Going for a "Long Walk"

his book on kissinger being tried for war crimes (the case for) is thought provoking. although i dont agree with it. i think kissinger is that bloke who will sit down with anyone to solve any problem at any cost. a clever clever man. i recommend his book on diplomacy.

robert macnamara recently stated that he and curtis lemay would have been tried for war crimes if the allies hadnt won WWII.

mother teresa would treat the sick, but not cure them. if you went in sick the nuns would nurse you but not cure you. no doctors calling by etc

still better than no treatment at all – which is why she was popular. she would treat *anyone*. in inda where caste determines life/death to this day she stood out.

evil people can do good things. its all about motivation. many volunteers in SES. st vinnies etc do it because it makes them feel good. but they also provide a community benefit.

id rather have a focussed psycopath with a goal organising my 72 day foray into afghanistan than a well intentioned dogooder with glowing references from the local priest.

i still think these ‘walks for cause du jour’ are a WOT

I think it was mother teresa’s attitude towards the people she was helping that made her a bit of monster.. ie she was only doing a lot of her shiz because it meant salvation for her and possibly for them.. but as a whole she was often disgusted by the people she was helping. Wasn’t she also very old school sexist as well?

Have been meaning to read some hitchens – I may not agree with some of his political views but I hear he has some pretty insightful views on religion.

coelacanth you cant believe everything you hear from other people. I actually know Amy’s sister and have met her a few times and dont have a problem with her at all. People will always say mean things about others when they are jealous of them. And even if someone was a bully way back in school days that doesnt mean they are a bad person. People change and its good to see that she is trying to make a difference about something. A lot of people would love to make a difference but dont know how to go about it so perhaps this is just the only way she knows how?

christopher hitchens wrote a very good book about mother teresa.

the nay side has a voice too.

Interesting, coelacanth. It’s funny how we never question the backgrounds of people who make themselves famous by doing stuff like this – the media portrays them as selfless heroes without much knowledge of the person’s background and personality.

I can’t say I knew her personally, but Mother Teresa was, by many accounts, a backstabbing bitch. But we don’t ever hear that side of the story, do we?

Yeah… I don’t usually (ie. ever) post on this site, but I’ve got something to say on this one. I’ve met this girl, and I’ve met others who have met this girl, and I haven’t heard a good thing about her from anyone. If what one of the girls she went to school with said is true, then she’s caused more depression than she’s ever likely to help – apparently she was a bit of a bully. That matches what I saw in her more recently. Also she’s involved in some fairly wacky personal development stuff, like Anthony Robbins type things only serious, which sets off some alarm bells.

The last walk she did she talked a lot about ‘inspiring’ people, and without wanting to be too harsh, I do think that was a glory thing. This one might be too. So, yeah, maybe be a bit cautious about backing this one.

Maybe it’s like some kind of well intentioned Big Brother experience – you do good work but you also get some minor fame.

Maybe she is looking for meaning.

If it’s not hurting anyone, good on her.

I’m all for raising awareness about depression and other forms of mental illness. Not sure why there’s such an attachment to the “and ye, and verily, he/she did wander for forty days and forty nights” approach. Perhaps she can chat to her magical sky fairy on the way and ask It why, despite being omnipotent, omnipresent, and omnibenevolent, It couldn’t see Its way to saving poor Clea in the first place. Or magically cure an amputee.

Actually, these walks tend to generate a decent amount of media coverage – which is more than you can say for other forms of activism – and that seems to be her stated goal.

There are plenty of causes in the world worth putting in the public eye, and this is certainly one of them.

For that, and for the fact that she’s a younger person actually contributing to society, she deserves a pat on the back.

what is she ‘doing’ ?

thsi mania for ‘walks’ to ‘raise money/awareness’ are not actually ‘doing’ anything.

waste

of

time