Can There Be Neutrality?
Can There Be Neutrality?
Posted on September 13, 2012 by billyraychitwood
On the anniversary of one of our country’s worst civilian nightmares, September 11, 2012, an American Ambassador and three other Americans were killed in Libya. On the same day in Egypt the American Embassy was stormed by a radical Muslim faction that set fires, ripped up our flags, and caused not only much damage to the buildings but much fear to our small community of citizens there. Two countries, one still trying to form a semblance of government in a post-Moammar Khadafi environment and one whose passive government chose not to intervene in the American Embassy destruction.
Was it a coincidence that these two events occurred on the anniversary of 9/11? Were the events somehow a sign post signifying a beginning or a beginning of an end? And, what do these two events have to do with writing?
The last question will be answered first. I am writing! I am writing because these two events got me thinking about the posture of the world, of all our great nations. The events got me thinking about my kids, their kids, and their kids’ kids. The thinking is not the good and wholesome kind of thinking, and I need to write about it. It is thinking that will undoubtedly be unsettling for some and will likely fit right into some others wheelhouses. I’m writing about neutrality, but more precisely, my inability to stay neutral on certain issues that are facing America.
Our two political parties had their conventions during the last two weeks, and they were polar opposites as far as platform and vision. They most certainly got me to thinking, and, with the two 9/11/2012 events in Libya and Egypt, all these events combined to give me a first class migraine.
Were the Libya and Egypt events coincidental? I’ll answer with this question: is there a tooth fairy?
Were the Libya and Egypt events a sign post to a beginning or to a beginning of an end? My answer to this question has to embrace the political conventions, but here is my attempt at an answer with abundant questions thrown in.
At one political convention, speaker after speaker had a portrayal of our country in great economic decline, in great need of jobs, new leadership, new commitment to a strong ‘carry a big stick’ foreign policy, less govenment control of our God-given freedoms, the power of the individual to succeed as far as her/his potential permits without de-incentivizing federal regulations and runaway tax codes. The speakers at this convention spoke to the convservatives among us. Were these speakers speaking truth or fiction? Would it be better to ask the unemployed and all those who were promised ‘Hope’ four years ago, promised by a man who said he would be a one-term president if he did not succeed in bringing the unemployment rate down below eight percent?
At the other political convention, speaker after speaker regaled the ‘beginning of Hope’ that started almost four years ago. The speakers talked of needing more time to implement that ‘Hope,’ that new society where everyone got a fair shake. The speakers railed about inheriting the worst economy in a generation. They cheerfully blamed their political foes for being uncooperative and not offering any solutions to the issues facing the nation. The speakers said nothing about having the entire government in their hands for two years of the new presidency. The splendid speakers mentioned achievements in getting our troops out of Iraq, bringing more troops home from Afghanistan and they talked of killing Usama Bin Laden. They talked again of ‘Hope.’ The speakers spoke to the more liberal among us. Were these speakers speaking truth or fiction? Would it be better to ask the unemployed and all those who were promised ‘Hope’ four years ago?
So, yes, the events in Libya and Egypt do signal a beginning and a beginning of an end. Here’s where I leave ‘neutrality’ and give my simple soliloquy, powered only by my heart and by my limited intelligence quotient, prefaced only by saying that I’m no politico, no shill, just someone who cares about the direction his country is going, who wants to share what he feels. It is impossible to maintain a neutral position when the stakes are so high at this moment in our history. These are my thoughts. Try not to hate me for them — loving me for these thoughts is so much better!
My wife, Julie Anne, made it so crystal clear to me. She quoted an old saying: “Those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” She also reminded me that we have Greece, Rome, Russia as history markers, great countries who failed in their socialistic networks. She reminded me that we need to help our poor, our elderly, our sick but be able to discern those who would take advantage of our largesse. We discussed the issues to the best of our abilities. But, then, it is easy to discuss when your belief systems are the same. It has always amazed me how good people can differ on issues with fairly wide magins.
For what it’s worth, here are my conclusions. We have today a near government-dependent majority in our society, if not already a majority, that is, people on the public dole to one extent or another, people who are indeed needy mixed in with many (who can say how many?) who are simply there for the free hand-out. It bothers me when I hear people say I don’t care about the poor and sick among us or my statement that we need to weed out the freeloaders of society. I remember my dear mother during post-depression days in Appalachia working two jobs to keep her son and daughter with her. I remember her dying in a senior care facility bed when I was not there, and the thought still brings me pain. Caring is of the heart, and my heart cares, but my mind cannot accept the individual’s rights being sucked away by a government whose wish is to take what you and I make and redistribute it to a mass of people who may or may not need my help, who may or may not be lazing around just waiting on the next government check. We are becoming too much of an entitlement country. We need to know where our tax dollars are going, and it’s fine if the dollars are going to those who truly need. We need to stop with the class warfare rhetoric, the trash politics and lies, and we need to stop playing race cards…
Whoa, I’m getting too revved up! I’m also becoming conscious of my narrative’s length, so I’ll end it here.
It was simply important for me to express what I’ve been thinking since those conventions and since the terrible events of Libya and Egypt.
