I don't believe they hate our freedom and our good life as we are
encouraged to believe.
They say they do! Have you read bin Laden speeches? You can see what he
has to say in books such as, "Imperial Hubris." He is the most popular
man in the Muslim world and millions of people have named their sons
after him and, so I think many people agree with him. I think they are
misguided. Millions of Japanese people agreed with the militarists too.
No doubt the majority of the country did, even though it was pretty
obvious after 1938 that they were dragging the nation into Hell.
I think this conclusion is too simplistic. What they hate are certain
behaviors that are permitted by our society and our attitude toward sex.
Some Christians in the US have a similar problem with these subjects,
although they would not suggest the same solution. However, I don't
believe these reasons are the main driving force for the movement. A
sane person does not try to murder his neighbor because he thinks she is
a slut. On the other hand, if, for example, the neighbor takes all the
water, treats you like dirt, and kills your friends, you might think of
murder.
Ed
Of course it could. If the US had launched a massive World War II
style effort to fix the problem starting in 2001, oil would be worth
practically nothing today.
Yes, and if the government gave everyone 1 million dollars, we would
all be rich. But like this silly example, such things will not be done
and if they were, other worse consequences would result.
Such things were done in the past when the nation was in crisis. If FDR
or Lincoln were in charge, this and much more would be done now. I mean
immediately, within a week. They would impose a five dollar emergency
wartime gasoline tax, draft a million men & women to fight the war in
Afghanistan (which we are losing), and ban the use of SUVs. If this is
really a war, as the leaders claim, it is their responsibility to do
such things. Wars are never won by half-measures. The nation would
follow I am sure. As Lincoln put it:
"Will not the good people respond to a united, and earnest appeal from
us? Can we, can they, by any other means, so certainly, or so speedily,
assure these vital objects? We can succeed only by concert. It is not
'can any of us imagine better?' but, 'can we all do better?' The dogmas
of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is
piled high with difficulty, and we must rise -- with the occasion. As
our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must
disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.
Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this
administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal
significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. . . .
We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save
it. We -- even we here -- hold the power, and bear the responsibility. .
. ."
http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/congress.htm
All of that applies as much to the energy/terror crisis today as it did
to the crisis of slavery in December 1862. Then and now, we know what
must be done. We need only summon up the will to *do* it.
And we may yet take action. Don't bet against it! You should never sell
the United States or its people short. The Japanese did in 1941 and look
where it got them. Probably more than any other people on earth, we are
capable of doing extraordinary deeds in a short time. As Edward Grey put
it, the United States is like "a gigantic boiler. Once the fire is
lighted under it there is no limit to the power it can generate."
The only thing we lack are leaders with guts & vision. Leaders who are
not afraid to demand sacrifices from everyone, not just army volunteers.
In the past, such people have often stepped forth when they were needed.
But it has always been a close call. Lincoln nearly lost the election
and FDR had great difficulty securing the nomination. The people next in
line who would have won if they had lost would have led the nation into
oblivion.
- Jed
