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Monday, September 11
Reflecting on how the last five years have gone, my heart aches and my mind spins. The world is far more complex, far less safe and much more worrying. I must confess I have retreated from the world and its global problems in that time - the problems seem far too large to assault head on. Of course, this also leads me to ignore certain news items in favour of Paris Hilton's arrest for driving under the influence, which she handled far better than Mel Gibson.
That said, compared to the world which I studied in university, this new world seems much more difficult to wrap one's head around. It doesn't help that the tools to study the world and its problems (i.e. the media) suck so badly, and are entirely inadequate for the task.
Five years ago, after terrorists brought down the twin towers, crashed into the Pentagon and drove a plane into a Pennsylvania field, the President of the United States stated that you were either with us or against us. At the time, I agreed with that statement, and was filled with hope that the world would change for the better, the developed world would finally pay attention to the poor of the world, and change their destructive practices. Needless to say, that is not what happened. Speaking of that quote, I would suggest to the President that I was with him, and it was he who left me through the invasion of Iraq. And since that time, he has not done anything to restore my confidence in his administration or lead me to think that he is making western civilization any safer or addressing the base problems that led us to that terrible day five years ago, or the horribly unsafe world we live in today.
It does seem a fitting time however to pull my head out of the sand of domestic education policy (and of course Ms. Hilton's antics) and start looking outward again. My focus of making the trains run on time domestically while the rest of the world burns in hate, terror and poverty should not be the legacy I leave my children and their kin. posted by Duncan @ 7:35 AM
© 2003-2010 Duncan Wojtaszek
No reproduction whatsoever, in any form, without permission.
All views expressed here are those of Duncan Wojtaszek and no other person or organization.
3 Comments:
At 11:08 PM,
Will
said…
Nice post.
Not much else I can say aside from that, sadly. But nice post nonetheless.
At 10:23 AM,
Allie
said…
Six years already. Wow.
You're right - nothing has changed except for the worse.
At 12:37 PM,
c-lo
said…
To be honest, you should be able to analyze the current geopolitical climate by using your historical and political knowledge. Strategies and purposes, to me at least, are the same. The tactics may differ.
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