Capitol Hill, Seattle, USA

Capitol Hill was the setting of a shooting rampage one and a half weeks ago. It occurred on Republican Street early on a Saturday morning. I lived on Republican Street (though at the other end of it.) Capitol Hill is my neighborhood; it is the one in which I choose to live, and the one in which I plan to work for the foreseeable future. When something like this happens, it reverberates throughout the community in ways that are inexplicable and at this point, unpredictable. There is very little that I can say that has not already been repeated widely.

In the film, Fog of War, Robert McNamara, while recounting one of his more difficult moments in the Deprtment of Defense paraphrased another's words, "humans must stop killing other humans." I don't know anyone who would disagree with such a simple statement. I believe it has universal applications.

I think it applies far beyond our neighborhood. It is unacceptable that one could walk into a house full of people and discharge firearms. It is equally unacceptable that another country should invade another country and discharge the military might. People are full of notions and ideals of military glory deployed for righteous reasons. I believe that it is impossible to reach righteous ends using wicked means. In other words, one cannot do evil in order to bring about good. To apply this premise directly, we cannot rid the world of terror by occupying another country, bombing civilians, and torturing suspects. We cannot build democracy through these activities either.

I have little doubt that the means through which nations interact have a way of reverberating through the populations of all countries. If we expect people to behave civilly toward each other, we should demand the same from our leaders. If it is unacceptable to destroy lives individually, it should be equally so for countries. The rule of law must apply at all levels. If one person is above it, then it does not exist at all.

Humans indeed must stop killing other human beings. That goes for house parties in Capitol Hill, Seattle, just as much as it does for any other person, in any other position, in any other country in the world.