Stupidity of youth or culture of fear...

Earlier in the week, I posed a question along with some potential answers:

2. Have you noticed how young the people are who have gathered at both the White House and Ground Zero? 
    These are people who would have been in grade school during 9/11. What's that about? Is this just an excuse for a bunch of college kids and "young people" to get together for a big ol' televised party? Is it an effort to "be a part of history"? Is this reaction due to these folks having been raised with bin Laden as their bogeyman? Those of us who are a little older, who were actual adults for 9/11, don't seem to be reacting with this party behavior. Is the difference that we remember the feeling of that day and so are more conflicted and thoughtful and reflective now, while this younger group doesn't really remember the day and is instead responding to the death of their childhood bogeyman?

But what if it isn't any of that? What if it's something else entirely?

For years, the media has been sliding more and more out of control. They now make the most mundane happening into a salacious story. They strive to make the news into something for which advertisers will pay them lots and lots of money. Stories that are actually quite dramatic on their own will be covered 24/7, will be the subject of teaser ads that run again and again during prime-time television, and will likely receive a dramatic title. Newscasters report stories about serial killers with a sparkle in their eye: a chance to increase ratings, to get noticed, to get a raise or a better time slot.

TV is filled with violence. Sex and nudity is relegated to midnight and cable. Murder and mayhem is prevalent throughout prime time. And how many high school and college kids (and likely middle schoolers as well) watch Jerry Springer and his ilk? Then there's the internet. Oy.

When kids aren't watching all of this, they're playing games, either on TV or on their phones. How many of those games are full of violence? It doesn't matter if you're the good guy or the bad guy. It doesn't matter if the goal is to be the greatest war hero ever or the baddest gansta in the hood. The point is that kids are being fed violence day in and day out. And no one's talking to them about it and no one's giving them an alternative.

We all know that kids know the difference between a cartoon or video game and real life. But that's not the issue. The issue is that when you see something over and over and over again, you become desensitized to it.

For the vast majority of these young people's lives, we've been at war. At the moment, we're up to what, three? You can watch modern warfare live on network TV. You can watch it on the internet. You can watch people jumping out of the World Trade Center. You can watch Saddam Hussein being executed (and hear him being taunted just beforehand). And you can watch it all again and again and again. You can even watch it on your phone wherever and whenever you'd like.

And on top of all of this, for nearly a decade Washington, D.C., was home to an administration that was all about fear mongering. We needed to keep emergency supplies on hand in case of attack. We needed to keep an eye on our threat level. We needed to stop taking shampoo with us on airplanes. We needed to protect ourselves and our loved ones and our homes and our stuff because there were all kinds of bad people out there in the world who wanted to hurt all of us and to take all of our stuff. We needed to loosen gun control laws so that we could all arm ourselves and protect ourselves from this Big Bad Evil.

We needed to remember at all times that we're just not safe. 

This is the world these revelers grew up in. Perhaps this is the world that has led so many people to actually celebrate death. Perhaps this is the world that has led to so many people wanting to see the violent, gruesome image of a murdered man.

Is this the world that you want for yourself, for your children, your parents, your loved ones? Is this the world you want to leave to the future?

Quotes to note...

I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy.

Jessica Dovey, 2011

Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that. 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1957

Governments do not equal businesses...

This is why you cannot run government as a business.

Corporations are not designed to care about the little guy, they are not designed to serve everyone. They choose a demographic to whom they want to appeal and then do what is necessary to get that business. The newly formed Ohio Corporation has picked their demographic and is doggedly pursuing and wooing.

And when you think about it that way, comments such as "poor people are poor because they make bad decisions" actually make some sense. After all, in the business world it is true that good versus bad decisions can absolutely make or break your business. The question is, how do you get these business-minded people to see that PEOPLE and their LIVES are not businesses and cannot be treated as such????? Whoever figures that out can save us all....

bin Laden is gone...

I have questions.

1. How do people celebrate death? 
    I understand who he was and what he did. I understand that this is likely what had to happen. I'm not arguing with any of that. But cheering? A party atmosphere? Actually celebrating the execution/murder/death of a human being? Which brings me to...

2. Have you noticed how young the people are who have gathered at both the White House and Ground Zero? 
    These are people who would have been in grade school during 9/11. What's that about? Is this just an excuse for a bunch of college kids and "young people" to get together for a big ol' televised party? Is it an effort to "be a part of history"? Is this reaction due to these folks having been raised with bin Laden as their bogeyman? Those of us who are a little older, who were actual adults for 9/11, don't seem to be reacting with this party behavior. Is the difference that we remember the feeling of that day more and so are more conflicted and thoughtful and reflective now while this younger group doesn't really remember that and is instead responding to the death of their childhood bogeyman?

3. Are people really surprised that he was found in a mansion rather than a dirty cave somewhere?
    I mean really, are people surprised by this? I find that I am not even a little surprised. If they do an "inside the house where bin Laden hid and was killed" feature, I will so be watching it. Because I want to see how he was living. He rejected the wealth of his family and part of his problem with the U.S. was the vast (and mindless) luxury. So how did he spend his last years, in spartan conditions in a veritable fortress or in relative luxury in a well-appointed and highly protected mansion? Inquiring minds....

4. What will the backlash look like?
    How bad will it be? How soon will it begin? Where will it be focused? He's a martyr now, I find it highly unlikely that his supporters will simply allow this to be.

5. You don't really think the troops are coming home now, right?
    One of the people interviewed tonight on CNN (a person on the street, not an "expert") actually said that the war on terror is now over and our troops can return home. The President even said it in his speech: the war on terror is not over. In case anyone missed it, that means the wars are not over, the troops are not on their way home. Get a grip. bin Laden or no bin Laden, we are so entrenched at this point that leaving is a long process. We cannot just up and go. Seriously. Even if the President did announce later today that the troops are returning, the logistics of getting that many people back to the States is nightmarish in scope. And he's not going to announce such a thing later today.

6. What will be produced as proof?
    People are going to want proof. Something more than the President saying "no, seriously, it was him." The word at the moment is that bin Laden has already been laid to rest at sea. Though I sure wouldn't want him brought here and though I agree with the idea of not giving his followers a grave at which to enshrine and worship him, proof is going to be necessary. What will it be? Pictures? Video? And when will it be produced?

7. What's going to happen with Pakistan?
    It's really, really difficult to believe that no one knew where he was living. He was in a well-protected mansion in the middle of a military town. His was the biggest house on the block. So... who knew? When did they know? What will be the relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan moving forward?