GT40FIED
06-05-2004, 05:44 AM
You know...sometimes it amazes me how fucked up the world is as a whole. Think about it...on the majority of major issues you have a minority of people weighing in. A handful of people and nations selfishly deciding what freedom and peace are. But lo and behold there are 6 BILLION people in the world. 6 billion different ways of life. 6 billion different ideas of freedom and peace. 6 billion different ideas about war and evil. Yet from those 6 billion, a percentage that can be counted on one hand get to decide what's right and wrong. A congregation based largely on financial resources telling the rest of the populace what is redeemable and what is not. In the past 60 years the U.S. has undertaken serious military actions in China, Japan, El Salvador, Cuba, Peru, Lybia, Sudan, Yugoslavia, Vietnam, Laos, Korea, Cambodia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and others totaling in over 8 million lives lost. While some of these endeavors may have been for worthwhile causes (although the only one that immediately springs to mind is Japan during WWII), the vast majority was futile. Half a century ago we likened Japan to a nation of 12 year olds...how mature do we look now? Yes, we have a good portion of the economically developed world behind us because we have become, in effect, the schoolyard bully. You piss us off and we bomb your ass. I often wonder if they teach ethics and morality in military basic training. Do they give enlisted men and women guns and say "This is an M4 rifle...one of the most powerful and accurate weapons in infantry use today...but YOU decide who it shoots"? We've become a nation of intellectual children because of 19 men who flew planes into buildings. On a small scale we've done a decent job...many people don't realize that what most people fear more than death itself is being forgotten. We've done well to remember those who have died...but we've yet to take steps to assure more do not suffer their fate. Perhaps it's time we as a people...and by that I mean the human race...start to realize that there is more to our existence than merely financial power and military power and accept those 6 billion ideas of freedom and peace and war and evil. While it's a pathetic irony that peace is rarely obtained without violence, that's not an issue for a world but for a country to decide. Idealistic or not, perhaps the governing bodies that shuffle these plans around should take a look at the small picture for a change rather than the big one and realize and (dare I say it?) admit that maybe some of the things they've done have been wrong and that the majority of things they're CURRENTLY doing are wrong. Engaging in what is tantamount to binding other countries to our own wishes belittles only ourselves as a whole and will forever ruin our image in the eyes of the numerous nations that don't have the luxury of media air time to condemn us.