Thinking out of the box

Submitted by Brad (United States), Oct 9, 2002 at 10:46

The turn of events in 2001-2002 has returned the "media" to its place as a conduit that connects people with their government. I think the great questions before us today are symptoms that this assessment is accurate.

The government, in its new national security strategy, has creatively outlined a challenge for free governments to strive to meet, but, at the same time, people are wisely voicing their concern that their governments are still boot-strapped to old concepts - sometimes on the battefield, but even more in the boardroom.

The United States must continue to take the lead by revolutionizing our systems - civil and military - first and foremost. After the battles are fought, the end-game of this war on terror will ultimately be won by finding more reasonable ways to achieve stability in governments around the world.

So in terms of the actual battlefield and acknowledging the fight against militant Islamists, I think Pipes will be proven correct in the public consciousness, if not already.

However, to convince ourselves that America can retain its indispensible role decades into the future, with assurety that all friendly governments can protect themselves, we have got to think out of the box in the economic and diplomatic realms. I do not think we are doing this with much success, just yet.

In 1776, our forefathers chose to fight against tyranny, even though slavery would have also been a fight worth making at that time. But we waited another 80 years to do that. Similarly, today we may choose to fight tyranny because we have no choice, but eventually we will find we must also confront the great social problems of the international community with as much zeal.

Capitalism, culture, widlife, and the earth's bounty must survive intact as all humans evolve. Let's start thinking about the futuristic end game of this war now.

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