Smug naïveté prevalent among those
who whine incessantly

________________

I'm always impressed at how persons who spew insipid, rote dissertations of Noam Chomsky's essays will applaud themselves for being "more enlightened" [guffaw] then us warmongering, chest-thumping troglodytes. That kind of smug naïveté seems especially prevalent among those that whine incessantly about how they want a better world but who are too spoiled, usually too lazy, and much too immature to build that better world themselves. Yet they continually vomit out their condescending pabulum about how the world isn't perfect--perfection of course is defined by their questionable standards and their dubious grasp of reality.

Sept.11 laid bare our limitations and our vulnerabilities and the world changed as a result. The fact that we couldn't strike back immediately and the fact that, rather than being able to act unilaterally, we've had to cobble together a fractious coalition to avenge an unconscionable act, is indicative of just a few of our limitations. Those limitations became obvious to everyone, which has now encouraged many people who would like to commit similar acts. The biggest change was in the worlds' perception of us, our perception of ourselves, and how people will respond to that new perspective. Our veneer of omnipotence was one of our greatest assets and now it's gone. That's how the world has changed and it's now a much more dangerous world as a result.

The most effective way to stem that tide of irrational hatred and violence towards us is to grind down and ultimately eliminate that element that seeks to destroy us. During what will certainly be a war of attrition, many of us will pay closer attention to events abroad; yet those who consider themselves "more enlightened" than the rest of us think we're incapable of digesting facts on our own (unlike their "enlightened" selves).

The least effective way to deal with terrorists is to capitulate by saying "Golly Mr. Pipe bomb, because you've committed this heinous act, I went and reread Chomsky's Year 501, realized I may have been wrong about things, and now I want to know what other grievances you have." (Um, pardon my snickering at such unmitigated naïveté). To those who don't know, Mr. Pipe Bomb's many grievances are born of extremism, have little or nothing to do with Israel, and we'll therefore be unable to resolve them, without resorting to an extreme solution, which is what military action is. We are forced to "show some muscle," if only to avoid a catastrophic loss of face.

America's seeming hegemony makes it too easy to make specious claims about how the U.S. controls the world, is therefore responsible for it, and is then obligated to suffer the slings, arrows, and pleas of all the world's disaffected peoples. Those who believe that our foreign policy objectives should be that paternalistic are woefully misguided.

Think about that;
I'm Just a Guy
3/4/02

Just a Guy loves dialogue and will respond to your comments about his opinions. Write him here.