This country has completely lost its collective mind. If a Martian were to come down and assessed the situation in the United States in 2006, they would be bewildered at the lack of rationality in our policies and laws:
Dangerous, addictive, social causing problems Alcohol = LEGAL
Benign, non-addictive, socially nuetral Marijuana = ILLEGAL
Wars, death, caranage, life long injuries in obscurely rationalized foreign military adventures = PURSUED, SUPPORTED AND PRAISED
Peace, public safety, building a safer more human society at home = IGNORED, NEGLECTED AND VILLIFIED
I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. It's not an exclusively Southern phenomenon either, but these irrational attitudes are certainly magnified in the South and you could add in a lot of irrational patriotism and state worship that puts the interests of the state and internationalism far ahead of rational individual and local interests.
It would be refreshing if some politician just stood up and said we should leave Iraq because war and killing are wrong and we should not be involved in an uncessary war, and we should pursue more enlightened policies. That would be the sane and rational thing to say. |
