Tag Archives: Politics

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Why Do We Go to War?

A friend of mine posed a question as to when war is justified on her Facebook wall.  The discussion that followed became focused on why those who have experienced the horror of war would ever justify the value of another war.  This is my take…

Human beings tend to enjoy being in groups.  Like with cows, the majority will stay with or nearby the herd.  Some will go rogue, wander away from the heard and chart a separate course, but most will stick to the herd.  Herd mentality dominates our social, political and economic lives.  A family unit is a herd, a political party is a herd, and school is certainly herd like.

Where human nature deviates from the cow nature is in the ability to reason.  Pecking order behavior, i.e. strong vs. weak and experienced vs. youthful, will still impact the human herd, but the human herd will reason or justify their actions and choices.

When confronted with enough data, evidence, propaganda or rhetoric, the human herd will justify a course of action.  They will justify a course of action in order to remain in the herd.  If they remain unconvinced that the course is justified, they may seek to separate from the herd, but will look for another herd to join.  The theory that there is safety in a crowd certainly applies to ideological fears of danger as well as physical fears of danger.

War is simply one of many courses mankind justifies. In contrast to peace, war is much easier to propagandize.  Fiery speeches, enflamed rhetoric, and poignant sound bites are easy to develop when fear and danger is in the mix.  The key to a successful herd is in maintaining a feeling of security in the group.  Threaten the group and it will rally together in defense.

So why do people who have experienced war agree to additional war?  Simply put, even the horrors of war cannot negate the justification of protecting the herd.  Although there are some who will develop such a strong sense of revulsion to conflict that they will suppress any feelings of self-preservation in order to avoid further conflict, they are rare and seldom include mothers.

A final point, no two people ever experience war with the same perception.  Even those participating in the same horror, experience the horror differently. This makes me think, strangely, of childbirth.  Why would anyone who nearly died in the delivery room ever seek another pregnancy?  The justifications of the blessings override the worry of fear, pain, and possibly death.  In the case of war, if the end result can be portrayed as being of greater value than the known casualties associated with war, then the herd can be persuaded to follow a course of war.

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To Be Informed or To Be Educated

The citizens of the United States are distracted by political campaign information. They are embroiled in heated debate over healthcare. They argue about getting rid of the immigrants who long to support our economic and social system when they should be concentrating focus on the dangerous criminals who are the real threat. Therefore, they are missing the warning signs of other problems on the horizon.  One such international problem can be found just across the southern border as Mexicans go to their polls.

It is doubtful the President or the experienced members of congress are distracted from the international problems. Looking outside of the US, one sees that the US is not the only nation struggling with a poor economy, immigration issues, international crime and terrorism. What kind of a future does the US face, if a majority the ‘experienced’ leaders in DC are replaced by a whole new crew of 1st timers? Especially if the only agenda they bring with them is on the US economy, and on the US healthcare, and on the US borders.

The origins of US immigration policies are found in the early 1900’s during the time when isolationism was still being valued as good US policy. Isolationist policies, however, did not prove effective in the early 1900’s, they simply made the US late-comers for two wars for which joining was unavoidable.  In 1942 the internment policy of rounding up anyone “suspicious” was beyond contemptible, but it was policy.  Fear and a tremendous feeling of suffering dictated US domestic and foreign policies in the first half of the 20th century.

However at the same time the US was closing its borders, there was a social push to help its poor and downtrodden citizens.  Labor laws, workers unions, Social Security and legislation similar to the National School Lunch Act, all played a role in post war successes.  Due to economic policies during WWII, employer based health insurance became widely offered as well.   It was determined that prosperity was much easier to achieve if the nation was healthy rather than unhealthy. There was a need for the government to act, and the power of big government began to replace the power of big business.

Now a hundred years later, immigration and health care issues are at the center of US politics again.  Citizens are beginning to fear “others” and focusing on national issues while avoiding international issues.

Progress has been made but fear, misinformation, and “money” backed political theater will not keep the progress moving forward.  Talk of the “good ol’ days” is just talk.  If you are blessed to know survivors of those days, ask them about epidemics, outhouses, food shortages and social inequality.  It is a human trait to reminisce of the ol’ days. Selective memory is common, some prefer focusing on the good and some on the bad.  The citizens of the United States need to evaluate the good and the bad, the effective and the ineffective.

It is sad that with easy access to so much information, so many are misinformed.  A random comment posted concerning an editorial on the Supreme Court Healthcare ruling claimed, “We are becoming like the USSR.”  Many would like to blame this misinformed opinion on a failing educational system, but that would be unfair.  That would be like saying Fox News, or CNN, or MSNBC are to blame for all the ignorance in society. To quote a common saying, “guns don’t kill people, people kill people”, on that same reasoning, “cable news doesn’t make ignorance, people choose ignorance”.

Ignorance is conquered when an individual seeks information, evaluates the information by comparing it to other information, and then forms an opinion. This is how an individual becomes educated.  This how parents should be teaching their children. This is what voters should be doing before casting a vote.  This is what politicians should encourage.

While some journalists still prescribe to providing information rather than opinion, it is not up to them to educate us.  It is up to the individual to become educated and not simply informed.

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Saith Me… Hope

When natural forces wreak havoc, does it help to know you are part of a shared calamity?  Or does the magnitude of nature’s devastation isolate you in a feeling of despair?

