Collateral damage refers to situations in which people other than those involved become involved and get hurt. In “From the Diary of an Almost Four Year Old” it seems that there is some kind of war going on in the country she lives. It feels like she is probably part of some persecuted group and that is why the soldier attacked her. Collateral damage is brought about by situations in which people that should not be involved are affected and deemed “expendable”. I think this type of damage can also affect things other than human beings. For example in the industrial age our country’s natural resources were damaged and extinguished all in the name of progress. Nature was deemed expendable because it does not ecru money or a product like industry does.
The term collateral damage seems to be commonly used by people to describe situations in which they want to act like there was no other choice. Im sure the soldier felt some sort of justification in harming a toddler; otherwise I do not think he would not have done it. The same principle applies to the scarce natural resources we have compared to when our country was founded. People act like collateral damage is unavoidable when in fact they are just using it as an excuse to excuse the actions they take. The term is a strange one however, because collateral damage is anything you out up like getting a loan from those places you see in commercials and giving them the pink slip to your car and the term damage, well, everyone knows what damage is. I think the strangeness of this term fits the situations it is applied to in a certain way, our natural resources are used to achieve the end of profit and like your cars pink slip it is never seen again.
I cannot think of a situation in which collateral damage is morally justified, in my experience I have learned and I believe that collateral damage implies and leads to people or some aspect of life being damaged or destroyed. The concept of it being morally justified brings to my mind that old saying of “sacrifice a few to save many” and “for the grater good”, who decides what the greater good is and what about those few who are sacrificed to save the many, what about them? It sounds practical and rational to say that something must be given up for the majority to flourish but it leads to the question of where this thinking leads; when we allow ourselves to take the easy way out, which in my opinion involves collateral damage, how do we know when we have crossed the line? When is enough, enough? One of the hardest aspects of life is making decisions, any decision that involves a large amount of people will probably involve some sort of collateral damage but I think the best thing to do is draw the line at allowing important things such as human beings to be compromised in some way and minimizing the damage that is done.
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I think that you are right, to some extent there is not such thing as morally justified collateral damage. I also think that you make a very good point about our envirnment and natural resources being expendable to the world so that society can further progress. But what happens when there is nothing else to use and no way to reverse the dramatic changes that have been made? Who fixes the damage after it has been done? I also agree with you about the soldier in the story, I do not think that he would have harmed the toddler if she hadn't been in the group of people set out to be harmed.
ReplyDeleteThat’s interesting. I had never even thought about nature being a victim of collateral damage, when it is probably the most affected by it. There are so many times when trees and land are destroyed so that we can build something commercial. Not only does it destroy the land but it also interrupts the habitants of the land and trees and other natural resources in the area. But because we benefit from whatever is being built we overlook those things and just consider it a necessary thing to do. I think what you said about who decides what the greater good is, is a really good point. I think it is easy for someone who benefits from something to say that it needs to be done but what about the person who is affected negatively? Why doesn’t their opinion seem to matter as much? I don’t think a lot of people take the time to really think about it in that way. They kind of just figure “we’ll that’s the way is has to be” and don’t really look for other ways to solve the problem. Collateral damage is a sad concept because it just gives us a term to use as an excuse for these types of actions,
ReplyDeleteI really like how connected nature to being a victim of collateral damage. I never looked at it in that point of view. I also agree with you on how collatreal damage is immoral and people are just using it as an excuse for commiting it. I thought it was really interesting on how you explained that collateral damage isn't just exchanged between a person hurting another person but things getting damaged and destroyed. I just think that collatreal damage is a horrible cicrle that never stops, it's a version of the blame game but with sctions behind it.
ReplyDeleteThis blog has some great examples of what collateral damage is. I really have not understood the term. However after reading your blog, I have a better understanding to this term. Although I might still have some kind of confusion over this term I understand the main concept of collateral damage. I agree that collateral damage should not be morally justified. Especially by that old saying you posted, “sacrifice a few to save many.” What if this few was there part of the family, would they scarifies them to kill the rest of the world? It is a most likely answer that they would not scarify their family for the life and for the best of the rest of the world. But then again, If it is not passing the fence, it is not on your land,” which means that since those few might not be anyone of their interest than it is not touching their hearts. It is sad, but to my personal opinion collateral damage should not be morally justified. It is no original cause of morality, but it is a way to make your personal soul feel relieve of such terrible damage.
ReplyDeleteOh my god I always love reading your blogs haha. You make some really good points. The last thing I can of is nature and collateral being victims. That is seriously something I did not think of. If you think about it we lose a lot of trees and we endanger the environment all the time. With taking down trees to make paper, land that make the world a better place. Yes collateral damage is immoral and many people use that as excuses to for committing to anything needed to make it better. I think this damage is not good for the world, it always ends up being the I blame you and you game. It goes on all the time but no one does anything to make it better. Your example to the pink slips to a car and the commercials are real good ones to use. It is also true how do we know we if crossed the line or not. That when is it enough? You are right when you say “the best thing to do is draw the line at the allowing important things…” I love that. You did a good job on your blog this week. Good examples.
ReplyDeleteThe statement you made that caught my attention the most was when you mentioned that people say collateral damage is unavoidable and they use this term, which in itself is sometimes immoral to justify their own actions and make it acceptable. I couldn’t agree with you more here. In some ways, collateral damage can be avoided but to use it as an excuse for one’s own stupidity is just wrong. And the question of whether we crossed the line or not is also a good point. I think, as a society, we may never really know when we’ve crossed the line until it’s too late. You hear so much about teen pregnancies and various dangerous teen trends, while looking back, these were never problems 10, 15 years ago. I think, in some ways, we have already crossed the line, but we turn the other cheek and refuse to acknowledge that we have made mistakes ourselves that lead up to the horrible events taking place now. The moment we realize that we have crossed the line will be one of complete chaos and at that point, we have to decide if we are able to turn it all around or if we have dug a hole that’s just too deep for us to get out of.
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