Another way Americans are selfish

Today I read a great article about the "War in Afghanistan". I think it speaks volumes to some of the policy's of those in power - namely us. We can whine and cry about Hope and Change but the truth is we all just want free health care. What a sad state of affairs. How did we go from the Land of Opportunity to "The Land of Entitled Handouts"? I think the nation is in great shape and the politicians we elect are representing us adequately. Rather I should say the politicians some of us elected. Not everyone voted. NOT EVERYONE VOTED! Women fought for years to vote, blacks fought for years to vote, people aged 18 fought to vote. Now you ask the normal person on the street if they voted and you have a less than 50% chance of an affirmative. Apathy rules the day.

Because apathy rules the day, politicians are not held accountable. Oh, right before an election you gave me handouts with my own money? Thanks I'll vote for you again! Wait what about all the decisions that politician made over the last 2-4 years? Might that have a greater bearing on whether they are a good person to vote for or not? Oh, right that would take work and research. Sorry, Lost is on. The politicians actions directly represent the lazy apathetic people in this country. We will continue to support those who keep us comfortable and happy. The government's money is our money! The government's rules are our rules! There isn't some magic money box in the sky. It's this little thing called taxes. The more government spends the more taxes they are going to collect. Newsflash...taxes are going up.

Obama's stuck. Even if he wanted to bring all the troops home, he would then dump more warm bodies into a non-existent job market. That's not politically expedient. Even if he wanted to bring troops home he won't because he has asked other countries to man up and send more troops. That's not good foreign relations.

What does all this have to do with selfishness and Afghanistan? Well if we knew the effects of our war efforts on a population like Mexico we would not support it for an instant. If there were bombing raids on a Mexican village and 20 Mexicans died there would be an uproar! Every news camera crew from every major network would be camped out in Mexico. In Afghanistan it is sanitized by news reports with no blame. "17 killed by bomb in Afghanistan today." Well who killed them? Who set the bomb? Just random numbers and random bombs that walk out into the street killing people. Last time I checked bombs needed makers. The war is sanitized by it being far away, against people we truly don't understand instead of close and personal with our next door neighbors. The other thing is that we support it because we don't truly care as a collective enough to find out if our government is really making good decisions. It isn't trust it is laziness. We want someone else to do our thinking while we sit back and keep ourselves entertained.

While I don't have a magic answer that will solve everything, I know full well that more people calling for accountability in more matters would make a difference. If politicians knew they would be called into account for the sloppy messes they make they might think a bit more long term, instead of what is politically expedient for the next election coming up. Change comes through responsible people making responsible decisions they are accountable for. If we really want change it has to come from us as a people first. Otherwise we continue to support the status quo.

Challenge: Get to know the names of some local politicians. Try to find out what being the Speak of the House means. Practice a little bit of civics. It could just be enjoyable.