The Four Of Clubs
Right now, I’m watching the inaugural parade on CNN, and it has made me continue to wonder about the last thing I wrote dubbed “the four of diamonds.”
Mostly, it makes me wonder how good of a president George W. Bush can be. I would like to think that he is a wonderful president, who knows what he
is doing and has a good handle on the nation and the world. But then, I watch the parade and start to think that he is horrible. During parts of the
parade, where the motorcade passed by the start of areas where protestors were actively involved in the events, the motorcade sped up. And then, when
the supporters came up on the parade route, it slowed down. And this, my friends is not being able to take criticism. If you don’t like what the people
are saying, give us a reason not to say it rather than blindly turn your eye from it.
One other thing that bothers me about this inaugural parade is that everyone is so damned worried about security, and because of this there has not
been much consideration given to the non-paying public for viewing. Apparently, you had to buy seats to be able to watch the parade at some points, and
security was awful. While I can stomach the security monitoring, especially after September 11th, I can’t stomach the fact that you had to pay for a
seat at a parade. They don’t do that at Macy’s, and you see that at any parade, except for this one apparently. Another thing that interests me about
this parade is that the Auburn University band is marching in this particular parade, which makes me giddy with joy. However, I do have to wonder as to
why we were selected for this particular honor. Was it because George W. Bush visited our campus a few years ago, and maybe he likes the “War Eagle” cry
that we shout at football games? I don’t know. But I’d like to think that maybe it’s because we’re that good.
And somehow or another, this all comes back to the point that I wanted to make about our generational debt. And because of the CNN coverage on this
parade, and what the commentators have been saying about the status of protestors on the parade route, and Condoleezza Rice’s promotion from National
Security Advisor to the Secretary of State. This of course, is a very political process that won’t be voted on now until Tuesday, which she is sure
to get her confirmation.
Historically, things have been getting better for the each generation that comes after the last one. For instance, my grandparents lived through the
Great Depression as children or adolescents and World War II as they got older and became young adults. My parents lived through the gas crisis of
the 1970s, the Vietnam War, the height of the Cold War, and the Civil Rights movement and riots. My generation, well, we’re living through September
11th, a nice little recession, raised gas prices, the War in Iraq, and other insanities. However, I think there is more to come. We’re growing up in
a time where we can’t possibly fathom the things that are parents went through, or our grandparents. And in some way, they had things a lot worse than
my generation has it now, but in other ways, they had it a lot better. I think, in some ways, every generation has its good and bad times, but my
generation has had to put up with a lot of shit the others haven’t. Mind you, my generation hasn’t been exactly helpful in these manners, we haven’t
put up much of a fight, and most importantly, we haven’t been given a chance to succeed.
But in the grand scheme of things, we haven’t really tried. Much of my generation is growing up with a mentality that everything will work out, and that
our parents are inevitably fallible. Which is why I feel that this is where our parents much take part of the blame: They have engendered into my generation
a sense of immortality, and have set themselves up for destruction. Where we are not trying, they are trying too hard to fix everything at once.
As I mentioned before, there are many things to fix. The environment, Health Insurance and coverage, Social Security, and the War in Iraq are always on
the year’s list of big issues. But these are the major issues that we need fixed soon, so that we can survive. There are others, like copyright law and
the impending issues with content distribution and stealing (whether is be movies, music, books, or whatever you can think of), the technology infrastructure
of America, renewable energy resources, advances in science and health, and the works. Everything that is an impending problem for the former generation will
be a problem in our generation in one way or another. One of my big problems with this society is that sometimes we cannot leave well enough alone, and
feel the need to fix things that don’t need to be fixed. For instance, we’re discussing gay marriage more in this country than we have in twenty years.
Marriage in general is a failing practice, because as some statistics show, at least according to a website called divorcereform.org, the 2002 Census (Note:
this is a figure taken from a report after the 2000 Census was taken) divorce rate of first marriages is 50%. Frankly, why should we be forcing the issue of
gay marriage when marriage between a man and a woman can only last for about 15 years? (Note: this statistic is taken from a website about reforming the way
divorce in this country is handled, and thus their opinion is biased. However, the statistics found on this page can be found on the Census bureau website,
and other federally funded commission pages. Their statistics are based on first marriages.)
