Political Timestamp (more fear)
I'm just doing this for future reference, since I refine my political opinion quite often, I thought it prudent to capture some thoughts on current happenings in the world. Also this might help my fan (Hi Mom) understand when I am being sarcastic. I'm sort of a moderate libertarian in my overall political view. I enjoy living in a free society, and I truly love America. I like being able to speak out/protest/support whoever I wish without facing imprisonment or death. I acknowledge the sacrifice of our troops. Those who are against our current conflict still fight because they made a commitment, and those who die, I honor, no matter the cause, because I feel they made a commitment to their view of America. If they are used inappropriately then that falls on the heads of those who know the whole picture and order them into battle.
That being said, I believe Iraq, specifically, to be an ill-advised war. My current understanding is that we invaded in order to secure a stable foothold in the middle-east from which we could reach out and stabilize the rest of the region. I honestly think our hubris got the better of us when the Gov't decided we could reform zealous minds of their zealotry. I disagree with the way the war started. We should have waited for international consensus. The decision to invade has caused people around the world to denigrate America. I'm not sure what we should do about the current situation because I do not understand the middle-east. I don't know if we should stay the course, or cut and run. I have cousins who are frequently deployed and in the line of fire, and I wish them home. I know 10s of thousands of Iraqi civilians have died due to sectarian violence, and I don't know where that would lead were we to leave. I can preach all day about what we should have done, but I can't tell you what we should do.
We need to separate ourselves from all of our interests in that region. If they wish to kill each other over dogma, then let the region fall. Our ancestors left their places of birth over dogma, and current generations can too if they wish to avoid persecution and violence. That being said, I think we should allow more immigrants into the US legally. We need to streamline and provide a program for them to come here and build up our workforce. We need to do our best to document the illegal immigrants currently here, and we need to be realistic about doing this. We have an economic struggle against the rest of the world, and the ability to keep more factories and labor here, rather than shipping them overseas, can be accomplished through a larger competitive legal workforce. America's strength is in our ingenuity and vision, and while globalization can provide a temporary buoy to the purchasing power of our middle to low wage workers, the bottom will eventually fall out. Yes manual labor forces will be hit hard by a larger manual workforce, but in the end it will help maintain America.
Global warming is a buzzword engineered to strike fear into people. The only problem is that, as a recent washington post article pointed out, global warming is not a social problem but an engineering problem. I feel we have made it a social problem because we cannot solidly explain the engineering problem. When man starts playing God by adding, changing, removing, or trying to fix long term problems we have caused, without knowing the exact facts as to how this came about, then we may just make things worse by trying to fix the issue, especially at the expense of national economies and human lives. The answer to the energy issue is nuclear power, but most people are prejudiced due to the typical sensationalism of the time.
I abhor political punditry. I hate industries that try to legislate their business models through lobbying and legal pressure. We need copyright reform, patent reform, and a government that follows the constitution. We need conservatives to actually be fiscally conservative. Our two party mentality is flawed. I think most conspiracy theories divert attention from things that are actually important. The family is the best way to perpetuate morality; legislating it is the wrong choice.
I had some thoughts on race, religion, and the media but decided this post was already pretty long.
That being said, I believe Iraq, specifically, to be an ill-advised war. My current understanding is that we invaded in order to secure a stable foothold in the middle-east from which we could reach out and stabilize the rest of the region. I honestly think our hubris got the better of us when the Gov't decided we could reform zealous minds of their zealotry. I disagree with the way the war started. We should have waited for international consensus. The decision to invade has caused people around the world to denigrate America. I'm not sure what we should do about the current situation because I do not understand the middle-east. I don't know if we should stay the course, or cut and run. I have cousins who are frequently deployed and in the line of fire, and I wish them home. I know 10s of thousands of Iraqi civilians have died due to sectarian violence, and I don't know where that would lead were we to leave. I can preach all day about what we should have done, but I can't tell you what we should do.
We need to separate ourselves from all of our interests in that region. If they wish to kill each other over dogma, then let the region fall. Our ancestors left their places of birth over dogma, and current generations can too if they wish to avoid persecution and violence. That being said, I think we should allow more immigrants into the US legally. We need to streamline and provide a program for them to come here and build up our workforce. We need to do our best to document the illegal immigrants currently here, and we need to be realistic about doing this. We have an economic struggle against the rest of the world, and the ability to keep more factories and labor here, rather than shipping them overseas, can be accomplished through a larger competitive legal workforce. America's strength is in our ingenuity and vision, and while globalization can provide a temporary buoy to the purchasing power of our middle to low wage workers, the bottom will eventually fall out. Yes manual labor forces will be hit hard by a larger manual workforce, but in the end it will help maintain America.
Global warming is a buzzword engineered to strike fear into people. The only problem is that, as a recent washington post article pointed out, global warming is not a social problem but an engineering problem. I feel we have made it a social problem because we cannot solidly explain the engineering problem. When man starts playing God by adding, changing, removing, or trying to fix long term problems we have caused, without knowing the exact facts as to how this came about, then we may just make things worse by trying to fix the issue, especially at the expense of national economies and human lives. The answer to the energy issue is nuclear power, but most people are prejudiced due to the typical sensationalism of the time.
I abhor political punditry. I hate industries that try to legislate their business models through lobbying and legal pressure. We need copyright reform, patent reform, and a government that follows the constitution. We need conservatives to actually be fiscally conservative. Our two party mentality is flawed. I think most conspiracy theories divert attention from things that are actually important. The family is the best way to perpetuate morality; legislating it is the wrong choice.
I had some thoughts on race, religion, and the media but decided this post was already pretty long.
Unfortunately we must finish what we started. Leaving now would cause much greater harm.
ReplyDeleteSadam had a way of controling the violence with extreme violence and fear. It worked because no one was willing stand up to him. Now we have to teach them that is not the way and also that harboring "brothers" in arms and allowing them wage their holy war only causes the innocent more pain and suffering. Once the innocent realize this I believe the entire region will begin to improve.
Ultimately the thing that must be achieved is an Islam that respects everyone and their beliefs. As long as people are taught to kill or convert everything they will continue to do so.
The insurgent mentality that we continue to fight in Iraq can still be found within a popular minority. Hezbollah being the current prime example. It's popularity within the Arab world is such that the Iraqi prim minister, who has gone so far as to speak to the congress in support of the current governmental direction, has refrained form criticizing Hezbollah for it's current actions.
ReplyDeleteIt is not rogue governments who want Israel to cease existing but something felt by the majority of the Islamic Middle-East. How do you change the religious beliefs of 2 billion people?
The funny part is that Iraq, with it's Sunni leadership and oppression of the Shiite majority stood as a counterbalance to the outlook of the other Shiite nations in the Middle-East.
Combine that issue with the heavy handed negotiations between the US and Russia, and our opposition to their entering the WTO has led to some penis comparing amongst Venezuela, Russia, the US, Iran, and North Korea, with a few other nations thrown in for fun.
I hope the US is patient enought for discussions to begin instead of drawing a line in the sand. If we draw a line in the sand I would honestly prepare for WW3.