Aggie, you said:
<<Today is a defining moment in American history, and by your response you too will be defined. Do not squander what God has granted you, and remember that many good people today went to their deaths with a madman punctuating their final thoughts.
I am humbled and proud to be associated with a large number of you on this thread. Together, we have struggled together to make sense of the many complex forces which effect the markets.
That said, and in light of the other comments today, I offer what I hope is not an unpopular view, but I recognize can very easily be misconstrued. And while I speak to no one directly, please weigh my words in your own conscience.
At the beginning of the year, I was privileged to spend 3 months traveling around the world. All of us differ, but for me, to see and experience a thing cements the related truths in a much more concrete way than to intellectually understand a thing. We all 'know' that we are a wealthy, privileged society. As I went from port to port, country after country on our cruise, I truly recognized the contrast between our luxurious lives compared to the poverty and suffering of the other 80% of the world.
I believe the immense power and privilege we Americans enjoy is an inheritance born on the shoulders of prior generations, created by virtue and hard work. However, many of my generation having never experienced true want, take our wealth and privilege for granted. Many of us have an unspoken attitude that we are 'better' than the rest of the world, and thus deserve our place in the world. Much of our culture is 'fiddling', consuming our lives in the pursuit of wealth and pleasure while the rest of the world burns. Time and time again as I 'interviewed' people around the world did I hear a phrase something like 'you Americans think you are the center of the world'.
Additionally, increasingly, our popular culture has become increasingly immoral to most religions of the world. The exportation of this to the rest of the world furthers the gulf. When you are poor and suffering, how would you feel to see others that 'don't deserve it' living lives of wealth beyond your dreams?
Add to that our use of military might. Blow up a factory here, missile attack there, oust a government there. Run our aircraft by the Chinese border against their wishes because we can and we think its right. For those of you who have been to an air show and seen our fighter jets fly overhead it is an incredibly intimidating experience. Walking for a moment in the shoes of those we are intimidating, can you see why we might be seen as arrogant, immoral 'great satan' of a people? I submit to you the casual attitudes read on this thread when we shoot a missile at Iraq, but now that we have been attacked we are outraged? (yes, I realize there are 'moral' arguments...I'm talking emotions of the masses here)
Fear, Greed and Envy, ugly as they are, are primal motivators in the human spirit. (review some past posts for some proof). In the minds of a lot of the world, we are the oppressors; greedy, arrogant and immoral. We view ourselves as principled and moral. I believe, in reality, we are both. (For example, we would not accept invading and taking over a country unless attacked, but we will look the other way when we pay .02/hr to child labor to make our tennis shoes...mos of us)
If we respond and 'get those bastards', we will be perpetuating a cycle that has gone on for the ages. We will be the 'evil empire' death star, and the middle east will continue to tell us what we want to hear while secretly rooting for their hero, 'luke skywalker'. A knee-jerk reaction of hate and retaliation will only perpetuate the hate. That is the story of the middle east.
History has shown that power and wealth breeds corrupt hedonistic societies that ultimately weaken and are overthrown by those they oppress. The only way to stop a revolution of the poor masses (the rest of the world) against the current oppressive power (unfortunately, thats us) is to change the focus of their energy. Help them improve their lives rather than fight for revenge. This happened in the 30's in this country. My understanding was there was a very real fear of a communist uprising here, and the make work programs kept the poor happy, fed and busy with dignity.
Don't get me wrong, appeasement has never worked. Evil must be contained by force, and we do need to use a certain amount of force to stop these bastards. However, for us to ignore the fact that their may be a basis for growing and continued hatred of our country is to miss the opportunity for more productive long term solutions.
Cosmo |
