Belated thoughts on yesterday '01.
I just couldn't get myself to make a September 11th post last night like a lot of y'all did. I can't exactly articulate why. It's not like it was an insignificant event. It's not that I don't realize all 3,000+ of those people were human beings. It's not that I don't hate terrorism. I guess I just didn't have a very tangible set of ideas to relate concerning the day. I suppose I will now touch upon what little I do have to say.
I feel much of the world hates America. I also feel that it is somewhat justified, but this whole issue isn't as simple as that. I think we are at a weird point in our national timeline where, for our own safety, we kind of have to be involved on a combative level with world affairs. However, I think at whatever point in history we started on that path, it was only because we chose to. Through a series of questionable actions over the years, we have evolved into a force that is capable of a lot of good, but also a lot of harm. Our current place on the world stage is due to a snowball effect of sorts, and we are having trouble escaping the snowball. I feel it is not necessarily beneficial to other countries that we spearhead so many war-driven efforts at inching toward peace. I feel the common hatred towards us is a function of our eagerness to control such affairs. However, now that the snowball has gotten so big and fast, we can't outrun it, and we have to defend ourselves.
The thing is, it doesn't behoove us to treat foreign threats like chess players. It doesn't behoove us to predict four moves ahead, because we could be dead wrong. There are threats the world over, but getting paranoid about them is costly, especially when the threat isn't as big as you thought it was.
We're wasting money trying to almost single-handedly fight the big, glamorous wars. Wasting money that could be invested in making our own country better. Wasting lives bith directly, and as this paragraph shows, indirectly.
I know some folks hear "U.S.A., Inc." and think it's just some title of a newxsmagazine article. Unfortunately, we are a corporation (as are other countries), and our CEO and board is ignoring its customers. Is famine really a better death than terrorism? It terrorism really more likely than famine? Even in America? I offer a resounding "no".
I feel much of the world hates America. I also feel that it is somewhat justified, but this whole issue isn't as simple as that. I think we are at a weird point in our national timeline where, for our own safety, we kind of have to be involved on a combative level with world affairs. However, I think at whatever point in history we started on that path, it was only because we chose to. Through a series of questionable actions over the years, we have evolved into a force that is capable of a lot of good, but also a lot of harm. Our current place on the world stage is due to a snowball effect of sorts, and we are having trouble escaping the snowball. I feel it is not necessarily beneficial to other countries that we spearhead so many war-driven efforts at inching toward peace. I feel the common hatred towards us is a function of our eagerness to control such affairs. However, now that the snowball has gotten so big and fast, we can't outrun it, and we have to defend ourselves.
The thing is, it doesn't behoove us to treat foreign threats like chess players. It doesn't behoove us to predict four moves ahead, because we could be dead wrong. There are threats the world over, but getting paranoid about them is costly, especially when the threat isn't as big as you thought it was.
We're wasting money trying to almost single-handedly fight the big, glamorous wars. Wasting money that could be invested in making our own country better. Wasting lives bith directly, and as this paragraph shows, indirectly.
I know some folks hear "U.S.A., Inc." and think it's just some title of a newxsmagazine article. Unfortunately, we are a corporation (as are other countries), and our CEO and board is ignoring its customers. Is famine really a better death than terrorism? It terrorism really more likely than famine? Even in America? I offer a resounding "no".
posted by Cory at 09:21
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