Politics...More Like Schmolitics
I'm making this public because it isn't just for my friends. It's for everyone who wishes to critique and enlighten. I seek to better myself through the help of others and I have a responsibility to help when asked.
You know, it figures that the day after I buy my first stock the market goes into a recession. Good thing I'm only in it for the long run. I can wait you out Wall Street...
Seriously, we've all seen this coming a while now. The Fed's been cutting rates every other week. Please for the love of God stop that! It's a shortcut measure that only delays the inevitable! It's not like you've been delaying to buy more time for some secret plan to fix the economy! You're only doing it because you think we can hold off until November, but really you have no plan. All you are doing is pretending that easy fixes will save us. In the end, it won't be that easy. No sacrifice, no victory. Economics suck. Hide all your money in mattresses...or better yet, convert it all into precious metals (Platinum or Silicon maybe).
As for the war...Let's face it guys, we f***ed up. Just admit it, it's ok. We can't possibly think any less of you politicians, so just go on and say it. Stop pointing fingers. We were all pissed after 9-11, we get it. Just go ahead and tell the world, "Look, we f***ed up. Now can we get some brainstorming as to how to fix it?" Well let me tell you, as soon as we pull out things will get worse. First off, the entire group of fanatics who are pissed off at us are going to get bolder. Seriously, you know we are in trouble when these guys have no problem recruiting for suicide missions. People are VOLUNTEERING for the kind of thing. That's the scary part. That's the culture shock we face. Just remember, we have our own crazies too, it's not a Muslim thing, it's a crazies thing.
For a while Americans are all like, "Alright! Communism is dead, we won! Time to go squander our resources on the 90's..." At least with Communism we had a clear enemy to fight. Now what are we stuck with? Religious fanatics! Oh no, and I'm not just talking about over in the middle east. I'm talking about right here at home. Let me say this: I'm a Catholic. I'm not a fanatical Catholic, I am a FREE THINKING Catholic. Some of you may find that statement contradictory, but just because my moral base was set up around a hierarchal religious system, doesn't mean I can't form my own rationalities. As a Catholic, I can embrace science. Seriously, what most people don't tell you about Galileo when they mention his persecution at the hands of the evil pope is that he was a DEVOUT Catholic. Now when you say, "Oh well this science contradicts God!" No no no no! That science contradicts your interpretation of God. And seriously, if you don't think your interpretation of God can change as a Christian, go back and read the first testament then the second testament. The same God as passed down from Abraham to Jesus goes through an amazing interpretation change. We go from Sodom and 10 Plagues to a God who sacrifices Jesus to save the same bunch. I personally believe that God doesn't change, but that as we evolve as a species we get closer to the truth. That doesn't mean everything new is correct (remember Phlogiston?), but we have to be able to ADAPT and grow.
People do get scared though. We see religious fanaticism, apparently the response is to become more religiously fanatic ourselves. In a world of doubt, where even science claims to be in doubt (which isn't a bad thing!), people need to find absolute truth and security, even if it is only temporary. When the world is insane, insanity is the only reality.
So now we've pissed off the rest of the world. Just remember your Machiavelli, every nation works for it's own grandeur. There is no real moral justification for that. Governments work to gain more power and influence. People get scared of big powers. We made them choice Communism or Democracy. One or the other to be safe in the world. They could blame the other side for all of their woes. That's how it goes. Now they don't have that scapegoat. Now they only have us to blame and fear. We are a rallying point for every person who thinks they have a right to topple the status quo. We represent that Status Quo. And that is the problem.
We have moved from a Leading Nation to a Stagnation. We are on top so we therefore have no where else to go. But just remember, the tortoise and the hare.
People of America: You have a choice. Accept fate and mossy out into the Imperial Pasture with Britain and Rome thus letting China become our heir apparent OR through a complete mental and personality overhaul convince the rest of the world that we are indeed a better alternative to dictators and fanatics.
I really hate Tom Brockaw's phrase, "The Greatest Generation" to describe our grandparents. Don't get me wrong, I really think that was a shining point in our American History and those people went through hell to get us on top. But THE GREATEST is pretty final. Why even bother to try to top that? We went from there to Generation X. Generation-Near-The-End-Of-The-Alphabet. Generation-Fill-In-The-Blank. We have it ingrained in us that there HAS to be progress. There doesn't HAVE to be anything. We have to work at it. We have to define ourselves and decide how to face the future.
The other attitude I HATE is when people in their 40s say, "Sorry kids, we screwed it up for you...Guess you'll have to fix it." NO! Stop being so defeatist! You're only 40 years old! You still have half of your life ahead of you! You never stop making a difference in this world. Molecules just don't step out of a reaction once they have converted to a certain product. We all have to fix it if we really care.
Really, my point is this: Things don't just get better by believing the government or religion will fix it all. God helps those who help themselves. The government is only as strong and smart as the people. So no wonder we are where we are with our education system. We fight wars for oil when we could put that money into educating people who can find better energy sources.
Now, I love Corporations as much as the next money grubbing engineer. But I also believe that companies have a moral obligation to better mankind. Newer technologies need to come out to make the companies more money. New technologies raise standards of living. So what I'm saying is that there is hope that our move away from oil dependence doesn't have to bring down any companies and thus piss off people with lots of money.
Now, this may all be easy to say from my Ivory Tower of Middle Class comfort and security. So call me out on it. Enlighten me. Make me see a new facet of the world. That is our responsibility to mankind. Call out those who are in comfort and security. For as long as man kills his own brother, none of us can ever truly be complacent.
