How did YOU feel when Muntadar al-Zeidi threw his shoes at Dumbya Bush last December?
New research from Vanderbilt University indicates the way our brain handles how we move through space-including being able to imagine literally stepping into someone else’s shoes-may be related to how and why we experience empathy toward others.
Well then …
I’ve been thinking about this vis-a-vis Iran, and I can’t come to a firm conclusion.
Would you want expressions of public support if you were out marching against a regime that was willing to use deadly force to enforce its’ edicts? Would you want other governments to take active stances in your fight for expression and personal rights?
What do YOU think Jane and John Doe Iranian want from us this very day?
I do know how angry it makes me when our own governments physically attack demonstrators who are largely non-violent. I do know it puts me out front and center in shows of support even if I can’t be at the physical location of the assaults. I do know it would be nice to have the Vermont legislators speak loudly and clearly against such attempts to stifle our constitutional rights to assemble and petition government.
I also know politicians across the globe use suspicion of “outsiders” and the concepts of local exceptionalism to whip up government driven fear based reactions in the public.
I tend to think if I were an Iranian dissident I’d want Obama to do exactly what he is doing now: quiet rhetoric that tells me the world is watching while I try to change a system I know and understand.
But I’m not sure … I’m still trying to fit into those Iranian shoes.