Do the ends justify the means?

Submitted by Kieron Daniels (United Kingdom), Nov 8, 2002 at 11:50

In America the huge, & generally ill-informed population supports the views & actions of overly powerful & influential corporations. The US is indeed fighting a war against terror, but at the same time securing vital oil supplies.

In Europe the many, diverse & generally well informed members of the EU distrust powerful corporations, trying (with varying degrees of success) to maintain a balance between a strong economy & a broad quality of life. They see between the lines of American actions but end up ignoring the generally positive ends of those actions.

Many in Europe disagreed with action in Afghanistan but in the end, the brutal Taliban regime was removed: isn't that a good thing?
Many disagree with what is going to happen in Iraq, but is the end of Saddam Hussein's regime & the sanctions that go with him a good thing?

Many disagreed with American actions during the cold war, nuclear bases in Europe, Vietnam, the overthrowing of moderate elected governments in S.America. In the end however, the Soviet empire did collapse, so does this end excuse those actions?

I suspect many in both the EU & US would want to exist in isolation, both are adopting aggressive (defensive?) immigration policies, both dislike military actions in general & both are obsessed with domestic issues; health, education, retirement.

However the growing need to secure oil supplies means America is constantly meddling in the politics of those states that could cause problems throughout the industrialized world. (Dune-hydraulic despotism) Those states are unfortunately Islamic & a perceived civilization clash is a result.

In the EU a lack of oil doesn't seem to concern the citizens- sure times would be hard (UK fuel protests Autumn 2000) but coal, gas, fission would be enough through the hard times & eventually reusable energy or Fusion would take over for the benefit of all.

In the US though a belief of eternal cheap gasoline & energy drives a keen political desire to ensure that right isn't threatened. The perceived civilization clash (not helped by the refusal of Israel to grant a Palestinian state & America's support of this policy) is the fuel for Islamic fundamentalists.

The EU is suspicious of the corporate run states & this unfortunately leads it to ignore a lot of good done by those businesses.

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