With this sort of issue, I find it pertinent to mention that my parents are divorced as well. While I don’t find this to be a major issue at all, in fact I
am on good terms with both of my parents and they still love each other in some way, I find this sort of statistic to be disturbing. If 50% of all first marriages
are likely to end within 15 years, what does this say about my generation, and the stability of families. Of the stability of promises? Of contractual obligations?
I feel that if we, as a generation, do not learn from the previous generation that we have an obligation to keep our promises, to uphold our contractual obligations,
and to not sue each other all the time, then we will fail where others have before, and will eventually destroy our potential in the process. This is where,
however, I begin to blame George W. Bush.
At the beginning of this new millennium, we were faced with one of the worst terrorist attacks in history. (I say this because technically, the millennium started in
2001. Nothing starts at zero folks. Nothing.) And his focus on the morality of America shifted to the back burner, and the beginning of a campaign of instilling fear
into the lives of Americans began, and over patriotism ran rampant. Previous to this act of terrorism, George W. Bush officially decided that no federal funding for
stem-cell research would be given for moral reasons that went against what he perceived to be the Christian understandings of America. While this is all in some ways,
a good thing for the majority, it does not help those who need the research to be undertaken. People like Christopher Reeves, former actor in the popular “Superman”
movies, needed this research for in order to possibly regain his ability to walk after an accident where he fell off of a horse and severed his spinal cord.
This is the sort of morality that I despise, and quite frankly, find to be offensive. This is the sort of morality that takes out forward progress of technology
and science. While indeed it might be intruding with the natural order, it does not mean that it shouldn’t be allowed to be undertaken. All issues of course, have
this grand problem of whether or not it is moral to undertake it. We should, as a generation take a long hard look at whether or not we need our lawmakers to
decide if something is morally good for America, especially since this country is founded on the freedom of speech and free practice of religion.
Much I say here will probably be disregarded off hand as one large rant, but I’d like to take a minute to make a very important point: we have a voice. As a
generation, we tend to think that no one is going to take us seriously, that we are not heard by people in Washington. That our ideas are not as good as our parents.
I cannot tell you enough how many people I know who, when asked back in October who they were voting for answered one way or another because “my parents are voting
that way.” This folks, is wrong. This is not being a good citizen. We have to be informed about the issues, and to make ourselves heard. We have a voice, and it is
loud and strong. And there are things we need to fix. And if the people in Washington can’t or won’t fix them, then we must, and we must do it soon.
* * *
I was watching CNN Headline News this morning, after I took a shower to catch up on the current news. I tend to watch Headline News around midday to catch up on everything
that I might have missed during the morning while I’m sleeping in on the weekends, that way I can flip around for the rest of the afternoon. And according to CNN, George
W. Bush is going to mention in his State of the Union that he wants to reform the Social Security system by privatizing it. This is one of the first bits of good news I
have heard from his administration in a long time. So thus, I don’t feel so bad anymore. However, I don’t know how true this is or not, but I think that if he does try
to privatize Social Security at the immediate moment, there are people in Congress that will try to block his proposals. And I think this will be bad for America. Mainly
because as I mentioned before, Social Security in its current form is no longer a viable system for keeping our elders secure in retirement. And so if his ideas on how to
give it back to Americans and to let us handle our money are good, then I will support him in this. For the first time in the whole history of his administration, I will
support him fully.
