My take is that most Americans do not, and will not, read much...and certainly not much about the peoples of the world. Of the few number that do, sadly too many are smirking folk who really believe they have studied the world and are quite enlighted. Right. Graduates of the Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn "schools" of "truth", they downshout most others as, again - sadly - most others just do not know very much of anything. Railing half-truths and well packaged propaganda, the masses can be pulled in any direction clever people want them to go.

Make no mistake, there is a war on. The war rages in many places. We Americans do live in a country that is really very wealthy when compared to most of the rest of the world. With the advent of more and more rapid communications, many in the frighteningly growing population of the planet now know that they are very poor.

They wonder why and before they can blame their own corrupt leaders, those leaders divert the blame to America. We, I believe, really do want to live in peace. We do not want to take over more and more territory. That is bunk.

However, in maintaining our standard of living, others believe we are robbing them. Few understand economics and how they can really compete and do well themselves.

I do not mean for this to be a tract. I would hope that more and more people would read WIDELY and not accept one point of view...even mine.

Mustang's columns at Social Sense, are a good quick set of sparks to encourage us to read more and more and find out what the world is doing and why. We can make more informed choices based on "good intell."

Posted by tad at June 11, 2005 09:52 AM

Good comment Tad, and I agree fully with you about people being easily pulled in directions not in their best interests. Look how many got pulled to vote for John "Do You Know Who I AM?" Kerry. ;-)

Posted by GM Roper at June 11, 2005 09:59 AM

"Make no mistake, there is a war on. "

A war that almost no politicians' children are fighting in despite their youth, physical shape, and skills levels. Some 'war'.

Posted by steve at June 11, 2005 11:50 AM

Steve, does a politicians child have to fight in a war for it to be a war? Do you suspect that the islamofascists won't saw someone's head off for that reason or set off an IED in a crowded market full of women and children? I can hear it now: "Mohammad, don't kill that aid worker, the politicians children aren't involved so we can't really fight this war."

Yeah Steve, can't you just hear that?

Posted by GM Roper at June 11, 2005 12:52 PM

GM, good question. well, yes, when you're comparing the war to WW2, I should say that a few politicians' kids would be signing up to fight the 'war', surely.
It's a bit odd, don't you think, that the children of politicians who talk of this war like it's WW2 all over are hanging out in college, bars partying [think Bush twins, cousins...], etc. It reveals something about the lack of seriousness that the politicians who most advance war take their own rhetoric. Or it reveals something terribly elitist about those politicians that make wars.

Posted by steve at June 12, 2005 12:31 AM