natual and manmade calamities

In the morning today heard about the 7.8 earthquake in Chengdu, called Lina immediately. She is ok. So many natural disasters are now there and also much severe, from cyclone in Burma, to volcano eruption in Chile to tornado in south east states of USA. Death seems so much in mind all the time.

In PBS heard about how USA destroyed the culture of the Native Americans by putting them in boarding schools where they were give English names and were forbidden to utter a single word from their native language and were Christianized. Such a shameful way to cultures without any remorse and still thought to be most civilized.

Destroying another culture has been such a predominant part of a culture’s identity as a better one. Once the temples, statues and paintings etc are destroyed in the name of Jesus Christ or Mohamed or Vishnu, there is no way to get the creation back in track.

I hear and read about war and death and destruction, almost all the time. I see guys in army trucks or otherwise killing other guys as well as kids and women, while women are begging for food for their kids. Some cases it is most sophisticated killing like dropping bombs on people they don’t know. War and destruction have been part of men’s culture from the beginning of civilization, from Greeks, Roman to USA. The major difference is that early days those who choose to fight and die were getting killed, not with the armada countries like USA has kills mostly civilians and injure masses.

I always wondered why people watch sports or any other activities where they are not physically participating but only seeing some one else doing the task, may it be car racing or American football game. There might be certain centers in the brain which make these the audience or onlooker feel as if they are in real the players and executing the action. After the arrival of TV, spectator sports have become one of the major attractions, big businesses as well as cause for obesity and obsession. Intellectual pursuit has been mostly replaced by watching in TV some one playing cricket or golf.