Tannishblog

“Peace is unpractical”

These words have ricocheted inside my scull for several weeks, now. In context, I was speaking to my supervisor, who is a nice enough gent to have offered to take me out to breakfast that day. He has a tendency toward pontification, but since his views are thoughtful, I don’t mind. I can’t recall the actual drift of our conversation. It had something to do with an aspect of my new position I was struggling with, something involving human interactions no doubt, and I said, “I’m just looking for some peace.”

I meant it both in relation to workplace interactions and as a metaphysical observation. My boss understood this. Yet his answer, quoted above, threw me. It illuminated just how two white guys, both middle-aged, both from middle class homes, can develop diametrically opposed world views. I thought, “How could he think that?” Then I started a mental list of how different we were: City-born v. rural bred; the fifteen years age differential; His Baptist College education and my failed inter-City University trials; His All-American sports background, and my wannabe-rock star, burnout-pothead roots. It occurred to me how little we know about the people with which we interact, especially the seemingly random personalities encountered on the job.

Peace is anything but impractical. His thinking so helps me to understand just how our nation got into a war in the first place, not to mention two of them. If a majority of Americans believed as does my boss, then retribution for the twin towers would logically follow, as would any other target our government seemed fit to attack, as long as the move occurred while our collective blood still boiled. That is exactly how things played out, as I recall. War never solves problems; it only creates more. If I remember right, Osama was reacting to how America acted in Afghanistan during the cold war in order to thwart Russia. His hatred for us stemmed from one war, and ultimately resolved into another one. How is that practical? Of course, I’m not condoning his actions, but neither do I overlook America’s part leading up to September 11 or following after.

Aggressive policies don’t work. At best, any form of aggression risks reprisal; at worst, it can create chain reaction of unwanted, unexpected outcomes. Can you say: Polytrauma?

Speaking of unintended consequences, the cold war effectively bankrupts the USSR, causing a resurgence of Democracy in the fractured political landscape. Never did I overhear any pundit of the times expressing how such was the intention of our frosty aggressions. The war in Iraq is likely to bankrupt America unless we can extricate ourselves soon. I believe that to be a similarly unanticipated result. Fiscal responsibility notwithstanding, our president’s falling poll numbers is surely unintended, and just as surely a direct result of this war. I ask any readers – feel free to leave a comment – what positive outcome has resulted from our invasion of Iraq?

Peace, on the other hand, is preferable. Can anyone deny this? Again – leave a comment. When has a lasting peace resulted in negative consequences? To live in harmony with our neighbors down the street and across the ocean, is a common prayer of every religion, a common hope of most of humanity. Why can we not accomplish this? Any nation that can rise from the ashes of the Great Depression and fly to the moon in less than forty years should be able to accomplish a lasting peace if it wanted one.

That last thought gives rise to new territory… I must ponder if America really wants peace. I’ll leave that for another posting. For now, I’ll close with the observation that I would prefer to be impractical if it saves lives.

I swear this planet has somehow slipped into the Twilight Zone, or something. The Washington Post reports Prince George the Destructive is prepping his brainwashed legions for – are you sitting down? - For Jeb Bush to make a run at the presidency.

I’ll let that sink in a bit…

We need this, don’t we? Somehow, we need another Bush in the White House to complete the destruction started by his father, and accelerated by George the Second. In Christian terms, we must be atoning for one helluva mongo sin to be inflicted with a third Bush presidency. I can’t begin to think what we did to deserve that!

To take a different tack, our Karmic debt must be so huge as to require cataclysmic (dare I say Apocalyptic) amounts of suffering to occur to cleanse us. If that is the case, I doubt humanity will survive.

I am not exaggerating!

How can four or (shudder) eight more years of astronomical debts, needless wars, testosterone-inspired foreign policy (Bring ‘Em On!), and rewards for the richest – damn the poor economic theories be good for America? “Let’s just cut education and force unemployable young people to be soldiers, dissolve social security so the old ones die off quick. There’s still lots of targets out there. God Bless Planet America!”