You know, it figures that the day after I buy my first stock the market goes into a recession. Good thing I'm only in it for the long run. I can wait you out Wall Street...
Seriously, we've all seen this coming a while now. The Fed's been cutting rates every other week. Please for the love of God stop that! It's a shortcut measure that only delays the inevitable! It's not like you've been delaying to buy more time for some secret plan to fix the economy! You're only doing it because you think we can hold off until November, but really you have no plan. All you are doing is pretending that easy fixes will save us. In the end, it won't be that easy. No sacrifice, no victory. Economics suck. Hide all your money in mattresses...or better yet, convert it all into precious metals (Platinum or Silicon maybe).
As for the war...Let's face it guys, we f***ed up. Just admit it, it's ok. We can't possibly think any less of you politicians, so just go on and say it. Stop pointing fingers. We were all pissed after 9-11, we get it. Just go ahead and tell the world, "Look, we f***ed up. Now can we get some brainstorming as to how to fix it?" Well let me tell you, as soon as we pull out things will get worse. First off, the entire group of fanatics who are pissed off at us are going to get bolder. Seriously, you know we are in trouble when these guys have no problem recruiting for suicide missions. People are VOLUNTEERING for the kind of thing. That's the scary part. That's the culture shock we face. Just remember, we have our own crazies too, it's not a Muslim thing, it's a crazies thing.
For a while Americans are all like, "Alright! Communism is dead, we won! Time to go squander our resources on the 90's..." At least with Communism we had a clear enemy to fight. Now what are we stuck with? Religious fanatics! Oh no, and I'm not just talking about over in the middle east. I'm talking about right here at home. Let me say this: I'm a Catholic. I'm not a fanatical Catholic, I am a FREE THINKING Catholic. Some of you may find that statement contradictory, but just because my moral base was set up around a hierarchal religious system, doesn't mean I can't form my own rationalities. As a Catholic, I can embrace science. Seriously, what most people don't tell you about Galileo when they mention his persecution at the hands of the evil pope is that he was a DEVOUT Catholic. Now when you say, "Oh well this science contradicts God!" No no no no! That science contradicts your interpretation of God. And seriously, if you don't think your interpretation of God can change as a Christian, go back and read the first testament then the second testament. The same God as passed down from Abraham to Jesus goes through an amazing interpretation change. We go from Sodom and 10 Plagues to a God who sacrifices Jesus to save the same bunch. I personally believe that God doesn't change, but that as we evolve as a species we get closer to the truth. That doesn't mean everything new is correct (remember Phlogiston?), but we have to be able to ADAPT and grow.
People do get scared though. We see religious fanaticism, apparently the response is to become more religiously fanatic ourselves. In a world of doubt, where even science claims to be in doubt (which isn't a bad thing!), people need to find absolute truth and security, even if it is only temporary. When the world is insane, insanity is the only reality.
So now we've pissed off the rest of the world. Just remember your Machiavelli, every nation works for it's own grandeur. There is no real moral justification for that. Governments work to gain more power and influence. People get scared of big powers. We made them choice Communism or Democracy. One or the other to be safe in the world. They could blame the other side for all of their woes. That's how it goes. Now they don't have that scapegoat. Now they only have us to blame and fear. We are a rallying point for every person who thinks they have a right to topple the status quo. We represent that Status Quo. And that is the problem.
We have moved from a Leading Nation to a Stagnation. We are on top so we therefore have no where else to go. But just remember, the tortoise and the hare.
People of America: You have a choice. Accept fate and mossy out into the Imperial Pasture with Britain and Rome thus letting China become our heir apparent OR through a complete mental and personality overhaul convince the rest of the world that we are indeed a better alternative to dictators and fanatics.
I really hate Tom Brockaw's phrase, "The Greatest Generation" to describe our grandparents. Don't get me wrong, I really think that was a shining point in our American History and those people went through hell to get us on top. But THE GREATEST is pretty final. Why even bother to try to top that? We went from there to Generation X. Generation-Near-The-End-Of-The-Alphabet. Generation-Fill-In-The-Blank. We have it ingrained in us that there HAS to be progress. There doesn't HAVE to be anything. We have to work at it. We have to define ourselves and decide how to face the future.
The other attitude I HATE is when people in their 40s say, "Sorry kids, we screwed it up for you...Guess you'll have to fix it." NO! Stop being so defeatist! You're only 40 years old! You still have half of your life ahead of you! You never stop making a difference in this world. Molecules just don't step out of a reaction once they have converted to a certain product. We all have to fix it if we really care.
Really, my point is this: Things don't just get better by believing the government or religion will fix it all. God helps those who help themselves. The government is only as strong and smart as the people. So no wonder we are where we are with our education system. We fight wars for oil when we could put that money into educating people who can find better energy sources.
Now, I love Corporations as much as the next money grubbing engineer. But I also believe that companies have a moral obligation to better mankind. Newer technologies need to come out to make the companies more money. New technologies raise standards of living. So what I'm saying is that there is hope that our move away from oil dependence doesn't have to bring down any companies and thus piss off people with lots of money.
Now, this may all be easy to say from my Ivory Tower of Middle Class comfort and security. So call me out on it. Enlighten me. Make me see a new facet of the world. That is our responsibility to mankind. Call out those who are in comfort and security. For as long as man kills his own brother, none of us can ever truly be complacent.