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Ranting with
Raikus: The World I Know. Today sucks. More than that, the world sucks.
And by using the loose term "sucks" I
don't mean in the Divine Brown or even John Edwards sense. What I mean is
look around at the world. It really is in an awful state.
And I'm not being personally bitter.
My fiancé didn't just break up with me. My dog didn't just get run over by a
car. I haven't been fired from my job… yet. This is in context of where
I'm living my life, not my life itself.
September 11 opened our (that is,
America's) eyes. I know that you, like me in some senses, are sick of
hearing about our new day of infamy. However, it will always play an
important role in our lives because it was the day our security blankets
were wrenched from our infant hands.
Before September 11 saying the term
"foreign policy" would get you as many quizzical expressions as the term "fo
shizzle my nizzle." Back then it was something that you might come across
some old men discussing on a Sunday political show--if you were up that
early. American as a nation has always had a hands on approach to the
world, while its citizens have a laissez fair state of mind.
A little over a year ago, the capitol
of Afghanistan would be a $500,000 question on "Who Wants to be a
Millionaire?", names like Muhammad were still associated with sports, and
"strategy" was on the tip of everyone's tongue.
Now all of that has changed. American
citizens have been forced to look at the world as a whole, and many of them
don't like what they see. That's all well and good, at least from tragedy a
nation has opened up their eyes to the things around them, however as
Americans we use one thing to fight what is happening--our big, fat mouths.
Thanks to our family food providers like McDonalds and Burger King, our
mouths are 150% bigger than anyone else in the world because of extreme
burger intake. The direct correlation to this is that 50% of America bitches
more than the entire world twice over.
Freedom of speech, right? There's
nothing wrong with that. Except that speech alone rarely changes anything.
I remember September 11, 2001
vividly. I remember coming out of class and hearing that the first plane
hit, at the time not knowing it was a large jet plane or that it wasn't an
accident, and callously joking about how that pilot could have got his
license -- typical American response. However, when I got into my truck and
headed to work that all changed.
"A second plane has just hit the
second World Trade Tower."
"There is an APB for all NYPD and New
York Firemen. Report to the World Trade Towers."
"There is now a report of smoke
rising from the Pentagon and two more planes have been reported as
hijacked."
I got to work just before both towers
fell and watched it on television. I remember thinking that the attacks just
weren't going to stop. That the next thing I'd hear was that the White House
has just been hit, and the Capitol building, and so on and so forth.
It was the first time that I felt
plain hopeless. And now we're sitting here a year later with open eyes, but
the inability or desire to act. Voices are heard yelling that our liberties
are being imposed upon. Still others are complaining that we are imposing
our nation on others.
This nation is full of critics. It
always has been. Except now our scope has been widened from pop culture to
the world -- to things that really matter. And we see that being American is
really only popular in America (well, maybe Canada too), and that we have
been hated for years and not known it.
I see a world now that sucks. But it
doesn't suck for the reason of my eyes being opened to it; it sucks because
this new nation's populace -- the most powerful nation in the world --
doesn't know how to deal with it aside from criticizing every idea that
comes along.
America has upgraded from being the
world's bully to being the world's hall monitor. And that's not exactly a
bad thing. At least now our power has purpose, though some feel that it is
overexposed. Yes we're still looking out for our imports (oil and the like).
Yes we're still going to pressure countries with economic restrictions if
their government doesn't adhere to our ideals. But this is something you
should get used to like not being on the gold standard or having to take off
your shoes at the airport.
Now a new importance has taken reign.
The importance of protection, of security, and of never taking an eye off of
our enemies lest they strike as we blink.
Pacifism is dead. It may be in for a
revival the next decade, but as of now America will strike first if they are
given any incentive. And it may be wrong and there may be ulterior motives
involved, but instead of criticizing, think of a way to do it better. Some
way that would ensure that 9/11 is the last day I'll ever feel that empty
pit of hopelessness.
For some reason I'm reminded of the
faux bible verse Ezekiel 25:17 from Pulp Fiction and Jules' interpretation
of it: "It could be you're the righteous man and I'm the shepherd and it's
the world that's evil and selfish. I'd like that. But that shit ain't the
truth. The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But
I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be a shepherd." (Another typical
American reaction to use pop culture as a way to end a serious social
commentary.)
I never said I wasn't proud to be
American. I'm damn proud of it. I'm damn proud that I have cinema and
literature and just plain shitty TV to take my mind off the world. But I
also know that the world just didn't become shitty on its own. It had a lot
of help from the "tyranny of evil men."
But I'm (and I hope you're) trying
real hard to be a shepherd. |
