Peru: Barbarity or Civilization

Federico Salazar, Gestión (business-oriented), Lima, Sept. 13, 2001.

Horror on a worldwide scale. Globalized criminal dementia. The attacks on the twin towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington have knocked the weak thread that maintains our civilization out of whack. We cannot know the motive or reason for the attack. We cannot understand the logic or the meaning behind it. We are simply staggered by shock and stupor. This did not happen because someone failed in his job. We should not look for a scapegoat, but instead find those responsible for this genocide.

Barbarity cannot be changed with more barbarity, but with civilization. Spreading civilization’s advantages, its meaning, motives, and options is a way of defending ourselves from the beasts who do not know how to channel their frustration. We have the duty of understanding the essence of our civilization, and we have the duty of using this understanding for persuasion.