Sunday, December 2, 2012

Circle of Right and Wrong



In 2001, a Chinese jet fighter collided with an American spy airplane over the China Sea, near the Chinese mainland.  Thus an argument ensued.

USA: You have no right to collide with our aircraft and force it to land.
CHINA: You have no right to violate our space.
USA: International law recognizes anything beyond a 12-mile limit as international waters.
CHINA: We recognize a 200-mile limit.
USA: We are within our rights by international law.
CHINA: You are spying on us. This is an act of aggression.
USA: We do it to keep the world safe from the likes of you. Besides you spy on us too.
CHINA: We spy on you because you are attempting to dominate the world.
USA: We are merely trying to keep the peace.
CHINA: You act as though you are the world’s self-appointed police force.
USA: It’s a dirty job but someone has to do it.
CHINA: How would you feel if we sent spy planes off your coastline?
USA: We wouldn’t like that at all.
CHINA: You should mind your own business.
USA: We must patrol the globe to keep evil like you contained.
CHINA: You are an evil empire that always has to have your own way.
USA: We are a democracy. It is our obligation to keep tabs on the rest of the world.
CHINA: If you keep secrets from your citizens, you have no democracy.
USA: We must keep secrets so we can always have the upper hand on evil.
CHINA: We must also keep secrets because of evil like you.
USA: No you don’t because we are the good guys.
CHINA: If you are the good guys, why is it nobody likes you?
USA: Britain likes us. So does Israel. Canada seems to like us too.
CHINA: Big deal.
USA: We intend to keep spying on you.
CHINA: Stay out of our air space or there will be another incident.
USA: You have no right to collide with our aircraft and force it to land.
CHINA: You have no right to violate our space.
USA: International law recognizes anything beyond a 12-mile limit as international waters.
CHINA: We recognize a 200-mile limit.
USA: We are within our rights by international law.
CHINA: You are spying on us. This is an act of aggression.
And so on…

The argument continues in an endless circle -- both sides are certain they are right. But in the scheme of things, only one side can be right.

Unless, or course, neither are right.
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Quote for the Day -- "The moment we want to believe something, we suddenly see all the arguments for it, and become blind to the arguments against it." George Bernard Shaw
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Bret Burquest is the author of 9 books, including THE REALITY OF THE ILLUSION OF REALITY and 11:11 EARTH TIME (available on Amazon). He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where silence is the hardest argument to refute.
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