Hatred and Technology = Despair

Robert Wright explains in an article at The Wilson Quarterly why the combination of deadly technology and the rise in hatred and resentment towards the US bode ill for the world. Interestingly, dare I say obviously, the author pinpoints the crux of the problem as moral--"even spiritual"--an issue that is never broached in the types of discussions. Kudos to the author for some thinking outside of the box. ...

Wright writes:

Fifty years ago, a reasonable lodestone of foreign policy was to make sure all foreign governments either like us or fear us. Today that won’t suffice, because foreign governments no longer mediate all major threats to national security. Essential elements of future security range from the tough international regulation of lethal technologies to a new kind of focus on human well-being around the world. To the extent that people—-Muslim or non-Muslim-—feel bitterly resentful, feel alienated or exploited by America or by globalization, we’re all in trouble.

And maybe policy, though crucial, won’t be enough. Hatred and intolerance are moral, even spiritual, problems. Great moral and spiritual change tends to emanate from somewhere other than legislatures. Unfortunately, that’s one of the few things you can confidently say about it. This part of the solution isn’t nearly as predictable as the problem.