Hard facts and harder choices

This was originally part of the previous post, but I decided splitting it up was a better choice for readability.

If I was in charge how would I cast off the pall? First off thank gd I am not in charge, since this a tough problem. Look, I support our Administration and love my country, and think nothing bad should happen to mostly good people but here are the hard facts:

Terrorism is a fact of life we will have that deal with, since the trade for freedom is the possibility of terrorism. Despite what certain groups, and the creators Star Trek may believe these people don’t need a hug and milk and cookies. In the short term violence is the only solution since you can’t communicate with a person who is willing (wants) to die any other way. In the long term we will curb terrorism with hope, since someone who has a future to look forward too isn’t as likely to become a terrorist. I have studied Middle Eastern Culture and this is a tough nut to crack since they don’t value human life like we do, and their socioeconomic system and religion is setup to foster distrust and oppression. Our form of republicanism (we are not a democracy, check the money or the pledge if you don’t believe me) is a very foreign concept in a culture with tribal leadership, and in fighting. (The istan/ijan in countries names like Afghanistan means land, so the country name translates loosely to the Afghan’s land, which means if you’re not an Afgan in their “istan” then you are a “foreigner”. Saudi is the name of the tribe that rules the Arabs there.
How welcome would you feel if you had to live in a country named after the sworn enemy of your family and ruled by people who believe you to be their enemy from the day you are born? On the other side imagine your family has been in charge for years, but now some gun toting foreigners come and tell you that their form of government, which is based on an election you can’t possible win, which strip your family and friends of power and place them at the tender mercy of those who you oppressed, is way you are going to be running things from now on. You might not exactly jump at the chance to change, and some more extreme elements might feel violent resistance is only solution.

The previous paragraph leads us nicely into the next hard fact, peace keeping in the Middle East is necessary since that part of the world would come unglued without the gun toting foreigners to prevent the minorities and the majority from rebalancing the distribution of power (read at best mass murder, mostly likely civil war, or at worst a war that spreads to the rest of world…) So oil or no, that level of instability is not something the last remaining superpower can permit and the cost of keeping the peace is nothing compared to the cost of the alternatives. (***Some may ask how can I believe that and not join up, I am aware of the hypocrisy and while I believe I help in my own way I will save the discussion for another day***). The “war” is unwinnable in the traditional sense since victory isn’t the enemy suing for peace, it is teaching sworn enemies to share power and not simply “off’ each other, once we leave. If you have ever been a kid you can remember promising you parents or teacher you would behave once they left and that you wouldn’t fight with your sibling or the other kids, did you fight and bicker anyways? Now, imagine the “two kids” are thousands of well armed men and the parent is the world (mostly the USA). Do you believe that you don’t have to watch them play while they play, since they told you they will play nice, despite the fact they didn’t stop fighting to tell you this? Like children, parenting a country is a long term commitment, at least if you want to raise them right. (Plus, our presence in the Middle East is like a porch light for insurgents, only this porch light is a zapper. So while terrorists will still occasionally find their way to our shores, lots of the money, weapons and personal are utilized to fight us there. While it is terrible that American’s are dying, imagine that the IEDs used on the roadsides in Kabul exploded outside a school in your town? The civilian casualties in Iraq speak to the wisdom of the “not in my town” policy.

The next hard series of hard facts are linked, but I will get back to that. First high oil prices are here to stay unless China stops using oil, (but since it has to grow at least 8% a year or risk stagnation/recession, that is unlikely), and refineries can be grown from seeds (also unlikely). However, there is no need to panic since there is plenty of oil so a shortage like the in the 70/80’s is unlikely, but since the surplus is gone oil is now a true commodity, and very subject to speculation. Second while the economy is growing so we aren’t in a recession it borrowed to the hilt so it is very unstable and possible on track for a correction. How are these things related? Since, a day in Mid-Sept of ’01 people have been afraid of the future, so they aren’t thinking long term. Sure you can say the bubble burst in ’99/’00, and that is true people got their wallets bit but they weren’t afraid, and so over all it was business as usual. On 9/11/01 fear joined the equation, but unlike 12/7/1941 there was no clear enemy to defeat, so without a way to turn fear into anger and finally resolve, fear and uncertainty remained (I thank yellow journalism for this) and thus the pall was cast.

How go we get out of this? I am not sure we can, I think we might have to take our medicine. While I am not the chairman of the fed, I think this is the most likely outcome. However, you will never hear these words out of our government since this would cause widespread panic, and collapse the economy. One of the most important roles of our government is to provide comfort, so they soften the message which helps prepare people, and plan like hell how to get us out of this, and I believe this is the best course of action. The only way out is the raise wages, invest in the future and cutting debit while not causing inflation, which is as I understand it not possible.

My solution? It’s time to build our infrastructure, and to start making things again. The bad times are to build and prepare for the good time. While I am not talking socialism like the NRA (not the gun club), I am kind of hinting at corporate welfare. Let’s invest in alterative energy but build new oil refineries, nuclear power plants, and transmission lines too. We must renew the wet lands on the Gulf Coast, but we also need new bridges and roads in areas where we want growth. We need educate our children in technology, since we need engineers and scientists, but we need machinists and tradesmen too (read we need vocational schools, not everyone needs to learn the same things, so if we accept this we can cut drop outs by teaching useful things they want to learn.) The duality of my suggestions is not lost on me but growth must be founded on expansion, however unlike in the past we must think long term. To me anyone who suggests that only one side is necessary is fooling themselves, which in this case is far more dangerous than working towards an “impossible” goal. Where will we get the money? Um lot will come from other forms of “welfare” and pork, but most will come from “private” investment, once companies believe that building these expensive things can pay off, they will.

Now here is the real challenge finding the altruism to do all this. We must rally as a nation and realize that it is in our own self interest to act selflessly now since the reward is in the future. Sounds like religion huh? It kind of is since it is faith, faith in our country and it's future! I will quit here since I have rambled on quite abit already but think about it.