Reality vs. Fiction

Last week, we had a former brigadier urging the government to look at the underlying causes of the student riots.

Yesterday, we had a university professor talking confidently about "the evil forces" who had tried to dislodge this government. He takes the professors to task for not doing enough to stop the rioting. He applauds the government for having done "a smashing job keeping the rioting at bay". He even says that allegations of torture are there "simply to tarnish the image of the joint forces". I could go on, but it's about to make me nauseous. Last word from the investigation: "no evidence of instigation on the first day."

Now I request all those who like over-arching categories like "students" and "army" to take a step back and think about which writer here is making more sense and who has more sympathy for the ordinary man in the street and who doesn't. Clearly the former army man wins out over the current professor. The former army man has more sympathy for the students than the professor. So where does that leave people who like to construct grand categories of "student/academics" vs. "army/armed forces"?

What you say is more important than who you are. No one person or profession has a hold on the truth.