As we get ready to start 2012 we need to take a broad look at the world, note what is happening and make some resolutions.
We look to the East and there we see North Korea, practically leaderless unless you call the playboy son of deceased Kim Jong II a leader. The potential is there for positive change with an uprising of the people or a take-over by the extremely strong military.
We look to Eastern Europe and find Russia in a state of chaos due to the people being fed up with a fraudulent government in power due to rigged elections.
We look at the Mid-East and we have the continual terrorist attacks in Iraq, the rise and protest of the Syrians and their government’s brutal crack-down, the deposing of Mubarak in Egypt and the subsequent turmoil in Egyptian election attempts, the Iranians and their conflicts with us and most of their neighbors, Israel and its’ adversarial relationship with Iran and the never-ending conflicts with the Palestinians, and the continued conflict in Afghanistan.
When I look back over the conflicts we meddled in from the Korean War forward I see a long trail of blood leading to a government that can’t seem to keep from being the world police. I suppose you could say that we at least beat back the North Koreans to a point that they only occupied half the country. Vietnam was a total farce in that we gained nothing except a lot of shed blood. Don’t forget that communism was the dirty word back then to die for. Now the dirty word is terrorist.
When you look at our way of governing of by and for the people it’s evolved for thousands of years through the Greeks, Western Europe, etc. Look at the growing pains and blood shed for these principles throughout history on our own shore and the shores of all our predecessors.
Yet we think we have to meddle in countries going through the same growing pains thinking we can force democracy on them and it will stay. We favor one side or the other and in twenty years fight the ones we helped. We forget that freedom has to be won internally if it is to mean anything. We are so arrogant to think that what’s good for us is good for everyone and frankly, I think it is not so good for us now unless we do some house-cleaning and fine tuning. It is a little like taking your adolescent child and trying to horse whip him into adulthood. We help a handful of protestors drop their leader , leaving a void when it happens that they don’t know how to fill. They often have not learned how to keep from fighting each other.
Back to whipping the son. While he is growing up we have our goals for him of being a doctor, lawyer or scientist because we think it will make us look good when he is satisfied running a lawn business. It does not mean he has failed, it only means he wants to do his thing.
We try to push a form of government on a people thousands of years in the making when all they may want is a benevolent dictator.
Much of the unrest I perceive in the world is a good thing. I think the smoldering logs of personal freedom have ignited into bonfires in many places and aren’t likely to go out. I believe this is true in our country. What scares me here is that police departments are gearing up with war equipment and police are aggressively trying to stamp out the Occupy Movement
So, my resolution this year for our country is: Do not get involved in the political growth process of other countries. Instead, let’s turn inwardly for a while and have some serious talks with ourselves on what we want. Let’s focus our money on taking care of our own people. Let’s move towards energy independence with technology that will lessen our dependancy on those countries that continue to threaten our security. After all, it is hard to be politically independent when, at the same time, we have to ask them for our oil allowance.
