Brain Fertilizer

Yeah, I'm feeling full of piss and vinegar today. So what?

For the most part, I'm proud of the United States. I think we tend to make the fewest mistakes, when we do make them it less out of malice and more out of ignorance, and we do usually at least make an attempt at rectification. Most of the time. Unless the place has really good beaches [Hawaii].

The thing is, it usually works out that a government's main function is to keep themselves in power. And one side effect of being in a government seems to be an unfortunate detachment from the common individual, and a corresponding callousness towards the lives they are toying with. The people who develop policy may have the best of intentions, but decisions usually end up being amoral, cold-blooded strategies that work solely for the interests of that nation. It sucks, but expecting anything else is just naive. As citizens of the United States, we can at least try to make sure our leaders do some good at the same time. We've freed millions of people from oppression in Afghanistan and Iraq, and it was worth it. We can't solve all the world's problems, but these two countries are a good start.

Since the UN has demonstrated it is almost completely morally bankrupt now, I'd like to see us start a new club, composed of the coalition members in Iraq, as a force for Freedom. We can and should establish trade benefits to those who helped us, and offer those same benefits as incentives to nations like China and Russia to reform themselves internally. And then recognize the success of those efforts when it happens. Sure, we do that somewhat already with the "Most Favored Nation" trade status and other moves, but it has become watered down and less effective these days...

So when I'm feeling provocative, don't forget that sometimes I just like to stir things up. I'm in that sort of mood today.