I had an ironic thought this morning. Can the country that started it all also be the one to end it all?
Many people credit Greece with being the the cradle of modern civilization. Among the greats are Pythagoras, Aristotle, Socrates, Herodotus, Hippocrates, Plato, Xenophon, Euclid, and Dionysis. These men lead the world from a time of brute force into an age of thinking. The initial advances in astronomy, history, medicine, math, philosophy, and government all occured during the time of these men. Who knows what the world would look like today without their contributions?
Now a collapse in the Greek economy is causing a worldwide panic ... more after the break.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
A look back on my thoughts about the 2004 elections
I was visiting a site that I used to post on all the time and found a message I put up right before the 2004 elections. The site was really interesting as it was made up of about 50% Europeans and 50% Americans so it was my first real experience with different cultures. The sad thing was that my fellow American players all seemed to be cut from the Republican cloth and some of the conversations got really heated between the two groups. I really hated to be lumped with the radical right so I made this post and I find it interesting to read from the vantage point of the future.
While I don't agree with his points I agree with his final statement. We all have a right to our opinion and in the United States we have the right to change things with our votes. Unfortunately Americans have chosen to let their politicians run the country into the ground and we will pay the price in the coming years.
For what it is worth I think Bush did a horrible job during his re-election but after watching Kerry in the Senate during that time I can't believe he would have been much better. This was a man that was put up as a leader and you'd think with a majority in the Senate that he could have been a leader in Congress similar to Lyndon Johnson. Instead he disappeared into the woodwork. As ineffective as I fear he would have been, I doubt that the Democrats would have the majority in Congress today and it is quite probable that Barack Obama wouldn't be President.
Sometimes ... the long view of history makes things that seem so certain in the present, less so in the future. Which would have been better? Who knows? Bush did most of the damage in his presidency in his first term and by getting re-elected the Republicans rightly took most of the blame. If Kerry would have won, I'm quite certain that the Republicans would be in a much stronger position that they are today.
10/08/04 - I say as an American (and one that more taxes than 90% of my fellow Americans) that it bothers me that naive and close minded attitudes that are on the rise in the United States today.
If someone says something against the present administration the response is "America - love it or leave it". If you say something against our president then you are told that you are not supporting our troops and helping the terrorists. I say that's bull. Freedom gives us the right to do these things and without freedom then all efforts of our forefathers are for naught.
I hear people say things like "Freedom isn't free" but then they don't want to pay the taxes to help pay for that freedom. Does our government waste money -- definitely! But sadly no US politician is going to reduce the size of government because our government is based on porkbarrel projects and reduced government means less votes. Our government will only reduce in size when the world decides no longer to pay for our deficit and we will have to look into downsizing our government because we have no other choice. It saddens me that our recent financial irresponsibility will speed up that process and I will have to watch as my country slowly slips in relevance in world affairs. For you America haters out there that is not necessarily a good thing. Imagine what the world would look like if the United States would have stayed isolationist after the 1930's.
Many say "the terrorists hate us for our freedoms." I can't believe anyone would fall for such simplistic propoganda. To those people I say ... read a book and come up with your own opinions as to why they hate us. Maybe they hate us because we are exporting American culture to all parts of the world and some of them like things the way they are. Maybe they hate us because they are poor and out of work and need some one to blame. Or maybe they hate us because we Americans needlessly taunt the world with an attitude that we are better than everyone else. Finally maybe they hate us because we do whatever we want while telling others soveriegn countries what they are allowed to do. I personally believe it is a combination of all the above. But being hated is part of being a leader whether you are a parent, a manager of a small company or country. Responsibly reacting to this hatred is one determinant of whether you are going to successful in the long run. Attacking a country with military force when increased political force could have done the job is not the action of a responsible country. The waste in American lives, American money, and world public opinion is just downright maddening. To use an analogy ... remember the Oklamoma City bombing that killed over 300 people using a car bomb. It was proven that the perpetrator of this act was an American in the Michigan Militia. Did we attack the rest of the Michigan Militia or did we prosecute the persons responsible? The answer is went after the persons responsible. Did we attack all organizations in the United States who were similar is the Michigan Militia because they were terrorists? Again the answer is no. I know the situations are a bit different but using violence to stop violence will usually only create more enemies.
George W Bush has proven time and again that he makes short sighted and selfish decisions. He is not the man to lead our country out of the mess he created. I don't know if John Kerry can get us out of this quagmire but he has proven to me that he is a much better choice. The next four years are going to be tough for the United States no matter who is in office. Tough choices are needed and Mr. Bush has proven he is not up to the task. I am voting for John Kerry for these reasons and hope my fellow Americans also do so. God helps us if Bush is re-elected.
