Distance Equals Apathy

     The bombings in Brussels this week brought up an interesting "thing." A certain segment of the Turkish cyber-population put out the question of why the Western world was not as concerned about the bombings in Istanbul last week as it was about the bombings in Belgium. After all, the Turks reasoned, as many or more people were killed in Istanbul as were killed in Brussels. Not many people draped their Facebook photos with the colors of the Turkish flag, while, as is usual for the "caring" a bunch of people decided to "support" the Belgians by having their Facebook photos tinted red, yellow and black.
     Of course, as the aggrieved often do, the Turk cyber-army blamed the lack of concern about the Istanbul bombing on ethicism, racism, and anti-Islamism. The first charge is interesting because many Turks consider themselves Europeans while most Europeans, except for the economic and nattering class, do not consider Turkey a European nation in any way. It may have once been back in the days of the Ancient Greeks and Byzantines, but since those days Turkey has become a near East nation. In other words, the western-most part of Muslim Asia.
      But what the complaining Turks really don't realize that the reason that people don't gather outside the Turkish embassies in Paris, London, Washington, D.C. and other Western capitols is simply because of distance. Istanbul is far, far away in distance and culture. Erodogan is a man who wants to make Turkey into a wholly Muslim nation, a Muslim nation is culture and law. He wants to throw over the tradition of Ataturk and the Young Turks who wanted to Westernize and secularize Turkey. What the West sees in the bombing in Turkey is Muslims attacking Muslims. And, as secular and stupid culturally, why should the West care. It's a family battle. And any cop knows that the worst situation to find one's self in is a domestic dispute.
     And, after all, why should the West care? Turkey has done nothing for the world. It's contributed nothing culturally. It has tried it's best to squash the remnants and history of Christians in Turkey except for tourism. A bombing in Turkey means nothing more than a bombing in Baghdad means to the Turks.
     Regarding Brussels: Not many people are aware of it, but Brussels is the Western center of black market arms trading. The Belgians, in their greed, have turned a blind eye to the trading of massive numbers of assault weapons (real assault weapons that go full automatic and not the California definition of such), rocket launchers and such. Brussels is the Western version of what Istanbul was in the 1920s and 1930s. The Belgians made their bed by trying to atone for the guilt that they earned by the awful King Leopold. But in the atoning they have ruined their nation. The same with the French and English. They have forgotten that the firsdt job of a nation is to maintain that nation, and protect and promote that nation's culture.