In politics as in our personal lives, just six words comprise one of the commonest falsehoods around. Those six words are: "It can't go on like this." But it can. I've come to the melancholy conclusion that in Zimbabwe it must.
[T]he fact that someone could feel that it is wrong to intervene when civilians are being raped, shot, starved and killed made me furious. After we had a tea break and I tried to corner the academic to ask if he had actually ever walked through a war zone and had someone beg him for help, but he was gone.
Of course, between 'It must go on like this' and 'It can't - something should be done', there are the strategically decisive questions, 'What can be done?' and 'How likely is it to help?' Yet, between the two attitudes displayed here, I'd say 'Something should be done' has the edge. It urges us not to be passive in face of moral enormity, and it directs our thoughts towards seeing whether remedial action is available. 'There's nothing we can do' might be an accurate statement of fact; but, as often, it's a declaration of lack of will.