The debate within American society over particular topics, abortion, war in Iraq, sub prime lending practices, etc, are just expressions of the freedom we have. The price we pay is the angst and division that causes.
That angst and division is necessary to the development of the nation, as it evolves through the various challenges it faces over time. Rarely, and only under the most pressing of circumstance is this debate squashed. Only when the country and its citizenry become united in the face of imminent peril does this, point and counter point abate... and then only for a time.
America, though fighting a war against terrorism is really fighting a kind of quasi war, not unlike the period where Britain had declared war on Germany, and placed its citizens on a war footing, but Germany was yet to attack. In this period the restrictions and blackouts caused more damage and consternation than the war at that stage.
America is worried about terrorism and its impact, but it’s not frightened. Not like it was when Pearl Harbour was bombed. That attack frightened America, and America responded with great force, a force which changed the world.
I wonder what would happen if America got scared, really scared, do you think perhaps that large sections of the world would cease to exist? And do you think the terrorism we experience is tempered by that?
I wonder...
