An Old Journal Entry

I've never been a huge journal keeper. Occasionally I will jot down some thoughts, or ideas, or short stories, but mostly these things stay inside my head. I came across this old journal entry from October 14th, 2002.

"Is war in the best interests of the USA? What are the larger issues that 'We the People' cannot hope to understand when it comes to dealing with politics on the high level that the president and the staff of the government have to deal with on a daily basis? Our interests as citizens come down to domestic concerns: jobs, money, security in our streets. They have nothing to do on a daily basis with who is in charge of Iraq. They have nothing to do with the personal struggles of citizens of other countries. They have nothing to do with the interests of the corporate entity of the federal government, save with how the decisions of that government affect our daily lives. When do we throw down our gauntlet and say to the ruling body of this country, 'This is not the way things should be!'? How can we begin to understand the economics, the politics, the struggles between nations? This burden is one that is visited upon those citizens that choose to involve themselves in the greater stage of the world for the greater good of the rest of the citizenry that choose to live their lives as they see fit.

This country is one that was founded upon the principle that the government should exist for the good of the people. Not the people with money, or power, but everyone from all walks of life. Or was it? Who are our founding fathers and what situations did they find themselves in that drove them to proclaim their independence from Great Britain? What battle cries did they raise to gather the support needed to pursue a successful war against their rightful rulers?"

I cleaned up the writing a bit, nothing was capitalized and some parts were even more rambling than they are now. This was one of my first political writings. 9/11 opened my eyes to a different world, as it did with many Americans. And yet a full year after was really the first time I tried putting these new thoughts onto paper (in a manner of speaking). Was I naive back then? Am I naive now? Probably. But I constantly seek to learn and better my understanding.