Elshazly vs. Westhoff

Submitted by Earl Mayfield, Jr. (United States), Jun 18, 2006 at 20:43

Elshazly may have simplified for her audience (cops), but her comments were far closer to correct than Westhoff believes. Westhoff seems not to realize that 'stereotypes" develop because there is a lot of truth to them. Only the terminally politically-correct (like reporters and politicians) dismiss stereotypes out of hand.

Anyone who has lived in any third-world country (not just a brief tourist) recognizes that virtually all such peoples tell others (not just foreigners or strangers; everyone - family, friends, business associates. Everyone.) what they think the listener wants to hear. This isn't a conscious decision to lie; it is a cultural norm for these societies. You can call it "politeness," a "cultural imperative," "enlightened self-interest," "survival instinct," or anything else.

It is a behavior learned during childhood, and psychology tells us that behaviors and beliefs learned during childhood are pervasive and enduring. That's why the government is handling the "war on terror" badly; it thinks because the enemy sometimes makes nice, that that is a reliable position.

There's far too much microscopic analysis and intellectualizing going on about the Muslim terrorists. If you get stung by bees, and kill only the stinging bees in the hive, the other bees make more stinging bees. To end the stinging, you have to kill the whole hive. It doesn't matter if the support bees are passive or not. They make it possible for the stinging bees to exist and operate.

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