Visiting sites in Croatia associated with the Balkan Wars in the 90's has been off-putting. I have visited World War I and II sites before, but those seemed so far removed from me. Though I was a child, all of the Yoguslav conflict happened in my lifetime.
Each country as it tried to establish it's independence had to struggle. The amount of turmoil and death they went through was relative to the ethnic diversity of the region. The struggle escalated as minority groups not only fought to be free of their Serbian oppressors, but also to establish which one of the groups would be in control. Which would have power in the new independent country. The saddest part I've found is that post war the citizens turned on theur neighbours whose ethnicity was the same as their oppressors, no matter their participation in the war.
We have so much fear of the other. So many assumptions, labels and mis-information to back up our belief. We do have a lot of history of making our individual and society-level decisions based on fear. I'm hopeful we might find a place for curiosity. It's very hard to judge something when you're being curious. I'm again hopeful it is part of those changing winds Al Etmanski has forecasted.
Being a Force for Good 