The News
I am often overwhelmed by the news. And though I surround myself by it--I listen to NPR constantly, I read a bunch of newspapers online--I still feel like I don't know enough to make an informed decision half the time.
What scares me a lot is how often the news repeats itself. Like our situation in Iraq now. We'll probably withdraw our troops relatively soon, leaving behind a country in shambles that cannot possibly govern or protect itself. And then we'll be shocked--shocked!--when terrorist groups who hate the US spring up there. Though this is pretty much exactly what happened in Afghanistan when we financially sponsored a revolution there in the 80s, but then didn't stay involved long enough to make sure the government was run well. (That's just my understanding. As I said before, I never feel well informed enough...)
They say the point of learning history is so that you don't make the same mistakes twice. Where were all our leaders during social studies class, I wonder.
But back to the news in general... The Living Arts section of the paper is my dessert. I love reading the profiles of interesting, artsy people doing interesting, artsy things. They give me hope.
2 comments:
Everyone is commenting on how similar our situation in Iraq today is with the Vietnam War, way back when, but no-one in the current admin is willing to listen or admit that this is true.... as you said, history repeats itself! Great post.
You come dangerously close there, bug to making a bold political statement for someone that doesn't feel informed enough. It almost sounds as if you think we should leave troops in Iraq?
Other thoughts, the news does become tedious at times. We like to listen to the BBC news to get a little better perspective. Even NPR gets a little repetative.
You said a lot in a little post here.
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