When the war in Kosovo began last March, I found myself in an unusual situation. Since I am a Yugoslav and lived in Belgrade for 12 years, I have been asked on numerous occasions to explain the Kosovo "situation." At first, I gladly obliged and I did my best to provide one.
But I soon realized that most people didn't want an accurate explanation. They wanted an answer; a simple, easily understandable, bite-sized single-serving answer. And that, I couldn't-and wouldn't-provide.
The most aggravating question was: "Is [the bombing] the right thing to do?"
Can any intellectually mature person honestly expect a meaningful one-word answer to such an open-ended question?
Well, let's see... forcing people to live in jarring conditions isn't right-whether it be by expelling them from their homes or by destroying their nation's infrastructure. And, at its most basic level, killing also isn't right-whether it be by bullets or by laser-guided bombs.
So I formulated the best answer I could think of. "Nothing in this life is clearly black or white; it's all a series of infinitesimally different shades of gray," I would say. "And when it comes to an experience as grand as a war, there are no simple answers."
But most people refused to accept this statement as a valid answer. In fact, they grew frustrated by my refusal to give a cut-and-dried answer, and they soon stopped asking questions altogether. Why?
Well, to put it simply, the explanation for why there was a war in/over Kosovo is extremely complicated. And complicated answers don't fly well with those who seek single-serving answers, even if they reside in the glass bubble we call the University.
To begin with, when the two opposing sides can place equally just claims to the same region, simple answers fly out the window.
Moreover, the outpouring of refugees from Kosovo mysteriously coincided with the beginning of NATO's air campaign. When the exodus began, a significant number of refugees escaped to Montenegro and Serbia. As the war progressed, civilian deaths caused by NATO bombs were at first reported as "collateral damage." Later, NATO officials no longer even apologized for such "expected errors." And the list of targets-originally confined to military installations-slowly expanded to include communication centers, personal residences, bridges, power plants, oil depots and even the Chinese embassy-although this last one was admittedly a mistake.
When one takes all of these factors into consideration, can there be a simple yet accurate account of the Kosovo "situation?" Can a meaningful explanation of this conflict ever fit into a newsflash, a three-minute report or a five-minute conversation in between classes?
This begs the question of why educated people expect to receive a short yet meaningful answer to such a complex issue. The answer, of course, is complicated, but I believe the two main culprits are society and the principle medium of communication-television.
We didn't protest when CNN began feeding us world news in headlines, not stories. We didn't think it was strange that stories about mass graves and massacres were preceded by catchy jingles and followed by commercials for tampons, SUVs and lite beer. And we found nothing wrong with reducing the affairs of six billion people to a 30- minute show-with breaks for commercials. In fact, we downright liked it because it gave us more time to do other things while still letting us feel connected to the world.
In short, we have been dumbed down by the television set. And contrary to popular opinion, this is an effect that was not brought about by senseless portrayals of violence or use of profanities in movies. It was brought on by the increasingly simple and marketable evening news.
With its three-to-four minute segments, exciting lead-in music and intermittent commercials, CNN and other news networks have made us believe that something as complicated as a war can be explained in a news brief. They made us expect short answers, ask for simple explanations and relegate wars to small talk.
So next time you're offered a short and simple, single-serving style packaged explanation, stop and think: If the problems of this world are that easy to explain, why do we have so much trouble solving them in the first place?
Marko Djuranovic is a Trinity sophomore and an associate Medical Center editor of The Chronicle.
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