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I get so frustrated sometimes. There are so many good reasons not to go into the war, and I'm not saying this out of ignorance and out of the rational thought that "war is bad," I really mean it. I mean, Conservatives talk about patriotism and how we have to support the country, but I can be patriotic and still disagree with what my government is doing. I have the right to voice my opinion, that's one of the best things about the U.S.! And there are so many reasons for peace. I mean, the biological weapons we thought they had turned out to be a tiny remote controlled plane put together with duct tape. The nuclear weapons suspicions are ill-based because the ordering of the coated pipes and for what reasons is well documented, though I don't recall exactly what they were for. And I supposed nobody cares that they haven't been able to find ANY WMD's
War leaves so much residue that continues even after the actual fighting is over. Evil power mongers wait for times of fear and insecurity such as these to pass things like the Patriot Act and the Second Patriot Act. I'm so scared, this country will practically be a dictatorship if they have their way. It seems like the checks and balances guaranteed by the constitution are being thrown out the window with things like this and Fast Track and countless others that I won't even bother to talk about.
I hate how I can't do anything to stop it.
It's so sad how all these people have to die and in vain. They dance in the streets for the American troops in the hopes that this war will get them out of a dictatorial government, but in reality, it will just be replaced with a puppet government as so many other countries we "liberate." The only thing that will change is the oil. That's really what this war is about anyway. In 1991, when there was a popular uprising against Saddam and when he was willing to give us more oil, we supported him- they just don't give a crap about the people who are suffering (does anyone remember the sanctions?). After all, Iraq has some of the largest oil deposits in the world, but only exoports 4% of it or something like that. Both of the Bush's, but particularly the one in power today, don't look out for the majority of the American people, they only care about the .0001% of rich business owners, including themselves. Dubya cheated his way into office and is destroying the country, but he is looked upon as a demi-god just because he happened to be in office when a tragedy happened. People say he brought us through it gallantly and bravely, he summed up his courage and led us through it. But he didn't really do anything any other leader would have done. In The Bush Dyslexicon Mark Crispin Miller does a good job at pointing how bad of a leader Bush is.I bet anyone who reads it, no matter how devoutly they believe in Bush, will no longer support be able to support him as zealously. But that's just the thing, people who like him won't read anything against him. They don't want to listen to any other point of view but their own, so they never learn anything. I'm sure it's nice to hear your own views expressed by another (I wouldn't know the feeling :-P) but avoiding any kind of opposition is gross. One of my favorite quotes is "If only closed minds came with closed mouths." Because often the people who won't listen to you for even half a second, are the ones who want to yell at you for 45 minutes about how great their views are. Gee, thanks, I never heard that same rambling in the popular media. Do they really think I'll go "Hey! You're right! Being unpatriotic is a sin I should repent for. Who cares if Bush is an idiot, I should totally support him." No, of course not. Why? Because when people have a firmly based belief, be they Conservative or Liberal, it's damn hard to change their minds. But when people are just repeating the same things they've heard a million times from other people, and don't really know why (or if) they're true because they never bothered to look into it themselves, then when they do hear more of what's going on they're much more likely to change their minds. When I voice my own opinion (Though, for some reason, when I do in school it often ends in disaster because I can't keep my temper, I make the liberal stance seem pretty bad. When outside of school it's not so bad.) I'm not expecting people to suddenly convert to the Green Party, but I do think I say things they didn't know about before (except in school :-P), because half of the people you talk to don't know what they're talking about and can't defend their case. I don't care if you don't devote a lot of your time to politics, some people, like me, find it interesting and some don't- that's just the way of the world. But I don't know why people who don't care about politics suddenly have such strong opinions when yours doesn't agree with the majority. Why is it that with politics, ignorance isn't shameful? If you didn't know how to play the piano, but heard someone playing a song you didn't like, would you shove them over and start trying to play? Of course not, it'd be embarassing when they saw that you couldn't play. Why is it then that everyone seems to want to have their shot at politics, but invest absolutely no time in learning or refining their skill? This is another thing I just don't understand about people- it's quite mysterious.
Anyways, I went off on a tangent there. There is no proof that Iraq has any connections with Al-Queda (sp?), yet we go after them saying it has something to do with terrorism. Is it a coincidence that they conveniently have a natural resource we covet? I also hate how this is called "Operation Iraqi Freedom" that's the worst guise ever, it's almost insulting. As I said before, they won't actually be liberated, and if we were so into liberating countries why aren't we going into Africa? I even heard that times are tougher for women in Afganistan now that they've been "liberated." Besides, this new pre-emptive war sets a new precident. Now we can just start war out of nowhere and get away with it. Who's next? North Korea? China? We can go after anyone we want to and label them "terrorists" Who knows who can fit under "terrorist"? Of course, this was covered under the Patriot Act, silly me; everyone is a potential terrorist, even if they've commited no crime.