If someone says something against the present administration the response is "America - love it or leave it". If you say something against our president then you are told that you are not supporting our troops and helping the terrorists. I say that's bull. Freedom gives us the right to do these things and without freedom then all efforts of our forefathers are for naught.
I hear people say things like "Freedom isn't free" but then they don't want to pay the taxes to help pay for that freedom. Does our government waste money -- definitely! But sadly no US politician is going to reduce the size of government because our government is based on porkbarrel projects and reduced government means less votes. Our government will only reduce in size when the world decides no longer to pay for our deficit and we will have to look into downsizing our government because we have no other choice. It saddens me that our recent financial irresponsibility will speed up that process and I will have to watch as my country slowly slips in relevance in world affairs. For you America haters out there that is not necessarily a good thing. Imagine what the world would look like if the United States would have stayed isolationist after the 1930's.
Many say "the terrorists hate us for our freedoms." I can't believe anyone would fall for such simplistic propoganda. To those people I say ... read a book and come up with your own opinions as to why they hate us. Maybe they hate us because we are exporting American culture to all parts of the world and some of them like things the way they are. Maybe they hate us because they are poor and out of work and need some one to blame. Or maybe they hate us because we Americans needlessly taunt the world with an attitude that we are better than everyone else. Finally maybe they hate us because we do whatever we want while telling others soveriegn countries what they are allowed to do. I personally believe it is a combination of all the above. But being hated is part of being a leader whether you are a parent, a manager of a small company or country. Responsibly reacting to this hatred is one determinant of whether you are going to successful in the long run. Attacking a country with military force when increased political force could have done the job is not the action of a responsible country. The waste in American lives, American money, and world public opinion is just downright maddening. To use an analogy ... remember the Oklamoma City bombing that killed over 300 people using a car bomb. It was proven that the perpetrator of this act was an American in the Michigan Militia. Did we attack the rest of the Michigan Militia or did we prosecute the persons responsible? The answer is went after the persons responsible. Did we attack all organizations in the United States who were similar is the Michigan Militia because they were terrorists? Again the answer is no. I know the situations are a bit different but using violence to stop violence will usually only create more enemies.
George W Bush has proven time and again that he makes short sighted and selfish decisions. He is not the man to lead our country out of the mess he created. I don't know if John Kerry can get us out of this quagmire but he has proven to me that he is a much better choice. The next four years are going to be tough for the United States no matter who is in office. Tough choices are needed and Mr. Bush has proven he is not up to the task. I am voting for John Kerry for these reasons and hope my fellow Americans also do so. God helps us if Bush is re-elected.
The funny thing is that everyone on that server ... it was from an online roleplaying game ... were as close as you could be as online friends but it was bad whenever we started talking politics. The responses to my post were mixed. The Americans either ignored me with a "too long didn't read" response or nitpicked my points. The Europeans were either closeminded to the fact that Americans weren't all alike but some were really nice. My favorite response was from a guy that said, "Good to see not all Americans are brainwashed, thanks."
My best "friend" online was possibly the most misguided and said,
" i read your entire post, and i have to say that we mostly disagree. PRESIDENT Bush has done a great job so far, tax cuts (we need more), education (Kennedy's no less!), health care (that thing liberals have been promising for years, that we DON'T need), national security (kills terrorists dead). i know that everything i've mentioned to you seems weird because you think he's failed on all those. well that is because we see the same evidence and come to two different conclusionsamerica is great for that
While I don't agree with his points I agree with his final statement. We all have a right to our opinion and in the United States we have the right to change things with our votes. Unfortunately Americans have chosen to let their politicians run the country into the ground and we will pay the price in the coming years.
For what it is worth I think Bush did a horrible job during his re-election but after watching Kerry in the Senate during that time I can't believe he would have been much better. This was a man that was put up as a leader and you'd think with a majority in the Senate that he could have been a leader in Congress similar to Lyndon Johnson. Instead he disappeared into the woodwork. As ineffective as I fear he would have been, I doubt that the Democrats would have the majority in Congress today and it is quite probable that Barack Obama wouldn't be President.
Sometimes ... the long view of history makes things that seem so certain in the present, less so in the future. Which would have been better? Who knows? Bush did most of the damage in his presidency in his first term and by getting re-elected the Republicans rightly took most of the blame. If Kerry would have won, I'm quite certain that the Republicans would be in a much stronger position that they are today.
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