On the plane to Amsterdam I came across this quote by the French poet Laurent Tailhade in an article by Luc Sante in the New York Review of Books: “Qu'importent quelques vagues humanités si le geste est beau?"
("Of what importance are a few vague people if the gesture is beautiful?")
Tailhade was defending some anarchists, but with this statement one could defend wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, terrorist attacks and kidnappings.
Maybe we should stop spreading democracy, and instead start focusing on spreading beauty.