Also, I'm just generally mad at people. Part of the reason they're able to get away with all of this is because most people will never try hard enough to stop it. What's the point of free press if no one will go beyond the conservative, slanted news on TV? It's just sort of a shame I guess. And after studying all of this stuff in History about WWI and WWII and the Depression and all of that, I'm starting to lose faith in the human character.
People never want to do anything unless it directly affects them. I mean, they'll help out someone they see on the street whose car has just broken down, but that's because that's a face; a person in their eyes. If it's 500 others dying far away, it doesn't matter as much as that one person with a broken car. Who cares where taxes are going? They want their money back even though in the long run it's worse to take money away from welfare and government programs. As long as they see the direct and instant result; money on the table. Things have to be staring them in the face for them to act in any way, which is why I think Conservatism is so popular. To me, being a Republican just means you're openly admitting you're selfish in a socially acceptable way. It's like saying "Who cares about poor people, they must be lazy anyway. I wanna keep all of my money, because who else matters but me?" and no one gets angry. I think it's incredible that people aren't more disappointed with them. I mean, who knew selfishness was so virtuous? But apparently it has something to do with "family" and "patriotism" even though it takes away from education and government money for your fellow Americans. I just can't understand their view, though I'm normally very empathetic. I mean, I understand wanting to enjoy the fruits of your labors and all, but really, the gov.'s never gonna take away so much that you can't afford that new TV, and if we nationalized health and made college free you'd be giving other people new opportunites and better lives and securing your family at the same time. College and healthcare seem to be the things people worry about most, what's so bad about taking that worry off their hands? I don't understand why people aren't willing to pay a little extra to help out their fellow man, but don't mind the billions we will spend on killing our same brethren overseas. I just don't get it. And it just doesn't make sense to me why socialism is like a swear word when, if you just stop to think for a moment, we can see that the socialist countries of Europe have much higher standards of living than we do. Doesn't it just stare people in the face? I know it's obvious to me. The way I see it, Communism was a good idea in theory, but it just doesn't work out in real life. That's ok, just move a step lower. The next step is Socialism, and that does work, much better than the system we have now. Socialism is a great platform because it's a perfect combination of Capitalism and Communism. People have an incentive to work and are still individuals, but the world won't rub your nose into the ground if you fail. I don't understand what's so unattractive about having a pair of hands to catch you if you fall and to contribute to the pot that catches others. Sure, you can never get filthy rich, but you probably won't become poor either. I'd rather have one huge middle class than a bunch rich and a bunch poor, that sounds kinda like the feudal days. It's so hard to make your way back up once you've sunk. But then again, this country isn't run in the interest of the people, as Gore Vidal once said "What we have in this country is socialism for the rich and free enterprise for the poor."
I dunno, the more I see of Conservatism the more frustrated I am. The real problem is that most of it is just assumptions based on ignorance. I really wouldn't mind if someone knew all the facts and said "Hey, you know what? That's just my philosphy: every man for himself. Seems fair to me." Fine, I don't mind, but I hate it when people say that and have no idea what's really going on. They don't understand that the media are only as liberal as the conservative businnesses that own them, as someone said. Obviously, they're only going to hear one side of the story, and it's probably dumbed down anyway. I hate it when people talk about their political views without having ever tried to take into account the reason they think this way. Conservatives are lucky; they're the majority, so they don't have to constantly defend their stance, but when you're in the minority, you always have to be backed up a prepared. I guess that's what makes the Green Party so true and uncorrupted; it's not just the default. To be a member means you actually care and are thinking about what you are doing rather than just punching a hole wherever your TV tells you to. That's the only thing that keeps me from curling up into a ball, shutting my eyes really tight, and plugging my ears. That's exactly what everyone else does, and that's what creates problems.
I really hope some ultra Conservative sends me a flaming email of complaint (even though no one reads this site :P) so I can understand the thought process. But please, don't speak of patriotism and how we should support the government no matter what, because that's not a good enough reason to me. I know there must be other reasons to support this war, I'm only 15, I may be naïve. Maybe there are some really good reasons to be pro-war, how do I know? Or maybe two guys in suits will break into my house in the middle of the night and arrest me, saying I'm a"terrorist". That would also account for the abundance of Conservatives. Oh, and one last thing. If you're going to tell me that the media is liberally biased I will throw your email to the trash before reading another word. I'm so tired of that crap- turn on the news for five seconds and you'll figure it out.
Anyways, I guess that's all. I tried to say what I meant, but, yeah, I'm not too good at that. Well, I hope someone reads this and gets something out of it. See ya.
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