L.A. Liberty

On “Texts from Drone”

After much thinking about textsfromdrone (and not a little bit of lost sleep):

I’ve come to the conclusion that I, at least, won’t participate in it and will be deleting several posts. …

Once pictures of bloody victims were included - and once it incorporated comments of killing mothers, wives, and children - it ceased to be effective commentary and satire and instead was simply distasteful. These are real human beings who suffered tragic losses, and I think the effectiveness of the message is eroded when it seems to mock their loss (even if the point of the mockery was to highlight the callousness and injustice of the drone program). I wasn’t necessarily outraged by the meme, as I understood the intent to be one of bringing awareness to the dark atrocities of empire (and I welcome critiques of empire), but these two in particular may have been at the expense of potentially dehumanizing victims and desensitizing observers to the very real atrocities committed.

So, thank you for your reconsideration. When people are challenged, I think too often the tendency is to dig their heels in and entrench themselves in their position. Thoughtful reevaluation is rare - and appreciated.

EDIT: And I’d like to add that I do not believe the “Texts from Drone” meme to be ineffective in toto. In fact, I find many of them to be clever, incisive, and properly biting. My objection was specifically to those that show victims in the aftermath, and in particular the one featuring a child. Perhaps it is my perspective as a father that simply sees that as a step too far.

Posted April 17, 2012 at 8:23am in ∆ war | comments || home