Knowledge

Knowledge is power. I'm sure we all have heard that before. I believe that it is true. Now, think of situations where you have willingly chosen ignorance over knowledge. I can think of a few situations in my life. I think that the more I read about the way this country and the powerfully wealthy encourage mass slaughter in various countries, the more guilt I feel. As Americans, we tend to get very upset about things which I think are ridiculous, like gay rights, abortion and gun laws, but don't know much about the economy, retirement, health care, etc. Liberals are told that the middle class pays the bulk of the taxes, but the vast majority of the country thinks it is middle class. The truth is that per houshold, the more you make, the greater percentage you pay to the federal government. We're talking over 28%! Now, of course, that doesn't apply to the top 1-2%. We all hear about Saddam, Osama...but nobody seems to ask themselves how these people come to power, or why we don't kill them. I think it's because we don't want to scare any future dictators away from dealing with us. I mean, if we started killing these monsters after we were through, we wouldn't have the future "Enemies of the State." And anyone who thinks Carter, Bush (ANY of them!) or Clinton were/ are humanitarians haven't read "Manufacturing Consent." Do yourself a favor, let go of your bliss.
~J