Have hope, for if you are still alive to hope for a tomorrow, then today is still a blessed day.

 

 

* shared the clip later.

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The Soviets Had Excellent Border Security

Is it socialist policies which make the US more like their enemies of yesteryear, or is it their growing fear of outsiders? The Soviets were really good at keeping people out, but they were also really good at keeping people within their borders.  While it is true the average person from the West did not often seek to cross the border, one still must admit the system worked.  The borders were secure to all but the crafty espionage types.

In days of yore,

“Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me …”

 

Today, it seems, we only want educated, socially acceptable, foreign born individuals to visit our shores.  I wonder, though if at some level, we fear them as well?

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Do we still justify injustice?

The practice of eugenics is a scar on our nation’s character.  This scarring should be a warning to us of how easy it is for “good intentions” to go too far. During a war, some may feel the good of the whole outweighs the good of a few, but this is seldom justified during civilized peacetime.  Providing for the general welfare of a population may infringe on the monetary rights of the citizens, but should not infringe on the human rights of the citizens.  The practice of eugenics crossed this ethical line.

For the most part, I agree with the philosophy that money does not undo injustice, as North Carolina’s Senate determined this week in regards to monetarily compensating the victims of forced sterilization. When injustice is isolated, a few are victimized and should be compensated.  When the injustice is widespread, we are all the victims and there is no compensation equal to the harm which was done.

As a society we tend to turn away from how injustice has been part of our nation’s “modern” past.  In doing so, it is easier for us to ignore injustices still in practice.  When the ideology of one group, no matter how large the group may be, infringes on the rights of others, we are in danger of ignoring the lessons of the past and we may try to justify the unjust.

It is through remembering the past that we become empowered to work for a better future.

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Accountability

I have already written about the problem of entitlement and how society tends misplace the blame for this societal ill.  This is not the only area in which society is misplacing blame and avoiding individual accountability.

While reading an article today on the recession, and perusing the comments made in response, I once again was amazed at how accountability is sorely lacking in our society.  For the record, I believe that the role of the government is to safeguard the people, and understand that while regulations sometimes restrict economic progress, they can also aid in safeguarding the people.  With that being said, when I hear assertions that the recession is the fault of our most recent presidents, or Wall Street, I get a bit miffed.  Yes, Wall Street should be held accountable for their greedy actions and our government should have been more diligent in its oversight, but when are we the individuals going to accept the unpopular accountability for our own choices and actions?

When I read about how more young people need to live at home because they can’t afford their own place, or of the difficulties associated with buying or keeping a home, I wonder why we blame the government.  How is it that we can argue over government enforced healthcare, claim the government is interfering in our lives, yet at the same time cry foul that the government hasn’t helped us find a job or buy a home?

Don’t get me wrong, I feel for the people of our nation. This recession has hit us all in ways we did not foresee, but foreseen or not, we should have been better prepared.  Like any good Boy Scout will tell you, there is wisdom in the motto “Be Prepared”.  This can mean creating a plan if you live in a hurricane or flood zone, because the 100 year disaster may coincide with your lifespan.  It can mean having food storage or a generator if you live in an area that gets heavy snow.  It should definitely mean  becoming informed before you buy a home.   Owning a house is expensive and there are costs besides the mortgage you will pay.  Get informed before you buy, and if it will sap your budget, buy smaller or buy later.  A house can be a great blessing and investment, but don’t purchase the dream, invest in the reality.

Understandably it is hard to prepare for unemployment.  Often we live month-to-month barely getting by, and building a nest egg feels difficult to achieve.  However, young or old it is the responsibility of the able-bodied to be prepared and to be informed.  If this means having a back-up plan to sell your house and move in with relatives, or take on roommates, then be prepared to do so.

One report on housing states that we must go back to the 50’s to find so many multigenerational households.  I find this claim to be interesting.  Isn’t that the era in which our entitlement nature really sprouted?  New houses, new cars and new gadgets for the home; college educations a middleclass norm; and dreams of retirement at age 65 were the dreams of that generation.  Now the youth of the 50’s have grandkids and those grandkids are struggling to live up to, and pay for the dream.

Dreaming big is not a bad thing, but the recession was a reality check for everyone.  For dreams to become reality, hard work is required. This hard work does not follow an employer’s time-clock.  It does not retire.  It does not grow up and move out.  It does not get paid off.  The American Dream is bigger than a house, or a two car garage, or a retirement account.  It has more value than a vacation home, or a boat.  It is not measured by the size of your income or your bank account.

The American Dream for a secure tomorrow is not the responsibility of the President; it is the responsibility of the individual.  Our elected officials work for us, and if we are asking for all the wrong things, then that is what they will provide us.  The Preamble of the Constitution states:

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

It doesn’t promise a house, or a college education, or a car.  It promises justice, civil order and defense.  It promotes general welfare but does not promise it. Finally, it secures liberty.

The government of the United States does play a huge role in the nation’s prosperity, but the individual plays a greater role.  Citizenship is not like high school, where you get credit for showing up, doing the work and then going home.  Citizenship requires accountability for one’s own choices and actions.  Blaming others, especially the government, may seem easier, but in the long run, individual accountability will provide prosperity.