"Bombing Afghanistan back into the Stone Age" was quite a favourite headline for some wobbly liberals. The slogan does all the work. But an instant's thought shows that Afghanistan is being, if anything, bombed OUT of the Stone Age.
Interpretation
The quote critiques simplistic views on warfare and progress, suggesting that conflict can lead to development rather than regression.
Christopher Hitchens' quote reflects on the often misleading narratives surrounding warfare, particularly in Afghanistan. He challenges the notion that bombing the region would revert it to a primitive state, instead arguing that such actions might actually propel it towards modernization. It calls for deeper contemplation on the effects of military interventions and highlights the complexities of cultural and technological evolution in the context of conflict.
In practice
In a debate about military intervention, this quote can serve to remind us of the complexities involved.
In a public dialogue with Salman in London he [Edward Said] had once described the Palestinian plight as one where his people, expelled and dispossessed by Jewish victors, were in the unique historical position of being 'the victims of the victims': there was something quasi-Christian, I thought, in the apparent humility of that statement.
What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
Never ask while you are doing it if what you are doing is fun. Don't introduce even your most reliably witty acquaintance as someone who will set the table on a roar.
[E]xceptional claims demand exceptional evidence.
The worst days are when you feel foggy in the head - chemo-brain they call it. It's awful because you feel boring. As well as bored. And stupid. And resigned.
Let me tell you something: for hundreds of thousands of years, this kind of discussion would have been impossible to have, or those like us would have been having it at the risk of our lives. Religion now comes to us in this smiley-face, ingratiating way — because it’s had to give so much more ground and because we know so much more. But you’ve got no right to forget the way it behaved when it was strong, and when it really did believe that it had God on its side.
Rich bachelors should be heavily taxed. It is not fair that some men should be happier than others.
Crime is the price society pays for abandoning character.
There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
The highest religion is to rise to universal brother hood; aye to consider all creatures your equals.
Through Hinduism, I feel a better person. I just get happier and happier. I now feel that I am unlimited, and I am more in control of my own physical body. The thing is, you go to an ordinary church and it's a nice feeling. They tell you all about God, but they don't show you how the way. They don't show you how to become Christ-concious yourself. Hinduism, however, is different.
I am good. I live good. I think good. I don't have to feel good to be good, I take my goodness wherever I go.
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