Response to Instability in the Middle East

RML is completely right when he said that it is not right to teach children violence at such a young age, but I do not believe that the taxi driver was wrong to refuse the barging. I also don’t believe that it is wrong for him to carry a dagger. He works in a country where almost everyone owns some sort of weapon. I disagree with RML, and I ask him if he would walk through the streets in the Middle East without being scared, or wondering what could happen. The Middle East is extremely unstable and very dangerous. Here in America, we hold the right to bear arms, this means we are allowed to own guns or any other legal form of protection as long as it is licensed through the state. Granted, these weapons are rarely seen or used, we still hold that right. I believe that if our country was in the state that the countries of the Middle East are in, these privately owned weapons would become much more common. Also, have you ever tried to barging with a taxi driver? It is often a shot in the dark. Either they accept it as a joke with a laugh or they look at you like you’re crazy. I agree that it is frightening to see a dagger out in the open as you enter a public vehicle but I’m sure a large number of taxi drivers in our country, especially in busy crime filled cities, carry some sort of self protection. Even in America where we are not at war with each other, people can not be trusted. I won’t even go into Boston alone without pepper spray I’m not sure what I would do if I lived in an unstable country in the Middle East.
-DPD