A view of the statues from afar.
A bit different from what I read in the required articles for our paper. Interesting, nonetheless! Also gives the perspective of some civilians, showing that not everyone agreed with the destruction.
A photo from CNN of the destruction.
While I understand why such actions took place, I think it was very irrational. A lot of the students in class didn't think culture was important but I do. I don't think culture dies with people because it's carried on to the next generation. If culture were to die along with humans, then there wouldn't be any progress in the next generation. What about the baby boomers who pushed for change (women's movement, amongst many)? These movements they urged and were passionate about did not just die with them because the next generation carried it and expanded on it. We need a base to start out on, develop and further improve over time. Culture is all around is and it's not something that one can avoid so easily...it's in almost everything we do.
Moreover, one thing that bothered me a bit was the statement that UNESCO needs to worry more about pressing issues, such as starvation. I do think that such matters are more important but that isn't what UNESCO is setting out to do. There are different institutions that are established to carry out and emphasize a certain problem and the solutions for it. We might as well accuse shelters for abused women for being irrational in not caring about unclean water in impoverished countries. That isn't their purpose. Their purpose is to help abused women, not provide clean water for kids in a "developing" country because there are other organizations that are created for that purpose. What I'm trying to say is that criticizing an organization for not putting emphasize on something that isn't their sole purpose is unfair.
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