Of Victory

So, one of the major reasons we are still sitting in Iraq after nearly five years (!) is because Bush, McCain, et al., insist we cannot leave until we achieve "victory." Let us forget for a moment that nobody has adequately explained what victory is, exactly, and give them the benefit of the doubt: victory = a stable, relatively democratic Iraq where the Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds all live in harmony. It will be the first democratic state in the region (other than Turkey and Iran, of course.... and Israel but I guess Jews don't count in this "Muslims only" equation.... and Lebanon when Syria is not doing too much meddling.... and Pakistan when the army isn't in charge), a shining beacon to the masses of disenfranchised people, etc.

Now (100 years from now, I should say), oh yeah!, we've achieved victory... will somebody please explain how victory in Iraq is supposed to make America safer? How will a democratic Iraq appease the hundreds of millions of Muslims who just see America as imposing her values on the Muslim world? Despite all the rhetoric, democracy is seen as a Western -- and by no means universal -- ideal. Won't this just be another example? It's not like our troops will be going anywhere anytime after the creation of the glorious Iraqi democracy; ergo, our troops will be seen as propping up a government imposed on the Iraqi people by the West.

Of course, nobody is going to ask McCain or the armchair generals that question...

Of Patriots

There has been a hit piece of an AP article making the rounds of CNN.com, Foxnews.com, etc., claiming that Obama somehow is not very patriotic because he does such terrible things as not wearing a flag lapel pin. This follows the whispering campaigns that he is a Muslim (and hence unfit for any public office.... at least according to that beacon of patriotism, Mitt Romney).

Obama himself has done an expert job of responding to those people who question his patriotism and I am not going to repeat the reasons why anybody should question his patriotism here. But this attack is merely a sign of things to come by the Republican Party and their allies (the infamous Swift Boat Veterans for Truth are going to make a comeback this year). This is especially true since the "war hero" McCain will be the Republican nominee. And everybody knows war heroes are always patriotic... just look at Nixon. Almost as patriotic as those armchair generals rooting for wars against every other Muslim country in the world, claiming they cannot fight in those wars for even more patriotic reasons (Romney's fighting-age sons had the patriotic duty to help their dad get elected president, for example... I wonder if they've joined the Army since he's dropped out of the race)... but I digress...

Here are a few questions that should be asked of all patriots:

1. Do patriots send their young men and women to fight and die in a war where the only goal is "victory," without adequately defining that victory, bleeding the nation's treasury dry to fight said war, while allowing the vast majority of the country to only feel the slight effects of the war (as W once said, it is pretty hard to watch images of violence on the TV)?

2. Do patriots allow anybody to torture in their country's name? McCain had a chance to stand on principle recently by voting to outlaw waterboarding once and for all but instead chose to pander to the right wing he so desperately wants.

3. Do patriots abandon their veterans to poverty, drug abuse, and homelessness? I live in San Diego; I see what our patriotic wars have done to countless people every time I walk the streets and what our chest-thumping, flag lapel wearing, wearing their patriotism on their sleeve patriots think of them (O'Reilly: homeless veterans don't exist and, if they do, hell, it's their own damned fault!)

4. Do patriots use FEAR to justify what they want? Fear of an attack, fear of darkies, fear of inexperience, fear of people with funny names, fear of the unknown.

The Existentialism of Humanity

So, I have been in a bind lately. I do not know what to do with my life. I'm a 27-year old attorney in San Diego with no solid roots or foundation anywhere. I do not especially like my job but it provides a decent paycheck every couple weeks. In what has become a fairly standard refrain in my life I have been asking myself: "What the hell am I doing? Why am I here? There has to be more to everything!!" My own little existentialist crisis... it's great! Don't get me wrong: I am not depressed. I just have an inability to feel satisfied, well, ever.

Dissatisfaction with my life makes no objective sense, I realize. I have a high standard of living, I'm well-educated, I have been afforded opportunities few people can even dream of, I am in good health, I live in sunny Southern California, I have good friends and a loving family, and I am confident in my abilities.

Further, I am inundated with information everyday that shows just how, well, lucky I should consider myself. I just read an article in the NY Times about how a particularly poisonous form of crack cocaine is destroying whole swaths of South America. The article did its job: I, of course, thought "wow, that's terrible." But a few minutes later went back to being anxious about my privileged life.

Since I don't live in a bubble, I have also looked around me and seen that my angst is not something that is unique. Millions of people in situations similar to mine are not satisfied; it is like the disease of malaise is gripping the country and the world (maybe we should all start wearing sweaters). At a time when affluence, near-infinite knowledge and information, and the possibility of the unknown becoming known are spreading across the globe, people increasingly seem like they want to retreat into their own cocoons. As a species, we seem lost.

I have been wondering why lately. Has a miracle of human evolution -- conscious thought -- on top of our animal instincts created this problem we are in? Are animals as dissatisfied as we are? Are they just as dissatisfied but humans have the unfortunate knowledge that they can, theoretically, do something about it (which, ironically, makes us more dissatisfied)? Is the collective knowledge of millennia of human history just too much for our brains to handle? But why do we continue to charge ahead? Despite knowing that our true satisfaction may always be out of reach, I and everybody else just continue to try to expand our horizons, tweak our lives in this or that way...

Maybe that city on the horizon will be a nicer place to live... maybe that new job will bring out my passion... maybe I should find a girl... maybe I should get new friends... maybe I should [fill in the blank]. Really, what are we all doing? And, more importantly, why?

I guess all we can do is take it one day at a time, not regret this time that has been given to us, and always hope for better things over the horizon.... Otherwise, our collective dissatisfaction will get the better of us and that definitely cannot happen. So, I guess I will be satisfied with what I have; it is my life, after all, and it is the one thing I know I have some power over.

Welcome All or None!

This is my first blog ever. I have felt like start one because there have been what feels like thousands of discordant thoughts flowing through my mind lately and just wanted someplace to spew it all out...

As such, I do not know if anybody else will ever read this blog. Nor do I care. I may or may not tell my friends about it.

Perhaps a bit on the subject matter for those poor souls who may end up on this page: it has no unifying theme. It will dwell from trivialities (and what exactly isn't a triviality) to things that people pretend to be serious, maybe my social life (or lack of one, whatever), politics, faux psychology/sociology, and whatever else happens to pop into the dark recesses of my mind.

Enjoy...