Poor William's Almanack, August 23, 2007, Kill or Be Killed

Ben Franklin's bifocals Thursday, August 23, 2007

Hero of Great Lakes Oliver Hazard Perry, USN

[1785 - Oliver Hazard Perry, Naval Officer, born in Wakefield, Rhode Island]

[1833 - Great Britain abolishes slavery in its colonies]

[1869 - Edgar Lee Masters, poet, born in Garnett, Kansas]

[1912 - Gene Kelly, dancer, actor, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]

[1960 - Oscar Hammerstein II, librettist, dies at age 65]

[1989 Yusuf Hawkins, 16, is shot to death by 30 whites in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn]

Kill or Be Killed

That most men (and a growing number of women) are capable of killing their fellow beings does not surprise me. After all, in the evolution of the race those who were incapable of murder experienced a survival disadvantage. What does depress me is that we have been so successful in justifying the carnage in terms of necessity, revenge, religion, greed, economic circumstance, justice, security, racial or ethnic purity, or what ever happens to be the currently fashionable esoteric explanation.

William's Whimsical Words:

The list of justifications is not new, but their scope seems to be constantly expanding.

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