Master CraftsMon - Aired Monday, December 5, 2005 at about 11pm CST - Segment 8
Master CraftsMon - Aired Monday, December 5, 2005 at about 11pm CST
Segment 8
You might ask what Jesse Owens, the war in Iraq and social activism have in common. The answer is kind of odd, because it has to do with honor. We as a country have not been acting honorably lately. We have allowed the government to take over too much of our lives. We have asked the government to protect us from imagined ills like global warming and ignored real ills like radical Islam. Jesse Owens acted honorably when his test of life came to him. Why can't more people do that?
The war in Iraq is not an expedient solution to radical Islam. The expedient solution would be to fight the jihadis wherever they showed up. In short, we could be in a situation of reacting to the jihadis instead of them reacting to us. The expedient solution is not the honorable one in this case, because of all of the evil Saddam was doing. William Lloyd Garrison once said, "With reasonable men I will reason; with humane men I will plead; but with tyrants, I will give no quarter, nor waste arguments where they will certainly be lost." When did we lose that certainty? When did we as a nation become horrified by simple truths like Garrison stated?
All the problems of this country can be traced to our wealth. Globalization has increased the wealth of all nations in this world to levels that were undreamed of even 20 years ago. Because of that wealth, the poor in other countries can see that they are VERY poor compared to us. Because of that wealth, the poor in this country can see that they are poor compared to the rich in this country. Because of that wealth, the rich and middle class in this country can see that the poor exist and that their wealth may be undeserved.
At the present time, the solution to poverty and all other social ills is to ask governments to redistribute the wealth. The thinking goes that, if the poor have the resources they will join the middle class. The problem with that scenario is that government, any government, anywhere is incapable of curing social ills including poverty. If that was going to happen, it would have already happened. Somewhere in the world. Somewhere in the past. It hasn't happened, because government is the wrong tool to use to lessen social ills.
What I am getting at is that, if we have honor, we must go out and do some work for our community. It's all related. If you cannot see that, I cannot help you. We must be responsible for ourselves, our community, our state, our country and our planet. If we abdicate responsibility by saying that we do not have the power to make any change, then nothing gets done. The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. Come on. Help me whitewash this fence. It'll be fun... maybe.
Segment 8
You might ask what Jesse Owens, the war in Iraq and social activism have in common. The answer is kind of odd, because it has to do with honor. We as a country have not been acting honorably lately. We have allowed the government to take over too much of our lives. We have asked the government to protect us from imagined ills like global warming and ignored real ills like radical Islam. Jesse Owens acted honorably when his test of life came to him. Why can't more people do that?
The war in Iraq is not an expedient solution to radical Islam. The expedient solution would be to fight the jihadis wherever they showed up. In short, we could be in a situation of reacting to the jihadis instead of them reacting to us. The expedient solution is not the honorable one in this case, because of all of the evil Saddam was doing. William Lloyd Garrison once said, "With reasonable men I will reason; with humane men I will plead; but with tyrants, I will give no quarter, nor waste arguments where they will certainly be lost." When did we lose that certainty? When did we as a nation become horrified by simple truths like Garrison stated?
All the problems of this country can be traced to our wealth. Globalization has increased the wealth of all nations in this world to levels that were undreamed of even 20 years ago. Because of that wealth, the poor in other countries can see that they are VERY poor compared to us. Because of that wealth, the poor in this country can see that they are poor compared to the rich in this country. Because of that wealth, the rich and middle class in this country can see that the poor exist and that their wealth may be undeserved.
At the present time, the solution to poverty and all other social ills is to ask governments to redistribute the wealth. The thinking goes that, if the poor have the resources they will join the middle class. The problem with that scenario is that government, any government, anywhere is incapable of curing social ills including poverty. If that was going to happen, it would have already happened. Somewhere in the world. Somewhere in the past. It hasn't happened, because government is the wrong tool to use to lessen social ills.
What I am getting at is that, if we have honor, we must go out and do some work for our community. It's all related. If you cannot see that, I cannot help you. We must be responsible for ourselves, our community, our state, our country and our planet. If we abdicate responsibility by saying that we do not have the power to make any change, then nothing gets done. The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. Come on. Help me whitewash this fence. It'll be fun... maybe.
posted by aRandomTexan at
6:21 AM
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