The United States of today is faced, not by an overarching strategic threat, but rather by a torrent of tactical flash-points. Some of these threats are joined by common purpose, but most are isolated by ideology, support, and methodology. The security challenges of our nation have undergone a paradigm shift, but our ability to comprehend and react to them has not.
Archive for August 2010
Searching For Someone To Blame
As our country matures, it would seem evident that we the people should grow more sophisticated in our understanding of the role we play in our economy both as individuals and through our government. Instead, the opposite appears to be the case. During our thirty year crusade against the idea of government, we have become more and more frustrated with government’s inability to get the job done. Contemplate that idea a little further; we the people take away our representative government’s abilities to influence the economy, and then complain about our representative government’s lack of influence on the economy.
Rational Politics Chapter 10: National Security
There is a persistent line of thinking in American political philosophy that says an entity known as the military-industrial complex is responsible for war and defense budgets. The self-sustaining nature of corporate research and development (marketing) is responsible for much of this issue. But efforts by corporations are ultimately supported by voters, and voters are most often swayed by jobs. Much of the infamous earmarks done every year involve military spending. More influential, however, is the spread of weapons building into multiple Congressional districts. A contract for one piece of hardware can generate or maintain jobs throughout the nation. Contractors spread their operations throughout the nation, creating political leverage. Killing a project means shutting down a factory, and shedding the good paying jobs associated with the plant.
False Villains
Our political culture, for reasons of time and money, has been limited to shallow arguments and hyperbole. Have you ever noticed how every bill, politician, or scandal is either the worst thing since Satan, or the best thing since sliced bread? There is this pervasive notion in our culture that we the people are unwilling or lack the time to do real analysis of policy. I would point to the productive time lost to employers due to social networks and fantasy football, and conclude that time isn’t the problem. Our priorities are the reason America is falling short of our expectations.
Ground-Zero, Freedom Is Sometimes Painful
The text of the 1st Amendment is simple yet inclusive. It protects the fundamentals of free expression for both individuals and groups. It channels the spirit of the original Pilgrims still evident in our Founding Fathers; Pilgrims who were considered a cult in England and the Netherlands. To protect the rights of the religious, and the manner of their expression was a bold and original ideal then and now. There was not then, nor is there now, a test imposed on practitioners to determine the worth of their faith, or its place in the world.
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