Can there be neutrality? Not from where I sit. But, maybe we can try to calmly talk and hear each other out, maybe do some old fashioned compromising. It is actually time to change the face of politics, time to put some faith and trust back in the hearts and minds of the people, time to stop the special perks our politicians enjoy, time to build, create, and enjoy what our labors can produce, time…time for me to stop writing.
Is not freedom and liberty great that I can give you my thoughts and yours to me?
Posted on September 13, 2012 by billyraychitwood
On the anniversary of one of our country’s worst civilian nightmares, September 11, 2012, an American Ambassador and three other Americans were killed in Libya. On the same day in Egypt the American Embassy was stormed by a radical Muslim faction that set fires, ripped up our flags, and caused not only much damage to the buildings but much fear to our small community of citizens there. Two countries, one still trying to form a semblance of government in a post-Moammar Khadafi environment and one whose passive government chose not to intervene in the American Embassy destruction.
Was it a coincidence that these two events occurred on the anniversary of 9/11? Were the events somehow a sign post signifying a beginning or a beginning of an end? And, what do these two events have to do with writing?
The last question will be answered first. I am writing! I am writing because these two events got me thinking about the posture of the world, of all our great nations. The events got me thinking about my kids, their kids, and their kids’ kids. The thinking is not the good and wholesome kind of thinking, and I need to write about it. It is thinking that will undoubtedly be unsettling for some and will likely fit right into some others wheelhouses. I’m writing about neutrality, but more precisely, my inability to stay neutral on certain issues that are facing America.
Our two political parties had their conventions during the last two weeks, and they were polar opposites as far as platform and vision. They most certainly got me to thinking, and, with the two 9/11/2012 events in Libya and Egypt, all these events combined to give me a first class migraine.
Were the Libya and Egypt events coincidental? I’ll answer with this question: is there a tooth fairy?
Were the Libya and Egypt events a sign post to a beginning or to a beginning of an end? My answer to this question has to embrace the political conventions, but here is my attempt at an answer with abundant questions thrown in.
At one political convention, speaker after speaker had a portrayal of our country in great economic decline, in great need of jobs, new leadership, new commitment to a strong ‘carry a big stick’ foreign policy, less govenment control of our God-given freedoms, the power of the individual to succeed as far as her/his potential permits without de-incentivizing federal regulations and runaway tax codes. The speakers at this convention spoke to the convservatives among us. Were these speakers speaking truth or fiction? Would it be better to ask the unemployed and all those who were promised ‘Hope’ four years ago, promised by a man who said he would be a one-term president if he did not succeed in bringing the unemployment rate down below eight percent?
At the other political convention, speaker after speaker regaled the ‘beginning of Hope’ that started almost four years ago. The speakers talked of needing more time to implement that ‘Hope,’ that new society where everyone got a fair shake. The speakers railed about inheriting the worst economy in a generation. They cheerfully blamed their political foes for being uncooperative and not offering any solutions to the issues facing the nation. The speakers said nothing about having the entire government in their hands for two years of the new presidency. The splendid speakers mentioned achievements in getting our troops out of Iraq, bringing more troops home from Afghanistan and they talked of killing Usama Bin Laden. They talked again of ‘Hope.’ The speakers spoke to the more liberal among us. Were these speakers speaking truth or fiction? Would it be better to ask the unemployed and all those who were promised ‘Hope’ four years ago?
So, yes, the events in Libya and Egypt do signal a beginning and a beginning of an end. Here’s where I leave ‘neutrality’ and give my simple soliloquy, powered only by my heart and by my limited intelligence quotient, prefaced only by saying that I’m no politico, no shill, just someone who cares about the direction his country is going, who wants to share what he feels. It is impossible to maintain a neutral position when the stakes are so high at this moment in our history. These are my thoughts. Try not to hate me for them — loving me for these thoughts is so much better!
My wife, Julie Anne, made it so crystal clear to me. She quoted an old saying: “Those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” She also reminded me that we have Greece, Rome, Russia as history markers, great countries who failed in their socialistic networks. She reminded me that we need to help our poor, our elderly, our sick but be able to discern those who would take advantage of our largesse. We discussed the issues to the best of our abilities. But, then, it is easy to discuss when your belief systems are the same. It has always amazed me how good people can differ on issues with fairly wide magins.
For what it’s worth, here are my conclusions. We have today a near government-dependent majority in our society, if not already a majority, that is, people on the public dole to one extent or another, people who are indeed needy mixed in with many (who can say how many?) who are simply there for the free hand-out. It bothers me when I hear people say I don’t care about the poor and sick among us or my statement that we need to weed out the freeloaders of society. I remember my dear mother during post-depression days in Appalachia working two jobs to keep her son and daughter with her. I remember her dying in a senior care facility bed when I was not there, and the thought still brings me pain. Caring is of the heart, and my heart cares, but my mind cannot accept the individual’s rights being sucked away by a government whose wish is to take what you and I make and redistribute it to a mass of people who may or may not need my help, who may or may not be lazing around just waiting on the next government check. We are becoming too much of an entitlement country. We need to know where our tax dollars are going, and it’s fine if the dollars are going to those who truly need. We need to stop with the class warfare rhetoric, the trash politics and lies, and we need to stop playing race cards…
Whoa, I’m getting too revved up! I’m also becoming conscious of my narrative’s length, so I’ll end it here.
