LIVING IN ENTROPY
Where Is The Integrity in This World?
It's tough to teach children ideals about being honest, forthright and charitable when nothing in the real world is like that. Nobody is perfect of course, but would it kill anyone to try? As adults, we like to think that we can have ideals while being aware that most people in the world don't share them; if you believe there are more important things in the world than money, your neighbor is probably writing $1,000 checks to charity while secretly engaging in insider trading. I honestly believe that most of the people who rail against marital infidelity are probably cheating on their spouses. An upper middle class liberal in Santa Monica who would never vote for a Republican because of their anti-union, pro big business policies, probably nevertheless has a gardener or nanny who they pay at far below the minimum wage. A principal to must people is someone in charge of a school. The world has become all gray area, no black and white.
It is not a given that invading Iraq is completely bad. In fact, there's a lot good that could come out of it--the ouster of Saddam Hussein, the eventual rebuilding of the decayed Iraqi infrastructure, the eventual establishment of (some kind) of democratic system. But look at all the lies, bad policy and gross mismanagement we get as side dishes to this unpalatable main course: we were lied to about the purpose of the war; we were lied to about the thoroughness of the plans for occupation; the troops weren't given all the tools they needed when they needed them; we were even lied to about the funding for the war effort (see NY Times and CNN for articles on how $700 million appropriated for Afghanistan wound up being spent in Iraq). It seems as if there isn't a single truth in this world that doesn't have two lies as best friends and that isn't anything new, it seems to be one of the hallmark's of the human condition. It's The Way We Are and perhaps the way we always be.
Still, just once it would be truly refreshing for an athlete to admit they don't take it one game at a time; for a politician to admit that he or she is probably going to raise taxes once elected; for an actress to say, "yes, they're fake"; for a non-profit organization to fess up that, yes, a certain percentage of their budget probably bought a board member a new car; for the DEA to admit that there's more profit to the government in a drug war than in legalizing drugs; for the Catholic Church to say that having an abortion or getting a divorce won't consign you to the depths of hell; for George W. Bush to admit that he's only interested in making his dad's friends rich; for John Kerry to admit he stole half of his stump speech (that part that works) from Howard Dean.
It would be refreshing to admit that the main reason I blog is to vent and maybe, just maybe, have somebody stumble across it and think I'm cool.
But I guess that's just not human nature. Perhaps we have to take it all one lie and one truth at a time.
Headlines Under the Radar
Some talking points of my own that I'm trying to follow up on:
--Is the President involved in a seedy scandal involving a woman who claimed he raped her? Is there a connection to her eventual disappearance and murder in 2002? How did Matt Drudge miss this one? This story was reported in the local Missouri, Texas paper and repeated on airamericaradio.com.
--It has been reported the Neil Bush (George and Jeb's little brother and a man once implicated in the Silverado Savings & Loan scandal in Colorado about 20 years ago) has a new business--distributing new electronic voting machines in Florida. "Wait for it..."
--Bush's nominee as the new U.S. ambassador or attache to Iraq is none other than John Negroponte, one of the key people in the center of the Iran Contra scandal and a man with what can be described as a checkered past in the diplomatic circles of the Reagan and Bush I administrations.
I've got to go get my laundry now and do a little research. I promise I'll come back a little faster than I did this time to spread the truth and ask the questions the mainstream media won't.
It's tough to teach children ideals about being honest, forthright and charitable when nothing in the real world is like that. Nobody is perfect of course, but would it kill anyone to try? As adults, we like to think that we can have ideals while being aware that most people in the world don't share them; if you believe there are more important things in the world than money, your neighbor is probably writing $1,000 checks to charity while secretly engaging in insider trading. I honestly believe that most of the people who rail against marital infidelity are probably cheating on their spouses. An upper middle class liberal in Santa Monica who would never vote for a Republican because of their anti-union, pro big business policies, probably nevertheless has a gardener or nanny who they pay at far below the minimum wage. A principal to must people is someone in charge of a school. The world has become all gray area, no black and white.
It is not a given that invading Iraq is completely bad. In fact, there's a lot good that could come out of it--the ouster of Saddam Hussein, the eventual rebuilding of the decayed Iraqi infrastructure, the eventual establishment of (some kind) of democratic system. But look at all the lies, bad policy and gross mismanagement we get as side dishes to this unpalatable main course: we were lied to about the purpose of the war; we were lied to about the thoroughness of the plans for occupation; the troops weren't given all the tools they needed when they needed them; we were even lied to about the funding for the war effort (see NY Times and CNN for articles on how $700 million appropriated for Afghanistan wound up being spent in Iraq). It seems as if there isn't a single truth in this world that doesn't have two lies as best friends and that isn't anything new, it seems to be one of the hallmark's of the human condition. It's The Way We Are and perhaps the way we always be.
Still, just once it would be truly refreshing for an athlete to admit they don't take it one game at a time; for a politician to admit that he or she is probably going to raise taxes once elected; for an actress to say, "yes, they're fake"; for a non-profit organization to fess up that, yes, a certain percentage of their budget probably bought a board member a new car; for the DEA to admit that there's more profit to the government in a drug war than in legalizing drugs; for the Catholic Church to say that having an abortion or getting a divorce won't consign you to the depths of hell; for George W. Bush to admit that he's only interested in making his dad's friends rich; for John Kerry to admit he stole half of his stump speech (that part that works) from Howard Dean.
It would be refreshing to admit that the main reason I blog is to vent and maybe, just maybe, have somebody stumble across it and think I'm cool.
But I guess that's just not human nature. Perhaps we have to take it all one lie and one truth at a time.
Headlines Under the Radar
Some talking points of my own that I'm trying to follow up on:
--Is the President involved in a seedy scandal involving a woman who claimed he raped her? Is there a connection to her eventual disappearance and murder in 2002? How did Matt Drudge miss this one? This story was reported in the local Missouri, Texas paper and repeated on airamericaradio.com.
--It has been reported the Neil Bush (George and Jeb's little brother and a man once implicated in the Silverado Savings & Loan scandal in Colorado about 20 years ago) has a new business--distributing new electronic voting machines in Florida. "Wait for it..."
--Bush's nominee as the new U.S. ambassador or attache to Iraq is none other than John Negroponte, one of the key people in the center of the Iran Contra scandal and a man with what can be described as a checkered past in the diplomatic circles of the Reagan and Bush I administrations.
I've got to go get my laundry now and do a little research. I promise I'll come back a little faster than I did this time to spread the truth and ask the questions the mainstream media won't.
posted by Reggie E. Scott at 4:01 PM
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