Also on CNN Headline News were bits and pieces of the Iraqi election, and how “well” it is going. It was in my opinion, since the beginning of the War in Iraq, that we
should not have begun the war to begin with. It was, in retrospect, a bad idea. So far, it has cause much of a crisis in Iraq, as well as at home. Everything, from
scandals in the United Nations to the growing crisis of wounded coming home from Iraq is bringing the war more and more into our faces. In a current Wired article entitled
“The Painful Truth” by Steve Silberman (see the notes at the end for a URL), it discussed not only how regional anesthesia is benefiting our troops and their care, but also
the tragic results of what is happening to the soldiers. Many are coming home with missing arms and legs. The battlefield fatality rate has gone down considerably since
Vietnam though, when during that conflict it was 1 out of every 3 men killed it is now 1 in every 8. But through all this tragedy, all of this pain and suffering that others
are experiencing, whether it be soldiers or civilians, was it worth the United States involving itself in a war that was not justified? It is in my opinion that while we
entered the war under bad pretenses, it turned out to be a good thing for the Iraqi people. But, in retrospect, the cost to human life after the completion of “major action”
is indefensible. Well, human history has shown that wars are not always a good thing, and that peace in inevitably unattainable. Our generation will be shouldering the cost
of this war, and others to come, and we will have to live with this eventuality. It was the reason we asked for independence at the beginning of our nation, and the reason
we continue to ask for democratic governments in future ones. The choice is what we ask for, not the actual war.
What was not on CNN today, but a few weeks ago, was a story about a 23 year old construction worker in Colorado who accidently shot a nail into his skull, almost killing
himself. The doctors who performed the operation to remove the nail were quoted as saying “The nail had plunged 1 1/2 inches (4 centimeters) into his brain, barely
missing his right eye,” and that it was the “This is the second one we've seen in this hospital where the person was injured by the nail gun and didn't actually realize
the nail had been imbedded in their skull.” What makes me particularly interested in this case is a bit of a note at the end about the individual who had this nail embedded in
his head, and that he didn’t have health insurance. And that, all totaled, his hospital bills would be around $100,000. This is a very frightening figure to read, because this
is the sort of problem that we have in today’s healthcare industry (something I briefly covered in the Four of Diamonds.) This is the reason why I believe we should have a
nationalized healthcare system, and why in essence, the reason we don’t is greed. If we modeled our healthcare system on that of the Canadian government, or even those of the
Scandinavian governments in Europe, then a country with our amount of people and financial stability could feasibly make this system work. However, the healthcare industry
made 1.7 trillion dollars and has enough financial backing to keep the United States with private healthcare. So should we consider national healthcare? For my generation,
yes.
So, in essence, we have on our hands a question to ask ourselves: how much more can we tolerate? I say, as a generation, we have a choice of whether or not we want to be
involved in the process. If we decide we want to be involved, we will be ridiculed by future generations or praised by those who think we did the right thing. But if we stay
uninvolved, we will be ridiculed by our indecisiveness, and ultimately, will fail. And that is what I am most afraid of. With the environment being destroyed by our own
wants for more power, and cars that add to the further pollution of our atmosphere, with a war that will eventually cripple our generation in ways we can’t fathom yet,
and a economy that is trying to hold up a failing healthcare and social security system, I hope that we can do something, and do it soon.
Reference:
1) “Nail embedded in man’s skull in 6 days”, posted on CNN.com. Originally an Associated Press article. Copyright 2005 Cable News Network, LLP.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/16/nailgun.accident.ap/index.html
2) Center for Medicare and Medicaid Studies, published as a news release on the CMS website on January 11th, 2005.
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/media/press/release.asp?Counter=1314
3) Divorcereform.org, found January 30th, 2005. Unknown date of publication.
http://www.divorcereform.org/rates.html
4) “No Justice without Freedom” – Transcript of President George W. Bush’s remarks at his inauguration. Copyright Cable News Network, LLP. Posted on January 20th, 2005.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/01/20/bush.transcript/index.html
5) McCarthy, Michael. “Countdown to global catastrophe”. Originally posted on January 24th, 2005. Copyright 2005 Independent News & Media (UK) Ltd.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/environment/story.jsp?story=603975
(Note: This particular article has been deemed unworthy to be seen by human eyes without paying for it. Sorry folks.)
Copyright © 2005 Kevin Myrick |