Sonntag, 24. Juli 2011

The answer to violence, is even more humanity

The island of Utøya, where at least 90 people have died after a gunman opened fire at a camp

The fact that Norway is the country with the highest quality of living & education, one of the wealthiest of the world and ranks among the top with the other Scandinavian countries when it comes to social fairness & equality makes it hard to understand what reason there possibly could be to drive someone to such actions: A right-wing conservative guy killed more than 90 people in Norway, most of them kids & teenagers.

The one thing giving hope is to see the sane reactions of the Norwegians. The title of this post is a quote from Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.

In the safest, most boring country, the worst lone gunman shooting happens. The worst in the world, in history. But it will not make our country worse. The safe, boring democracy will supply him with a defense lawyer as is his right. He will not get more than 21 years in prison as is the maximum extent of the law. Our democracy does not allow for enough punishment to satisfy my need for revenge, as is its intention.

We will not become worse, we will be better. We lived in a land where this is possible, even easy. And we will keep living in a land where this is possible, even easy. We are open, we are free and we are together. We are vulnerable by choice. And we will keep on like that, that’s how we want to live. We will not be worse because of the worst. We must be good because of the best. (-Ola)