Nicolas Kristof is one of my favorite editorial writers at the New York Times and a couple of days ago, he wrote in from Saudi Arabia. The title of his piece was "So, I Asked the People of Saudi Arabia About Their Mad, Murderous Crown Prince."
Kristof had been friends with Jamal Khashoggi for over 15 years and he started interviewing people in Riyadh about their thoughts over his murder and dismemberment and whether this affected their overall impressions of the Saudi Crown Prince. There was a great deal of nervousness in their replies. Kristof asked the women that he met, as they drove him to his appointments, if they felt their new found freedom could be enjoyed in the face of the incarceration of women human rights activists and the floggings and sexual harassment they have endured, with no clear charges placed against them. All switched the topic of conversation away from honest replies to their overall exuberance at how this Saudi Prince has revived the economy and their spirits.
Yes, but at what cost?
Adolph Hitler rose to power with the same promise of a brighter tomorrow for Germany in a time of economic depression, and the entire country rallied around him. They turned their backs on the atrocities that started to percolate within their society. They turned away completely when their Jewish neighbors were taken away to be slaughtered. Along with the gypsies, the homosexuals, the Freemasons and the mentally infirm.
At what point does the Faustian compact become complete?
At what point do we lose our humanity?
Kristof had been friends with Jamal Khashoggi for over 15 years and he started interviewing people in Riyadh about their thoughts over his murder and dismemberment and whether this affected their overall impressions of the Saudi Crown Prince. There was a great deal of nervousness in their replies. Kristof asked the women that he met, as they drove him to his appointments, if they felt their new found freedom could be enjoyed in the face of the incarceration of women human rights activists and the floggings and sexual harassment they have endured, with no clear charges placed against them. All switched the topic of conversation away from honest replies to their overall exuberance at how this Saudi Prince has revived the economy and their spirits.
Yes, but at what cost?
Adolph Hitler rose to power with the same promise of a brighter tomorrow for Germany in a time of economic depression, and the entire country rallied around him. They turned their backs on the atrocities that started to percolate within their society. They turned away completely when their Jewish neighbors were taken away to be slaughtered. Along with the gypsies, the homosexuals, the Freemasons and the mentally infirm.
At what point does the Faustian compact become complete?
At what point do we lose our humanity?