What happened to the world I grew up in? We had rules, and we by-and-large obeyed them. Countries were expected to act in a certain way. When one crossed the line of decency, they were slapped down. The good guys banded together to smite the offender. It was country vs country, tank vs tank, plane vs plane. You knew who your enemy was. Now in many parts of the world, particularly the Mid East, boundaries are no more. Ideologies have no boundaries.
Guerrilla warfare has been around probably forever, but it was in Vietnam that the Bad Guys realized it was the civilized world's Achilles Heel. Toss a grenade, then run back to tending your fields. "Who me? I didn't do it, nobody saw me, you can't prove a thing." It wouldn't take long for public opinion to force accommodation with the forces of evil.
And of course, there's good old religion. It's all about peace, and tolerance, and love. Right? No? The Crusades are ancient history, but I sense a stirring for Crusades, The Sequel. Us vs "them".
I can't figure out Islam. My heart still wants to honor the concept of Freedom of Religion, but Muslims are making it hard for me. My head says "Don't trust 'em. Watch 'em like a hawk. Don't turn your back on 'em."
Which leads to "profiling". Bad, right? You can't single out African Americans, or Hispanics, for example, for special scrutiny. Except, maybe, it's OK to profile Muslims? Is that where we're heading? I'll admit, when I see someone I can identify as Muslim on the street, I stiffen. I wonder.
Most are just regular people like me...they work, they have families, they bother no one. But some, too many, seem to be torn between being loyal Americans (or Brits, or Aussies, or Danes, etc), honoring the civilized rule of law, and the rising sentiment of identifying with the forces of evil gaining strength in the Mid East and being rapidly spread via the internet. And yes, when you cut off peoples heads, you're EVIL!
So now guerrilla warfare has come to America. Work in your shop or your office during the day, and make bombs and assemble an arsenal at night. Is this where we're headed?
What happened to the world I grew up in?
S
I grew up in the same world you did and i also miss the clarity of good guys versus bad guys. The world seems to be getting ever more complex. It's hard to stat positive.
ReplyDeleteAh, the good old days when "duck and cover" made you think you were safe from a nuclear bomb!
ReplyDeleteActually, Scott, the North Vietnamese were the "good people" seeking only to fight a civil war to control their country. But that's another era.
ReplyDeleteAs for the profiling of the Muslims, think of the incarceration of the Japanese-Americans in massive numbers during World War Two. We must not repeat that horror yet we must remain vigilant. Not paranoid. Just vigilant.
Good guys should wear the white hats!
ReplyDeleteAh yes, the 'good old days'....When Sen. McCarthy could tell any lie that came into his twisted mind and ruin lives, back when the best job most women could get would be a nurse, when polio was around, what an idyllic, fictional time.
ReplyDeleteWhat was simpler were the people inhabiting that world, they didn't have access to the information we have, instead of reading in the news paper a month later that there was a earthquake in Nepal, and shootings across the country only had regional coverage. The issues underlying all the problems were there, it's just we could be blissfully ignorant of them.
So how can we become proactive in combating the new "lone wolf" type terrorist? Surely we can't be content to reactively sweep up the carnage after every attack
DeleteIf I knew how exactly we'd do that, or fix other related problems would I be a retired, aging bloke living in a little Montana town?? I'm just like you, or the other commenters here; a guy with an opinion, and no original research to back it up.
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