Soldiers are Heroes
The 'How Leftie are You?' Quiz (http://games.usvsth3m.com/how-leftie-are-you/)
So I am aware that it is a propensity of quizzes such as these to divide the world into binaries: you like tea, you're British, you don't, you're not; you think that Margaret Thatcher's death requires a moment of silence (right wing), or celebration (left wing). Such scenarios make no allowance for a middle ground. The fact that I don't believe in celebrating death does not mean that I do not vehemently oppose Thatcher's policies and all that she stood for. Neither does the fact that I would disagree with the blanket statement 'Soldiers are Heroes' make me a lefty-liberal type.
We are very quick, some of the time to divide the world into binaries, right and wrong, good and bad. My cause is just and thus any actions I take in pursuit of this are, you cause is unjust and thus so are your actions. This is something that was seen in South Africa (which, you may have guessed, I am currently writing an essay about). The argument placed there was that because the ANC were fighting a 'just' war, in rightful pursuit of independence and fair treatment, they could not be accused of 'gross human right's violations'. Yet the Truth and Reconciliation Commission held (rightly in my opinion) that unjust acts in the pursuit of a just cause are still subject to investigation. This indeed, is upheld by international law (in the form of the Geneva Convention), a just war requires to not merely just cause but just action in pursuit of that cause.
Shades of grey are often missing in judgement of political situations, the 9/11 and 7/7 attacks in the USA and UK respectively were unjust, reprehensible, utterly without cause or provocation. In contrast to this, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the 'war on terror', and Guantanamo Bay are all 'justified' by the necessities of war and self-protection. The debate is set out (arguably by both sides) with clear lines of right and wrong, with no question of the other side being justifiable or reasonable.
I like these silly quizzes, I don't tend to take them too seriously, but occasionally they strike a nerve and make one think, because such clear-cut distinctions are not merely the province of facile internet memes, but of politicians, governments and states, and so they become problematic.
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