Sunday, October 23, 2005

America the Blind

There is a sad trend in America right now. People, some as young as 10 years old, are blindly swallowing what the media (television, print, entertainers) is telling them about their world. They idolize these figures and blindly follow whatever they say. The "do as I say, not as I do" mentality at its worst. Wake up!!! Just because someone puts out a great album or acts in an Oscar-winning movie, does not make that person any more knowledgable about current affairs as Joe Schmo walking down the street.
Case in point: Young Green Day fans. All these young people know about the world comes from American Idiot and MTV. If Green Day hates Bush, they're going to hate Bush -- and not even bother to find out why. If you ask them why they hate Bush, they'll tell you "because Billie Joe said so." That's not a valid reason. I don't even think Green Day would want someone to form an opinion based on a song from their record. They don't claim to be experts, so why do people take their word as an expert opinion???
I do not follow GD blindly. I disagree with their reasons to dislike Bush. I think Bush let down the Conservatives who elected him (by passing reckless pork-barreled spending bills), and his business partners have a monopoly on cushy government contracts. The one thing we have to remember about the Iraq war is that we NEVER hear about the good things we're doing. It's just not sexy. If we heard even 10% of the good things that are happening it would make the Left-wingnut peaceniks look like the buffoons they are. I personally think we should have waited longer between invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, but Afghani AND Iraqi elections are worth way more than my discontent.
What the majority of America is failing to see (Green Day included) is that not everyone who enters the service is going to die while in the service. The media portrays military service as a death sentence and it's not. What they won't tell you is that the majority of military members who die never die in a combat zone. They die while on leave or liberty (liberty=after working hours or on a weekend). And it is usually their own fault (i.e. drunk driving, acting stupid, throwing the safety precautions they are trained to follow out the window). Most mishaps NEVER occur in a combat zone. Take that CNN!!!

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