History is our Greatest Teacher

I understand how people feel. I see their point-of-view. I get that people don’t want to pay more in taxes. They are afraid of bringing in less money than they already do. We all are. No person wants to be poor. No person wants to feel like they are drowning. Everyone wants to be able to take care of themselves and their family. That is why I support the health-care bill. My tax dollars already go to pointless, frivolous spending that President Obama has no part of. Example 1: The Iraq War. Enough said. Why do we spend money trying to impose our will on people/kill them when history shows time and time again that it just won’t work. Forcing your culture and way of life on a group of people never turns out well for either group. The British tried it all over the world and they only remain in very few places; small places, insignificant places. They were defeated by their colonies/trade posts in the Americas and in India. In India they left with a little more dignity rather than losing a war, but they were going to have a war on their hands if they didn’t get out. True the United States was created, but the US has failed to learn from that experience. Napoleon failed in his attempt to impose the Continental System on Europe. Hitler failed. Stalin/USSR failed.

History is our greatest teacher and if we fail to learn its lessons then we will fail time and time again. It won’t be just egg in our face, it will be a pants-pulled down in front of everyone, including that boy or girl that you like, and forced to walk around town with everyone laughing at you. Now that is embarrassing. End tangent 1. Example 2: The Patriot Act. There has never been a piece of legislation any more invasive than the Patriot Act. Granted, it was during one of our country’s most fragile times and no one in their right mind, at the time, would go against something called the PATRIOT Act. You would be branded un-Patriotic if you voted against it. It would work too, because people take things at face value. They don’t want to take the time to read through something. We are a nation of headlines. No wonder the youth of this country are ADD. The premise of the Patriot Act was harmless, but there are people who use fragile situations for the greater good and there are others that take advantage of those fragile situations. The Patriot Act flew in the face of our Constitutional freedoms. Everyone was vulnerable to an unwarranted wiretap or an unfounded arrest and detainment. Thankfully those aspects have been deemed unconstitutional, but not before the innocent were hurt. End Tangent 2.

There are billions of ways people can waste their money. To name a few: snuggies, Sham-wow, porn, Cheez-whiz, Glen Beck, Bill O’Reilly, FOX News in general, novelty shot glasses, bottled water (unless in case of emergency), NFL tickets (watch college), NBA tickets (watch March Madness), Lifetime, and Housewives of Whatever County. I could go on, but I don’t have the time. I am as guilty as anyone about wasting money/time. But is it a waste if your money is going towards something good? Towards something that could help someone? Your tax dollars aren’t going to pay for all of their bills, they’re going to have to cover some of it themselves. But it will make it more affordable. We all like affordable. I’m sure even Bill Gates likes a deal or buys things on sale.

So why can’t we take our own advice? Why can’t we learn from history? Hasn’t most of this country been raised in the Church and been taught to love thy neighbor as thyself? So stop disagreeing on principle and actually ask yourself why you are saying no to this.