Everything is connected

[Хahar 🤔]

I read about Mobutu and Milton Obote and Idi Amin and the Ugandan Bush War and Yoweri Museveni and Juvénal Habyarimana and Paul Kagame and the Rwandan Civil War and Hutu Power and Kabila père and fils and the Mai-Mai and I realize that I will never understand any of this. There have never been any battles in the Santa Clara Valley. The closest thing to that is a skirmish in Monterey and a skirmish in Marin in 1846. My life will never be in danger unless I put it there. How can I be so egotistic as to attempt to understand these things?

[Holmes]

If that's how you feel, then don't try to understand it?

[Associate Justice PiT]

If that's how you feel, then don't try to understand it?

     Agreed. One can wish to understand the causes & motivations of these events, but none of us can really understand living in a warzone without actually having done so.

[Vepres]

I read about Mobutu and Milton Obote and Idi Amin and the Ugandan Bush War and Yoweri Museveni and Juvénal Habyarimana and Paul Kagame and the Rwandan Civil War and Hutu Power and Kabila père and fils and the Mai-Mai and I realize that I will never understand any of this. There have never been any battles in the Santa Clara Valley. The closest thing to that is a skirmish in Monterey and a skirmish in Marin in 1846. My life will never be in danger unless I put it there. How can I be so egotistic as to attempt to understand these things?

Empathy is possible without actually experiencing something. Otherwise, we'd all form little clans with those similar and have no interest in helping others.

I have read a number of first hand accounts of living in such places in biographies and such, and I actually have some idea of what it would be like (and it would suck, obviously). A Long Way Gone (Google it) really gave me perspective on these things.

Now, we can't fully understand it, but we can have a good perspective of it. Of course, it also depends on your personality. Some are naturally more inclined to be able to understand what others are going through because of their natural understanding of emotions and other people.

Besides, why not try? The alternative is to not understand at all, and become an ignorant and insensitive person. I don't think trying to understand, even if you may never understand it 100%, is honorable and far from egotistic. It shows you want to understand what those in far worse conditions than you or I and thus emphasize with them, that's far from egotistic.

Unless I'm misunderstanding what you mean, in which case I have wasted five minutes of my time

[Bo]

I lived in a semi-war zone for several years of my life. That experience has taught me to be a cautious hawk.

[Hash]

I lived through May 2003 and the year 2004 in Riyadh. We moved to another house for one night because of a terrorist threat. I lived in what was allegedly the most radical and sensitive area of Riyadh. My compound and school were encircled by the Saudi Arabian National Guard.

Yet, I don't think I'm better prepared or better informed than anyone here concerning what it's really like to live in a real war zone.

[Vepres]

I lived through May 2003 and the year 2004 in Riyadh. We moved to another house for one night because of a terrorist threat. I lived in what was allegedly the most radical and sensitive area of Riyadh. My compound and school were encircled by the Saudi Arabian National Guard.

Yet, I don't think I'm better prepared or better informed than anyone here concerning what it's really like to live in a real war zone.

Well, define war zone. If you mean guns being fired and bombs being dropped, than few people from our generation outside of some very unstable countries would know.

[memphis]

Plenty of guns fired in my town every day

[Bo]

Plenty of guns fired in my town every day

Maybe back during the Civil War.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

I heard gunshots from a double murder once.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

I read about Mobutu and Milton Obote and Idi Amin and the Ugandan Bush War and Yoweri Museveni and Juvénal Habyarimana and Paul Kagame and the Rwandan Civil War and Hutu Power and Kabila père and fils and the Mai-Mai and I realize that I will never understand any of this. There have never been any battles in the Santa Clara Valley. The closest thing to that is a skirmish in Monterey and a skirmish in Marin in 1846. My life will never be in danger unless I put it there. How can I be so egotistic as to attempt to understand these things?

The situation therefore is simple... go there.

EDIT: I'm surprised you didn't mention the French in your rant. And yes everything is connected.

[minionofmidas]

You mean Mau-Mau?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Its impossible to fully understand anything that you've not experienced yourself, that's true. But you can understand parts of things, a certain side of something, an important aspect of an event or historical process. And because of how complicated and full of detail the world happens to be, that's actually a hell of a lot.