It was simply important for me to express what I’ve been thinking since those conventions and since the terrible events of Libya and Egypt.
Can there be neutrality? Not from where I sit. But, maybe we can try to calmly talk and hear each other out, maybe do some old fashioned compromising. It is actually time to change the face of politics, time to put some faith and trust back in the hearts and minds of the people, time to stop the special perks our politicians enjoy, time to build, create, and enjoy what our labors can produce, time…time for me to stop writing.
Is not freedom and liberty great that I can give you my thoughts and yours to me?
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P.J.
(new)
Sep 23, 2012 05:33PM
Americans will never be safe until the world is safe from Americans. As for "entitlements," Social Security funds itself. It has not contributed one dime to the budget deficit. It is militarism that is bankrupting our country, not poor people.
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P.J. wrote: "Americans will never be safe until the world is safe from Americans. As for "entitlements," Social Security funds itself. It has not contributed one dime to the budget deficit. It is militarism tha..."P.J.,
I'm presuming you are responding to my post. If so, I thank you. Being in my seventies, I'm receiving part of my social security payout and living on a fixed income, plus a few annuities in my 'rainy day fund.' Born in Appalachia in post-depression poverty and watching my mother work two jobs to keep her two children with her, I did learn a few things about hard work and sacrifice. The problem with Social Security funds, the government keeps taking those funds and using them elsewhere --- the 'entitlement' issue has gone much farther than the Social Security funds. There will always be the 'poor' and there will always be the 'rich.' In these twilight years, I can proudly say I'm somewhere between those polarities, not rich, not poor. It is my honest feeling that when people realize they can get government to supply their needs, they are no longer incentivized to do very much on their own. Simply, I believe as our founding fathers believed: the government needs to protect our borders, provide education, and liberty to pursue whatever destiny we might have. Of course, there are the poor and the sick who need government's support, that so-called 'safety net.' I'm not a political person, no shill for either party, but I worry about my kids, grandkids, and great grandkids and how they might find their lives.
I'm hoping that my post does not anger anyone of either political persuasion, and I'm certainly not blaming poor people. Nor am I blaming a strong military capability...that's part of our protection, and, as Teddy Roosevelt believed, that's our 'big stick' with our soft voice.
Sorry, P.J., I'm not quite sure what you mean by "Americans will never be safe until the world is safe from Americans," because I'm one of those tiresome guys who think we have the greatest nation (people) in the world. Of course, we do have our share of 'ugly Americans' in the mix. The good far outweighs the bad, I'm thinking.
Sorry to ramble on, a would-be writer's fate, I fear.
Thank you again for your response to my post.
Billy Ray
Americans will never be safe until the world is safe from Americans. The American military is currently occupying 130 nations, terrorizing millions of innocent people, displacing people from their homes, torturing people, killing children with cluster bombs and Depleted Uranium, terrorizing families with night raids, bombing people with drones, etc. People don't like this kind of treatment! Would you? Our "strong military capability" is not protecting us. It is not defensive. It is not protecting our borders. It is being used for aggressive purposes, and aggression is evil. American aggression is creating enemies all over the world who will threaten our safety until we stop aggressing people in other countries and withdraw our military to the protection of our own borders. As Will Rogers said about war in Afghanistan, "If you get into trouble that far from home, you've got to be looking for it."As for "entitlements," many of the people getting government benefits are working full time or going to school full-time. Many are children. Many are unemployed through no fault of their own, because their jobs have been shipped overseas. Incentive is not the problem.
P.J.,You look through a different lens than I --- Americans did not commit the terror acts of 9/11 and kill 3,000 of our citizens. We pour billions of our dollars into countries who harbor hate for us. We've made mistakes and have some culpability, but we have always been a nation with its hand out, helping, supporting others. With that help we've created some enemies.
The Middle East has been at this 'hate business' since Biblical times. It would be nice to simply ignore all the international issues and become an isolationist nation. The radical Islam factions wish to put blame on anyone other than their own leadership.
It's obvious to me that you see 'entitlements' as an issue which has but one prism and one rationality. There are entitlements to keep and entitlements with which to be finished. You obviously believe in 'big government' that gives us everything we need. I do not. We have a 'private sector' that is very generous in its giving in times of need. Our government, again, needs to to care for the children, the elderly, the sick, those who through no fault of their own cannot make it. But I believe when a society becomes accustomed to having government supply all its needs, that society is on the road to 'Greece.'
Superflously, you are free to hold your beliefs as I am. That is 'Freedom,' and I don't wish to see it eroded anymore than it already is.
The bigger truth here is unfortunate. There appears to be little room for agreement in our conversation. So, I take leave with my beliefs and leave you with yours. The people will speak in November and let us know what kind of country they want.
Best wishes,
Billy Ray
You sound just like the media, Billy Ray. Completely focused on what THEY allegedly did to US on 9-11. Completely ignoring what WE do to THEM on a daily basis.
