(Of course, we might.. 'lose' - but: Nobody Else will Possibly Win)


We (as a country) have obviously lacked the balls to face squarely our mini-version of the 'division of world wealth' as lies near the root of all these interactions.

And *wealth* IS our God, signified by the willingness of most Muricans to accept the one-word self-description, Yes, I am a capitalist - in certain conversations. (Not.. I am a human being; I value ___ and ___ and ___ / stand against ___ and ___ Etc.)

We (as a country) have settled for the siren song of 'consumption' - as the main reason to exist here, and as rationalization for why we will daily put up with (the office conditions oft described here? for just one mildest example).

We daily swallow the overt lies of all marketers, sharing the Disneyland fantasy. We abide the smarmy personal-greed of the congenital enterpreneur. We Lionize the ilk of Billy and Trump and the other symbols of modern-day Royalty -- who disproportionately Own most everything tangible as well as *the daily working lives* of their serfs, (not to mention a lot of evenings).

A nation of consuming serfs would seem to be most unlikely to observe the worldwide effects of the wealth-concentration which follows inexorably from unrestrained 'capitalism' -- never mind noticing the ethical vacuum in which it always thrives best. Enron IS our 'Entrepreneurial Ideal' = Win it All. By any means. They just happened to get caught, via some tactical errors.

Our poor may be 'wealthy' compared to most other 'poor' - but our national attention is ever focussed upon acquiring More; this especially for those who already have vastly Much. All the religions have a name for this aberration / tendency of juvenile homo-saps to become besotted, to seek excess. But our God is not any of those Gods.

How could such a group possibly grok the forces at work, which prompt the desperate to behave today - *as if* they were in the midst of a shooting war, in which their own lives are in the sights of 'enemy' gunners, ready to shoot them & theirs: next? (And it is -still- most often metaphorically, despite the literal examples we now, finally! worry about)

Not a nation obsessed with UAVs and entertainment from 500 sources. The gap from there, to the daily 'reality' for most of the planet is just too large a stretch. If we can't see or do not care about the manipulations at home -- the plight of billions, from whom we extract the materials we consume, just cannot be experienced vicariously (even if we wanted to slum for a few minutes of feigned 'humanity' break).

So, I think we'll escalate the Force and guarantee that the outcome will be appropriate. Pyrrhic Victory. We, of course could Never [allow ourselves to] 'Lose': before that eventuality we would indeed* "reduce the planet to a burned-out cinder" (in the immortal words of Klaatu - accompanied by His Gort Robot). And feel smug about the Righteousness of it all, just before - -

* Why ?!?
Because we Can. And because we Must 'Win'. Never mind 'What'.


Ashton
noting that - even in 2002, there are many who believe, "we coulda Won Vietnam! / and Should Have"