What a bizarre little story (US military takes tough line against soldiers who wed Iraqis), and so telling of the very attitudes that would make two peoples take up arms against one another. Why not get married? What better ambassadors would either side have? (taking into account that such hasty marriages might be ill-advised from personal standpoints.) What could possibly show more humanity between two people than the possibility of their falling in love with each other? What could show more clearly that perhaps there really isn’t anything to all the claims on both sides that the other isn’t human?
A possible solution to all the strife between peoples around the world: mix up the cards till you can’t tell up from down, left from right. Blend the paints till there is nothing but uniform, well-baked brown. Lace the languages till tongues intertwine, slip into babble, and emerge a new, all-inclusive lingo. We will all be mutts, with one blue eye and one green.
Laughing Knees 
6 replies on “Root Causes”
I like George Carlin’s idea for peace through non stop tap dancing…
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I also like his proof for why dogs are more intelligent than cats: dogs have movable eyebrows.
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At one point a number of years ago, I mused that America might move to solve its race problem gradually through encouragement of mixed race marriages, perhaps through specific tax incentives. I no longer believe it’s appropriate to use taxation as a weapon of social policy, nonetheless, the end-goal seems worthy.
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What an over-reaction. Inter-cultural romances have always been a “beneficial side-effect” of war.
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One brown eye, and the other, uh, brown. And latte-chocolato-cappuccino skin, and black wavy hair.
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I like the connections and agree that the policy is stupid.
On the other hand, I wonder if some things rich and wonderful might be lost if we all became a homogeneous jumble of traits; I’d rather live in a world in which unique contributions shine like bright jewels in the dark than one where we all live in the mud. Perhaps there is a space in which we can learn to celebrate difference while simultaneously acknowledge our shared connections?
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