| Social classes are most often defined by money. Generally, those who are born wealthy are also born powerful; born with a purpose already defined. In order to accomplish something, they must find a way to use their wealth and power, for whatever cause they adopt. Also generally, these people have far fewer great choices in life than those born without such wealth.
A comfortable society tucked into the center of an uncomfortable, wheezing and heaving region is doomed to its’ own lack of options. They have more to lose, and therefore, have more to defend, more to idolize, and usually, less moral ground to stand on.
Starkly different are the minds and values of those around them. They see the difference in “quality of life,” see the measure of success that those who have achieved define themselves, and see the inherent injustice of such a system. They do not, necessarily, have land, wealth, or material things to manage their lives for them. What they do have is those lives themselves. Any population with little to speak of as far as possessions will fall back on what they have, and what that life gives them is the ability to stand up, disagree, and… rebel.
The world is poised for change. That change will not come from America. We are far too wrapped up in Wal-Mart, Enron, and the price of gas to be political or ethical trendsetters. Our world is built on money, and our past and present corrupt practices with that money will soon reach their end, and our money system will itself collapse. Around this same time, somewhere on the other side of the world, some society will begin to “get it right this time” as we did a few hundred years ago, and will take our place, most likely following in our backward footsteps to get there.
Personally, I do not see Hezbollah as a threat. I do not see North Korea as a threat. I do not see Iran, Syria, Somalia, India, China, Russia, Argentina, the Congo, Lebanon, Palestine, or Muslims themselves as a threat. I see them as people, and they are apparently fed up with being used. They respond not with diplomacy; they understand that the entire field of politics, global or local, is completely tied up in money. They do not have money to offer any cause. They respond the same way America did under taxes from king George; but with modern twists. It is not possible to wage a rebellion in the open anymore, and so when they fight wearing masks, when they sacrifice their own lives for a cause they and a growing number of others believe to be just, we call them terrorists.
There comes a point where the terrorists win, and then they are no longer terrorists. They are colonists, they are sovereign nations, or global religions. If more than half the citizens in a country agree with the ideals of those defined as “terrorists,” then those of us calling them by that name need to seriously reconsider our classification system. Even more urgently should this scream our mistakes to us when civilians agree with the actions of those defined as terrorists.
Seeing the current madness, hatred, and lack of respect for America, Israel, and so many other nations that consider themselves more worthy of respect than those who disagree, there is nowhere left to apply blame but internally. it is now time to globally uncover what great injustice or series of injustices has gotten us into this position, and rectify it.
It cannot be done while we see ourselves as a solution to their problems. It cannot be done while we consider them, even in the darkest parts of our minds, parts which never reach vocalization, to be inferior.
We can’t win this war by trying to win. The closest we can get to winning is by losing with humility. The longer we try to beat our enemies with expensive machinery, high-tech weaponry, and political assassinations, the longer they will keep fighting before finally letting us lose, and the more impact it will have on regular people, here and there, who do not want anyone dead, but merely want to be left to their own lives.
A rich man must decide where to give his money. A poor man must decide where to give his life. One half of the world has long been negligent in what it gives its money to, and the other half is beginning to realize that their lives, rich or poor by the world’s standards, are of more value than the wealth that is worshipped by the first half. |
