America, Moral and Myopic

History will tell us what the next four years will mean for America and the rest of the world. And historians will look at what happened and be able to tell us, in 20/20 hindsight precisely why America did what is did on Tuesday. For my part I look at the political race in the country as well as the ballot proposals here around Seattle and judge, in my myopic hindsight two days after the election, that the general electorate is unable to make informed decisions.

Rather than digging for the information which would allow a decision based on the facts, be they facts which stir you to the left or right, our electorate takes the spoon fed opinions delivered by spin doctors who design campaigns which will entice but are insubstantial. As I look, I am struck by the commentary of Jon Stewart on Crossfire can fully appreciate just how much that "partisan hackery" is really "hurting America." The reduction of complex issues to red vs. blue, liberal vs. conservative belies the true nature of life.

What I come to realize is that the more I continue in life, the more important the lessons are which were taught to me by my 11th grade AP American History teacher were. In that class, it was never sufficient to just form an opinion. No correct answers were ever reached by simply forming an opinion. Only the complex analysis of the morals and standards of the time combined with the careful rationalization of both sides would lead to an analysis which revealed an informed opinion.

The study of American history is actually quite apt as we look at the course of events over the past fours years. Most people know of the notion of "Manifest Destiny" and the role it played during the expansion of our nation. Many books have been written which can explain it with far more precision than I can hope to in this forum, the drive behind "Manifest Destiny" was really the notion of that white Christian peoples had a mandate to help settle and evolve the world. These notions helped us settle the continental United States and the remnants can be seen in our foreign policy as it related to Domino Theory.

The striking tell in looking at the history of the United States and the current state of affairs is the absolute moral authority with which most Americans live their lives. A simple look at the events of the past four years, with specific emphasis on the events of the past two days will tell all you need to know:

1. A worldwide hunt for terrorist or any government harboring them
2. The "crusade" to "liberate" the Iraqi people
3. the Anti-Abortion agenda being forwarded by the GOP
4. 11 states vote to ban gay marriage

While abortion and gay marriage may seem like a stretch, the net result is the same, a morally entitled people enforcing their set of ideals on others, despite the equally valid rights of the other side. In the instance of gay marriage, the right to share life with a significant other is unquestioned. But when some quality of the significant other is not what is expected by the morally afflicted, the result is a loss of equality. Worse, the loss of equality isn't recognized because of the moral pillar the ideal is rested upon. And so it becomes that the morally entitled become blind to their oppression, taking away that which they so fervently advocate.

It seems this trait isn't limited to morality. One of the things I have attacked recently is the indifference brought about by lack of foresight. I don't know the root of most of what I see, perhaps most people weren't lucky enough to have a teacher like I did, one that kicked your ass and got you to see life in a new and powerful way. I would fear to say that most myopic behavior is brought about by short term greed, the desire to neglect the long term ramifications due to the short term gain. Let me list several examples:

1. Withdrawal from the Kyoto Treaty
2. Permanent Tax cuts despite an out of control deficit
3. Rushing to attach Iraq
4. Overturn of the Washington State Educational Trust Fund
5. Proposal to open ANWR to drilling

The Kyoto Treaty is what burns me the most because it is the most irresponsible. Our Presidents rationale for withdrawing from this treaty was because it would be destructive to jobs in our country. This is a perfectly valid argument and would likely have some impact. But the long term ramifications to this, posted here (note: this used to be posted on MSNBC but now can't be found. A quick look turned up this and this which could indicate that the report has been removed due to political reasons). The long term issues here are severe, costing far more that the pittance which our country would suffer due to a decrease in employment. In fact, were the current employment numbers better, this might not be an issue at all. Our guidance as a technological leader could help to significantly ease the effects we will see and reduce the possible effects which could be devastating to local economies and have even worldwide ripples which would depress the markets. Our overwhelming blindness to the complete and comprehensive facts, the social and economic issues of the rest of the world, and frankly our lack of caring is what seals the doom. In a way, this is simply "holier than thou" strong at work, a way of telling the world "We don't have the problem so it isn't ours to deal with."

And so it comes around full circle, is America capable of making informed decisions or do we simply revert to our roots of moral righteousness? With a full 51% of the country voting for Bush, I must wonder about the state of deductive reasoning and real investigative searches for knowledge. Anybody can take a political pundit at face value and spout out regurgitated propaganda, how many people can dig for the facts? I look at the center of this country, the farmers who probably don't have access to the internet or the time to look and see that on the CNN map of blue and red, those states and counties are all red. I look at that and wonder, when will the information age come? How long will it take to teach a country not just to listen, but to question?