November 3, 2005

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  The people of Argentina are ready to welcome President Bush

  
  

  Moving to another Spanish speaking country, CNN did an interesting report on Spain, post-Madrid bombings.  They’ve taken an approach to terrorism opporiste that of the U.S.  First,  they pulled troops out of Iraq, which some criticized as “being soft on terrorism,” although I see that viewpoint true only if you believe going to war in Iraq was the “best,” “right” or “one true way” to combat terrorism.  The belief that it takes real cajones and the will to fight a war in order to combat terrorism.

  
  

  Perhaps Spain doesn’t have the cajones.  Perhaps they are soft.  Perhaps they don’t want to have headlines reading, “2,000th Spanish soldier killed.”  Perhaps they see the clash between radical Islam and the rest of the world not simply as a clash of civilizations, a clash of good vs. evil, but of a clash of a different sort.

  
  

  I need to explore that further…but, the second approach to terrorism that Spain has taken may reveal a bit of what I think is at the heart of the different responses to terrorism between Spain and the U.S.  They have loosened their borders.  They have welcomed the Arab world, at least, they have made a point to show their country is not anti-Arab, not anti-Islam.  This is a bit of a generality and I need to read more on the issue, but, clearly, the US has embraced “a tone” in which we choose not to understand the Arab / Muslim world.  Our national leaders have not made it clear to us Americans that what we are at war w/ is radical Islam, not Islam itself.  Our national leaders have made us think, “if a country is in the Middle East and the leader is in many ways evil, we should oust them because they might be terrorists.”  They have done nothing to make it clear that we are not simply anti-Arab, and not simply using the tragedy of 9/11 as an excuse to go after oil and settle old political rivalries.

  
  

  This is important…because Sadam Hussein should have been dealt with.  It’s important because the Pres. of Iran who has made an anacrhonistic (what a word…) call to wipe Israel off the map needs to be dealt with.  But…we need to make it clear that we’re not simply anti-Muslim and anti-Arab.  We need to deal with Mugabe in Zimbabwe and other political leaders who are a threat to their own people and to the security of the world.  We need to make it clear that we’re not just in it to stick our finger in the Middle East for oil.  But…oil talks.  Soon…we might learn that our military presence in the Middle East. is in fact all about oil, as Bush’s facade about the reasons for war slowly gets chipped away at.  Barbara Boxer, Sen. from Cal. was on the Daily Show, and made a point that she was the only senator to oppose the war.  

  
  

  Now that took cajones…to oppose the war!  That was being strong on terrorism, in the face of 99 Senators and the President.   

  
  

  Now…almost 3 years later, we’re starting to see the rest of D.C. getting a bit roused that they should have never let this thing start in the first place.

  
  

  In other news…my office has brought in a new employee, who is a Republican.  I haven’t really spoken to him yet all that much, but he’s certainly intelligent and friendly.  From what I gather…his republicanism comes from a support of right-of-center economic views, or libertarianism.  Which…as I’m learning, I do have some support for.  I think capitalism drives innovation, and despite our country’s flaws, there is much to be said for the strength of our country in creating ideas and technology that are not flourishing in countries that have kept business under state-control.  As my company deals w/ U.S. companies bringing in foreign works for training purposes, there is a reason this is happening in such large numbers.  Foreign countries want to learn how to do business as efficient and productive as it is done in America.  Or…as my co-worker put it, “There’s a reason the lightbulb was invented in New Jersey,” or something to that extent.  But…as many people may already know, we don’t live in a truly capitalistic country of world, and there lies many of the problems.

  
  

  Also…as I read more about personal finance and retirement, I can sympathize with people not wanting .30cents or more of every dollar being taken away, and given to gov’t programs, both good (public schooling) and bad (military build-up).  I don’t know a single person who looks forward to having money taken out of their paycheck in quite the same way they will feel good about giving money to charity (although most people give to charity with the knowledge that doing so will allow them to keep more of their paycheck from being taxed!) 

  
  

  While tax laws may be written up in a way that are skewed to favor rich vs. poor, personal finance in general is somewhat politically neutral.  You do what you have to do given the rules in place, to make your money work for you and grow.  Trying to hold onto your money and become rich, I believe is a good thing (especially since many wealthy people will in turn use that money to help the poor and to come up w/ new ways to improve society).  Not sure how this paragraph fits into my bigger picture about pro vs. anti conservative economics…but moving on…

  
  

  …I do recognize that gov’t programs such as public schooling, socialized health care for the poor and elderly, and other programs designed to maintain some amount of serenity in the face of an economic system that does not always produce calm in our society, are necessary and good.  I believe the gov’t must tax and should tax more as people earn more in order to guarantee those programs that we as a society deem necessary to raise the quality of life for all.  There’s obviously many specific and complicated issues at play here that I am not prepared to discuss at the moment, but right now I just wanted to tackle the general ones.

  
  

  In other news…saw Movin’ Out last night…phenomenally entertaining.  Ballet never looked so cool.

  
  

   

  • 3:46 pm
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