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4.19.04 We Must All Be Responsible for Terrorism

In yesterday's National Review Online, Claudia Rosett describes the frightening tangle of corporate links between the UN food-for-oil program and terrorism. But really, haven't we seen that all paths lead to 9/11? First were those ads saying if you used drugs, you were supporting terrorism. Now, there are ads saying if you drive an SUV you are responsible (because of oil dependence).

But isn't the truth more like this: In a world where we honor capitalism, entrepreneurship, competition, tax-avoidance and extreme outsourcing aren't we always less than 6 degrees of separation from evil? Money flows and everyone has his hand out for a piece of the action. We worship at the feet of the market economy -- no regulation, please. Buy, sell, keep the money moving. While two-thirds of the world is worried about the economy of legitimate goods and services, the other two-thirds trades in arms, drugs, slavery/prostitution, and other black markets. No, I don't have a math problem. It's that overlapping third that entangles the black and white markets. Bad guys run good restaurants. A charity donation finds its way to al Qaeda. Our streams of fresh-water goodness all eventually hit the moral estuary, where they turn to salt.

What a dark thought for a lovely spring afternoon.

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