If the answer is "no" to my questions, I think the New Republic's moral thing falls apart; unless one believes Israeli humans are more valuable than Palestinian humans. The New Republic's argument is that it's necessary: Israel can't do anything else, and ought implies can. My claim is that if they can do else with their own citizens, they can do else with others. Right. Perhaps all governments must necessarily be immoral. Ethicists have made similar arguments. I think there's a balance. I don't condemn the Israeli government for negotiating a trade agreement to the detriment of other humans. I do condemn them for slaughtering other humans. There's a line somewhere. Something astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell said comes to mind,Practically, of course not. Within the New Republic's convoluted moral thing, where does your hypothetical leave us?
governments have an obligation to their people
You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch.'
This is such a complicated idea, and I find myself on both sides and none whenever I think about it. The Us and Them side is biological and fundamental, but the global consciousness side is what I believe the hope of our species to be. I wish all humans could treat each other the same way and collaborate and so on but we aren't wired that way, probably never will be; and there's an argument to be made that even if we were, the necessary homogenization would be worse than the benefits. So do I, and so, I think, does the author of this piece. He's trying to make a sort of utilitarian argument -- what does he say in the last paragraph about shifting probabilities -- which implies a line. The line is different for everyone. Right now it's Netanyahu's line that matters -- or is it Ya'alon's? Or the Israeli voting mass's? The Jerusalem Post did a poll; looks like your average Jew wants to stick it to Gaza. No one is surprised, but you're damn straight Netanyahu had to incorporate that into his decisions on Sunday.I do condemn them for slaughtering other humans. There's a line somewhere.