One foot in front of the other

Those who have seen me in real life know that I’ve had a recurrence of skin problems and eye inflammation over the last two weeks, and so I went to the doctor for the second time today and now have a couple of neat prescription drugs that are greatly increasing my quality of life. On top of the general mood today (which is again somber, sad, angry, and vengeful) feeling bad sucks worse than everything. Many people I know are desperate to get back into a state of normalcy and routine in the wake of the unprecedented terror attack. I understand that. That’s why I really enjoyed class more than usual even today. For a brief amount of time it felt great to concentrate on something that wasn’t evil. My doctor’s appointment was the first bit of social intercourse I’ve had in the last three days that didn’t even mention the events on the East coast.

Part of my malaise has been a general feeling of questioning of my personal philosophy. As I’ve pointed out, I am a committed personal libertarian and it seems inevitable that we will be surrendering more and more of our freedom and liberties in the near future. Also, I am committed to the principle of civilized society that includes the rule of law. The initial statements of our president seem to indicate that since this was an act of war, the response to it would necessarily be extrajudicial. Beyond just the sweeping feeling of national sentiment against these two views I have, is the questioning I am subjecting myself to. Is a libertarian orientation obsolete? Do we have to live in a less free society from now on? Will we simply kill the perpetrators of this, or do we trust our system of law? On the last point, I am comforted by the arrests and scrupulous treatment of the investigation that have begun domestically, but I cringe at the rush to judgment I see in assigning blame initially to people and organizations.

It is my sincere hope that the following will emerge from the unified political feeling that is developing:

• A recognition that we have seriously squandered our intelligence capital on the ill-formed and counterproductive war on drugs, especially foreign interdiction programs.


• A subsequent reassignment of resources from drug war surveillance to anti-terrorism surveillance.


• An abandonment of the absurd National Missile Defense program, which obviously is no protection for the country.


• A commitment to remain involved in the world and as a leader but not a dictating hegemon.


• A re-evaluation of our commitment to countries and rulers that flout the rule of law and support our short term interests at the cost of our long term security.


• A general emphasis on the value of life as the basic cornerstone of the moral compass of civilization.

And that’s my wishlist for the day.

Smile

Thank you, Obscure Store, for running the same bizarre crap that always is. Always guaranteed to make you chuckle.