More outrage

  • Posted by RSA
  • July 20, 2006

My outrage knows no bounds. Martin Peretz, in a piece called “The Exercise of Common Sense”, writes,

I have just read the five Lebanon Travel Warnings issued by the Department of State from November 18, 2004 through today, July 19. OK, forget about the last one. It came too late for those trapped in Lebanon now. But people who still don’t take its advice have only themselves to blame. Or they don’t watch television. But the four statements of foreboding that came before–I haven’t gone further back than November 2004–don’t make Lebanon seem at all inviting, and the insistent travelers–come to think of it–also have only themselves to blame.

I’ll propose an analogy: There are unofficial (and probably official) warnings to tourists that they should avoid going into Central Park, in New York City, after dark. People who do this, of course, are taking the risk of getting mugged, raped, or worse. I wonder if Martin Peretz’s response to news that something along these lines has happened is “They have only themselves to blame”? As with tourists stranded in Lebanon, victims of crimes and natural disasters can reasonably assign some blame to other sources.

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July 20th, 2006
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Comment Number:
1
Written by:
smijer
Posted on:
July 20, 2006 at 1:34 pm

One has to wonder what his point is… I mean is he asking us to step from, “they ignored warnings” to “it’s their own fault”, and from there to “they deserve what they get”, and then “so screw ‘em”… ?

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
RSA
Posted on:
July 20, 2006 at 5:21 pm

That’s what I thought as well. I think that expectations about what can be done to address the situation are separate from how one gets into a situation in the first place. Peretz doesn’t seem to care about the difference. I can imagine him as a doctor, asking how a patient got his injuries, before he goes in to save him.

Comment Number:
3
Written by:
Mack
Posted on:
July 21, 2006 at 1:11 pm

I lived on the Upper East side of Manhattan for about nine years and for a couple of years dated a girl who lived just across the park. It never ocurred to me even once to ride throught the park after midnight to or fro. Yes, the NYPD would be obligated to go in after you if you got in trouble there, but wtf? How could a reasonable person assign the blame to NYC for not physically restraining them from going?

Yes, we are obligated to get them out because they’re Americans and we can’t turn our backs on them, and I understand that many of them are visiting family, and their timing just happened to suck worse than usual; that’s the way it is. But c’mon - let’s not try to reassign the blame. They had to have known that it was dangerous, but they were just banking on it not going off while they were there. These were not hidden or unknown dangers, just underestimated risks; I don’t think anybody believed that it would break wide open like it did (except the guys and gals at State that write the tourist warnings).

Bottom line, the American taxpayers are footing the bill for their choice of vacation spot, just like taxpayers often foot the bill for motorcyclists who don’t believe in wearing helmets or drivers who don’t believe in seat belts.