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What
We Must Learn
October
13, 2001
By JM
As we in the U.S. brace ourselves for our collective simultaneous
role of attacker and victim, we must take stock of our accomplishments,
our failures, and our future. We look back upon 225 years
of freedom and our enduring government. We look back upon
two world wars and what it took to accomplish victory both
in economic and industrial terms, and in human effort and
sacrifice. We look back upon our ingenuity and innovation
in science and technology to create things that make our lives
better, easier, safer, and longer. We look back upon the various
religions, races, and cultures we represent and how each addition
molds us to what eventually becomes uniquely American.
It took millions of people in a tremendously diverse culture
to accomplish all we have over that 225-year span. What is
important to note, however, is that we are not alone in that
endeavor. For many years before our independence, our European
friends were experiencing an era of enlightenment. Those promoting
and encouraging freedom were replacing repressive governments.
During that time and since, many in Europe also contributed
to the advancement of society and our global socioeconomic
evolution. The result is that a large portion of the planet
we call home is free to varying degrees. Unfortunately, others
cannot accept this.
Our biggest asset as a species, the one that continues to
separate us from others, is our ability to learn, and this
causes us an interesting dilemma. Our own action or inaction
often turns our pride in our accomplishment against us. With
our America-centric attitude, we manage to garner the ire
of citizens of every nation at one point or another, not necessarily
because we are free, but more likely because of the way we
flaunt our freedom.
In the aftermath of such tragedy as we witnessed in September,
it is easy to look back and point the finger at those who
we deem responsible. What is most important to recognize,
however, is that the action of a few can so vividly and decisively
derail the success of so many. In Germany, it took the persuasiveness
of one man surrounded by a few to inflict a gaping wound upon
the societies of the earth. Between 1966 and 1974, it took
a significantly smaller force to defeat our strong military.
In Somalia, it took a small group of people to take down a
significant number of our best troops. And on September 11th,
2001, it took slightly more than 19 people to kill 6000+,
and injure far more.
Time and time again we fail to learn from our mistakes. We
failed to realize we could be attacked at Pearl Harbor. We
failed again in Cuba with the Bay of Pigs. We failed again
in Vietnam, Somalia, and now on September 11th, 2001. It is
as if our American-centric ego has led us down a primrose
path of perceived invulnerability.
If we are to win this supposed war on terrorism, we must
do it on two fronts. We must not only use force to make every
attempt to secure our borders and our freedom, but we must
also educate ourselves on every level. We must remind ourselves
that we must know our enemy, even if at times our enemy is
our own inability to comprehend the sociopolitical environment
in which we live. We must realize that we are engaged in a
worldwide dynamic. We can continue to make brazen renegade
statements, or we can engage in meaningful dialogue with other
nations to work out all our differences. We must learn from
our failures and adapt.
Our present path would lead one to believe we have learned
nothing. We learned nothing from Pearl Harbor about being
prepared, despite Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, NYC/WTC part I,
Yemen, France, and now 9/11/2001. We apparently have learned
little from Vietnam based on brazen statements by our military
and anticipated tactics by our military in Afghanistan. We
apparently have learned little about coalition building despite
Libya, Panama, Somalia, Kosovo and countless others. As we
look at our collective self in the mirror, we suspect and
in some cases, attack Muslim Americans. We have learned little
about diversity despite the diversity that makes our country
strong. No amount of additional purchases, flag waving, donating
or volunteering can make up for this. We must learn.
Our biggest asset as a species, the one that continues to
separate us from others, is our ability to learn. If we cannot,
our future lies at the bottom of the ladder of socioeconomic
Darwinism.
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