Systemic Evil, Human Evil? Or, Compassion is Hard

All men are my brothers. I would have liked to have said it then, and I would like to say it now: all men are my brothers. But all men are not my brothers. Why? Because all women are my sisters. And the brother who denies the rights of his sister: that brother is not my brother. At the very best, he is my half-brother - by definition. Osama is not my brother.

I felt disgrace, during its early pages, because I had done it too, and in print, early on. Contemplating intense violence, you very rationally ask yourself, what are the reasons for this? And compassionately frowning newscasters are still asking that same question. It is time to move on. We are not dealing in reasons because we are not dealing in reason.

Martin Amis, The Age of Horrorism (3 parts), Guardian Unlimited, Sept. 10, 2006, http://www.guardian.co.uk/september11/story/0,,1868734,00.html