typing and time, here it basically is from a previous post:

I've been reading and participating in your reports on "Paris riots" and the resulting threads.  It occured to me, and I wonder what you think, that this is making it so clear that we all see events in terms of our own mindset, our own view of reality.  we are all so attached to our mindset, and to a large extent that dictates our response.

Maybe this is simplistic, but let me continue.  France has a real challenge, that any country would have, with a large immigrant population with different religion, culture, etc.  But it's interesting how so many of our, and I mean our, comments, come from a personal perspective of each of us--for some it is a far left view, for others a moderate left view, some centrist views, some left social/right economics, maybe occassionally a right social/right economics--but whatever, all the comments come from their own viewpoint.  So some attack France for being in this place because they are so leftist; others attack this saying the right has really been in charge.  I guess for me, it was just a dramatic example of how we each see the world through our own filter, things we are attached to.

I know as detached as I'm trying to train my mind to be (long ways to go for this particular "monkey mind"), one of my reactions as a (socially liberal/economically conservative/christian buddhist--$10,000 of psychoanalysis required right there) to Jermome's cries regarding are these riots?, is, where were his cries when everyone is bashing  so many things like the katrina response.

Not sure what my comments are worth, maybe they are just an observation.  so many of the things we discuss are foremost just real human issues, but our personal responses (obviously me too) are just so conditioned by our mind set.  Any thoughts?

I'm thinking that all of us get defensive, when things we believe in are attacked, and particularly when we believe they are unfairly attacked.  I wasn't on this site for the Katrina dialogue, and have only seen some "cheap shots" from time to time since.  (I started to find some examples, but I realize I'll just piss some body off, and get this dialogue off subject).  I find that those on the site who are attached to the European social model, or France's version specifically, appear to have been just as defensive as some of the Americans, at other times.  I guess it was a call for awareness of this--attempting to shine the light on the similarity of reactions.