E Unum Pluribus
Pardon my fractured Latin, but for those who don't know, E Pluribus Unum means "From many, one." Well, the tendancy around the world and even in the United States is to separate people by their ethnic and religious tendancies. It seems to be a foregone conclusion that people cannot live in peace if there is any sort of sectarian difference between them. I guess the USA's bold experiment as a melting pot has run its course. E Unum Pluribus... "From one, many."
Ralph Peters has a great article in the New York Post today about this very subject and how it affects Kosovo and numerous other ticking time-bombs around the world. I really like Ralph's perspective on world events, especially Iraq. In this case I agree with his premise that most likely larger, artificially-bordered countries are going to have to break up to remain viable. BUT, I totally disagree that it is the way things should be.
With Rwanda seeming to be the notable exception, very few peoples seem to be able to put the past aside and move forward. It seems that revenge is the white-hot emotion du jour and it is an acceptable option.
Maybe the concept of nations is all wrong for the new millennium. Perhaps we could all federate as nation-states under a larger group. No... that would never work. As long as there is ambition and the need for power, we will need militaries and laws and borders and all the problems that go with it. There will always be disaffected people living in the wrong place that will have issues that cannot be resolved. It is the 2% that screws it up for the 98%!
I keep coming back to the recurring them that in spite of what we hear about the rest of the world and the liberals in the US loathing all that the US currently stands for, it amazes me that we are discussing ways to keep people OUT of our country. Sure we have our problems, but most of the issues that we fight about are about degrees, not big issues.
Maybe that is our success... we Americans fight with religious passion over things like wiretapping and waterboarding and it causes a sort of catharsis to the disease of the body politic. Other societies worry daily whether they will be killed because they pulled up the wrong internet site, while we have almost total freedom. We in the US have a whole ecosystem built around discontent. Sure it costs us money, but in other countries, the money most likely would go to a corrupt military. It allows us to employ millions of people and keep their minds busy and away from the oppression that would most likely happen if they lived in a totalitarian regime.
Ralph Peters has a great article in the New York Post today about this very subject and how it affects Kosovo and numerous other ticking time-bombs around the world. I really like Ralph's perspective on world events, especially Iraq. In this case I agree with his premise that most likely larger, artificially-bordered countries are going to have to break up to remain viable. BUT, I totally disagree that it is the way things should be.
With Rwanda seeming to be the notable exception, very few peoples seem to be able to put the past aside and move forward. It seems that revenge is the white-hot emotion du jour and it is an acceptable option.
Maybe the concept of nations is all wrong for the new millennium. Perhaps we could all federate as nation-states under a larger group. No... that would never work. As long as there is ambition and the need for power, we will need militaries and laws and borders and all the problems that go with it. There will always be disaffected people living in the wrong place that will have issues that cannot be resolved. It is the 2% that screws it up for the 98%!
I keep coming back to the recurring them that in spite of what we hear about the rest of the world and the liberals in the US loathing all that the US currently stands for, it amazes me that we are discussing ways to keep people OUT of our country. Sure we have our problems, but most of the issues that we fight about are about degrees, not big issues.
Maybe that is our success... we Americans fight with religious passion over things like wiretapping and waterboarding and it causes a sort of catharsis to the disease of the body politic. Other societies worry daily whether they will be killed because they pulled up the wrong internet site, while we have almost total freedom. We in the US have a whole ecosystem built around discontent. Sure it costs us money, but in other countries, the money most likely would go to a corrupt military. It allows us to employ millions of people and keep their minds busy and away from the oppression that would most likely happen if they lived in a totalitarian regime.
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