Greatest nation on earth
Over the past two days, the Syrian rebels have put on a masterclass on how to win hearts and minds.
They have made clear that Sharia law will not be imposed. Women will not be removed from the public sphere. They will not be cloistered, draped in burqas against their will. If they choose to wear Islamic dress, that will be a personal choice; it will not be imposed by the new government.
The HTS has also declared a general amnesty for the former regime's soldiers. There will be no vengeance, no retribution. Regime officers accused of torture will face justice; but the rank and file will be able to return to their homes, and help rebuild the country.
In the days since Bashar al-Assad was ousted, the victors have shown a grace and forgiveness which beggars belief, when one considers the violence not only of the civil war, but the violence of the entire al-Assad dynasty and Ba'athist regime. It is quite simply remarkable. It is everything we in the West consider good and noble.
And then you have the United States.
Last week, a health insurance CEO was gunned down in cold blood on a Manhattan street. His murderer was immediately lauded as a folk hero, striking a blow against corporate tyranny. Luigi Mangione, the assassin, was caught this week. The reaction has been illustrative. His supporters on the Left still support him, even though he is a Trumpist. I've seen comments that even though he is a rightist, he's developing "class consciousness"; this perception excuses rank murder. The justifications given—the CEO, Brian Thompson, was head of an insurance firm which denied 30% of claims, so he has blood on his hands, and therefore deserved to die—are nothing but excuses for vigilantism.
I'm not here to defend the deceased. If there is an afterlife, he will have to answer for his actions in this one. But that is neither here nor there.
Syrians are showing a grace and humility which, again, is remarkable considering what they have suffered. War, murder, torture, famine. Exile from their homes. Living as refugees, shunned by the countries in which they find themselves unwillingly. One would understand the thirst for vengeance. Instead, they have begun the journey to healing. They have begun the path to, as the rebels have said, building a civilized society.
Up until this week, Syrians had no choice in over who governed them. The elections Ba'athists held were laughable shams. You could be disappeared in the dark of night for whatever reason. No one was safe in their persons or their property. And yet refugees are jamming the roads from Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan back into Syria. They think their country is worth struggling for, worth rebuilding. They who have had nothing for decades are grasping the chance at creating decent lives.
They haven't had what we've had in this country. The opportunity to regularly elect our leaders. To hold them to account. But it seems we've given up on those riches. Through propaganda from inside and out, we've been set against each other. Rather than take our duties as citizens with the seriousness they demand, we're more likely to stay home and revel in political stupor. Many of us won't commit the simple act of voting, or of educating ourselves about the issues. Too many of us who do vote do so out of spite, wanting to hurt rather than to uplift. That's the entire reasoning behind MAGA: retribution against people they feel have held them down, or have gotten unfair advantages against them. We're the richest country in the world. We have no civil war. We have a two century-long tradition of self-government. And it's falling apart because, unlike Syrians, we don't care about our country. We don't care about our fellow-citizens. We are ill-informed, misinformed, disinformed.
Many laud Mangione's actions because they've given up, without reason, on the mechanisms which exist to effect change. "Oh, LL, you naïve fool, Democrats, Republicans, they don't matter. They all will screw you over." Well, Republicans certainly will. And Democrats? Seven million people who voted for Joe Biden in 2020 didn't turn out for Kamala Harris this year. Why would anyone stick their neck out for such a fickle and unreliable bloc? Why stick your neck out for someone who will turn on you in an instant?
"Holding their feet to the fire" should not be a threat. And it should not be negative. It should be a positive, where you give support to a politician, and in return remind them over and over that without you they are nothing. But if holding one's feet to the fire simply means that you will "punish" them by staying home, there's really no incentive. If you won't even stay in the process, and vote for a primary opponent who is more to your liking, then you've abdicated a trust for which generations have fought and died. You, have all the advantages, get into a snit.
Syrians prize the chance for freedom because they have been denied it for the entirety of their history. We, who bray about democracy, are watching it wither on the vine out of petulance. That would be a sad epitaph for the United States, if we continue down this road.