Plato said that one had to be dead if there was no more war. I agree, as men are always going to be self-interested, whether they recognize it or not. Even one's ideas about "God" are "self interested" claims, because this is how we define ourselves. People all define themselves by the groups that hold to their values, some knowing that this is a chosen value, while others less so.
Tonight, we watched "Black Hawk Down". Our military went into Somalia and fought against horrendous odds bravely and many were lost. One comment I will never forget was made by one of the Somalian warriors to a prisoner. He told the prisoner that irregardless of America's desire to promote democracy through gunfire, as a means to negotiation; Somalians believe that gunfire IS negotiation. Victory is only declared when their side has won against those that desire to change their culture. That was a sobering comment and made me wonder why we attempt to change these types of cultures.
The young men who represented our military were holding to their ideals of life and liberty and willing to fight to see that all people live free. This is the American ideal and they were defending not just their country's values, but protected each of their "buddies". They would not leave anyone behind, as they believed in the value of each indiviudal life! Their courage was amazing.
One wonders why we were in Somalia in the first place. Why were our men used in an environment that didn't seem to matter? Power does not seem to understand or value the costs to those that it holds under its command. It is an unusual person that understands and values the "little man" enough to not take lightly sending our men into harm's way. Our military are committed to serve any command, so it is imperative that our men in uniform be valued as to their life. They are fighting for our liberty.
When humanitarian aid is confiscated, why do Americans think that it is obligatory to follow up? Are we loyal to U.N. demands, and not our own Sovereignty? Or does American have some vested interest that the common American is unaware of?
The movie portrayed that hunger creates hostilities between rivalling groups. So, is preventing hunger a means to create peace? Then, what about the dictators or the corruption in society that makes it impossible to claim "the humane"? These cultures are not prone to change, unless they are killed or their power is taken from them.
The honor code of Westpoint claims that fighting for the "right" is not tolerating those that are corrupt or are corrupting influences in a society! One "hero" at the end said that he was asked whether he sought to be a hero and he said that one doesn't seek to be a hero, that becoming a hero happens. Becoming a hero is the result of duty! It is doing one's job in the military.
Showing posts with label heroism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label heroism. Show all posts
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
What Are The Pros and Cons to American Government?
Because I have been thinking along the lines of American government, political philosophy, human development, and religion, I will attempt to "think through" in this post what would be the pros and cons to our form of government.
Our government allows for each individual to have rights before the law. One citizen is not know to "theoretically" have "special privileges". We are "equal before the law" The. Power to be a moral agent, independent from co-ercive power, whether government or religion. And this has its benefits because we are allowed liberty in our choices and values. "Self" can be developed in many ways. And "self rule" was the ideal of our Founding Fathers.
But, what is the downfull of such a government? Because each individual is allowed the freedom "to be" and "to do", there is not over-riding or over-arching narrative, other than liberty. Liberty is an important value, but it also can be damning if it undermines societal foundations or institutions. These insitutions are the framing of societal values. And societal values affect developing children within a society.
Family is the child's first frame of reference for every physical and emotional need being met, as well as societal values being transferred. Because our society has valued liberty and the pursuit of "gold" we have a society that has the value of work, prosperity, and human choice in vocation. These values are good ones, but have left the family stressed as to meeting all its obligations to the child.
The child is left with the sense that his value to and in society is dependent on his ability to find a successful career and make money. The endless cycle in pursuit of the "American Dream" has left the family struggling to find its identity and the child is left with the "leftovers".
The emotional needs of the child are of ultimate importance to meet, otherwise the child is not secure and will make the attempt to find security in ways that might be destructive. Obessession to be sucessful is just as much a driven and compulsive need to find acceptance and value, and deaden the pain of a negative "self", as the drug-addict driven to deaden his pain by using his drug of choice. An individual's choice of drug has as many faces as America has allowed liberties of choice.
So, while American government allows for the individual to "find himself" and to develop to his full potential on his own terms, America's values of family are not as important in our cultural values, except in conservative religious contexts.
Conserivative religious contexts, while good in defense of family values, have other obstacles to overcome. Their bias or prejuidice toward social problems in the family leaves them with little to draw compassion from their hearts, unless they happen to be compelled through thier own drivenness to be the "hero" to a particular family. While heroes are needed, if "self" finds their value and sense of self only within that context, it becomes an unhealthy one. "Self" must independent enough to evaluate reasonably what is of proirity and importance in a given situation. Religion can hinder such ;self assessment, because of it deadening affirmation of "what one believes or what one does", giving a doubly strong resitance to honest self assessment.
Maybe all humans are bent toward these tendencies to heroism, where the "self" is idealized and applauded by an attempt to cover over the deficiencies of one's past childhood memories of "self".
America has the ability to give room for diversity, but it allso allows enough room for denying values that might just be the foundations of society and a healthy functioning "Self".
Our government allows for each individual to have rights before the law. One citizen is not know to "theoretically" have "special privileges". We are "equal before the law" The. Power to be a moral agent, independent from co-ercive power, whether government or religion. And this has its benefits because we are allowed liberty in our choices and values. "Self" can be developed in many ways. And "self rule" was the ideal of our Founding Fathers.
But, what is the downfull of such a government? Because each individual is allowed the freedom "to be" and "to do", there is not over-riding or over-arching narrative, other than liberty. Liberty is an important value, but it also can be damning if it undermines societal foundations or institutions. These insitutions are the framing of societal values. And societal values affect developing children within a society.
Family is the child's first frame of reference for every physical and emotional need being met, as well as societal values being transferred. Because our society has valued liberty and the pursuit of "gold" we have a society that has the value of work, prosperity, and human choice in vocation. These values are good ones, but have left the family stressed as to meeting all its obligations to the child.
The child is left with the sense that his value to and in society is dependent on his ability to find a successful career and make money. The endless cycle in pursuit of the "American Dream" has left the family struggling to find its identity and the child is left with the "leftovers".
The emotional needs of the child are of ultimate importance to meet, otherwise the child is not secure and will make the attempt to find security in ways that might be destructive. Obessession to be sucessful is just as much a driven and compulsive need to find acceptance and value, and deaden the pain of a negative "self", as the drug-addict driven to deaden his pain by using his drug of choice. An individual's choice of drug has as many faces as America has allowed liberties of choice.
So, while American government allows for the individual to "find himself" and to develop to his full potential on his own terms, America's values of family are not as important in our cultural values, except in conservative religious contexts.
Conserivative religious contexts, while good in defense of family values, have other obstacles to overcome. Their bias or prejuidice toward social problems in the family leaves them with little to draw compassion from their hearts, unless they happen to be compelled through thier own drivenness to be the "hero" to a particular family. While heroes are needed, if "self" finds their value and sense of self only within that context, it becomes an unhealthy one. "Self" must independent enough to evaluate reasonably what is of proirity and importance in a given situation. Religion can hinder such ;self assessment, because of it deadening affirmation of "what one believes or what one does", giving a doubly strong resitance to honest self assessment.
Maybe all humans are bent toward these tendencies to heroism, where the "self" is idealized and applauded by an attempt to cover over the deficiencies of one's past childhood memories of "self".
America has the ability to give room for diversity, but it allso allows enough room for denying values that might just be the foundations of society and a healthy functioning "Self".
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