It occurs to me that our problem lies not in a deception about foreign affairs or motivations in going to war. No. This evil runs much deeper into the very veins of our nation, into the hearts and heads of every individual. Our problem is, instead, a misconception about the very purpose of a government and its citizens’ expectations. How dare we point our fingers at those to whom we have delegated responsibility? We call them liars and snakes. Callous. Selfish. Dare I suggest that they are our representatives for a reason? This war in which we are engaged, perhaps even ensnared, is not the fault of the officials, but of our very attitudes as the populous. When defending this war, they say that we are defending our own, working to prevent the loss of American lives in the future. This reasoning, however, turns sour in the stomachs of the weeping mothers, the disillusioned soldiers, the individuals sitting at home who must swallow the images of widowed women cradling their maimed children. And yet, We the People, are the true perpetrators of this reality. It is We the People who have fed this beast of a government the very lie it now feeds us. What is the excuse of the officials? The government’s primary role is to protect and defend its citizens. This is the insidious trap that we have laid for ourselves. But we are only looking out for Number One…and that is what we have been doing since the beginning. That is what led so many to hate us from the start. That lie is the seed of our wars, international and internal. This democracy, whether one respects it or not, was built upon the opinions of the people and, while its integrity is considered by many to have been spirited away, if it ever had any, the truth remains that unless We the People fed this lie to our government, it would have no reason to spit it back out at us today. We the People have spawned this selfish vision. We have demanded that our government pour itself out for this vision. We have demanded that our sons and neighbors spill their blood for the protection of our pocketbooks and our comfort. We have created this beast. This beast is our responsibility.
Perhaps our priorities are in need of reevaluation, and I mean on more than a federal or political level. I mean our very reasons for getting out of bed in the morning, for how else can we cut to the heart of a problem that has sprung from the heart of the people? Perhaps it is time we relinquish the drive to look out for Number One and stop numbering people altogether. Since the goal of a government will ultimately mirror the goal of its people, perhaps it is time we humble ourselves and stop trying to shove off the blame. Perhaps it is time for a revolution of motivation. What would happen if I could not only abandon the drive to protect Number One, but abandon the drive to identify myself as Number One altogether? What if our founding fathers were just as imperfect as we are? What would happen if we could rewrite the battle cry of our nation? Change its very heart and let a new idea flow through our veins? Perhaps it is idealistic, but it is our only hope, therefore we must either accept the depravity of today, or take a step away from ourselves to defend our thin hopes for tomorrow. Maybe then we would find ourselves the soldiers of a war worth fighting. Maybe we would become a nation of the people, by the people, for the world.
