bleakness that shrinks the heart is great.
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