A Hippie's Hope for Future Direction ~ 1

Twenty-four hours have passed since I sat in front of my TV and watched the news about the death of Osama Bin Laden, and I have to admit that the thoughts that have gone through my mind during that time have ranged from joy to sadness, from fear to suspicion, from guilt to hope. Confusing, yes, but Bin Laden has been waging a war of terror for nearly two decades, a war against America. Most Americans became aware of him after the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington D.C., but he was well known to the American intelligence community long before then. And as I thought about this and other things, I began to have a few glimmering thoughts of hope. Hope that we will change some of the ways we interact with the world, and thereby change begin to change the way that the world perceives us.

The first thing that I wanted to do was to try and understand why anyone or group would hate America so much that they would declare a holy war against us. The truth is that we, America, must accept a large part of the blame. I know that you don't want to hear this, but before you tune me out, please read a little farther. I do not want to damn America, but to help every one's understanding, because if we understand what we may have done wrong, then we can prevent repeating those mistakes in the future, so please bear with me. America has always been an expansionist country. The original thirteen states wasted little time before our people began the movement westward. And westward we did move, taking everything until we were stopped by reaching the Pacific Ocean.

That expansion to the West was not a peaceful migration, but a bloody sweep across the land. We took America by force, and the feeling of the American people was that we were the superior people, and that it was all ours by right. During that time, we warred with the Native Americans, we warred with the Mexicans, we warred with the French and we warred with the British. We fought for territory, we bought territory and we created this country. We felt that we were destined to be world leaders, and we made ourselves such. But, there was no more territory to conquer, and America was ours from sea to shinning sea by the late nineteenth century. There was no more room for expansion. Now came an all too brief period of rest, but that was not to last. America became involved in the Spanish American war, then World War I. Next was World War II, followed by Korea. And America felt invincible.

We were the most powerful nation on Earth, and we were destined, but we were stalled, nowhere to go. That is when America began to insert itself into the politics and affairs of other nations. Look at our success! Our way was certainly the best way! We assumed that it was in the best interest of the rest of the world that we impose our form of government upon them, enlighten them and show them the way to prosperity. And we have been doing this ever since. Many of you have families, large families. And many of you have someone in your family that is much like one of my Aunts. She is the one who is involved with every member of the family. She is the one that tells everyone what they should and should not do. She is the one that meddles and manipulates members of the family to do what she sees as the right thing to do. She inserts herself into relationships, finances, education and daily life. And nobody in the family likes her. Everyone tries to avoid her. But, she has money, power and status, and there is no getting around her. This was my Aunt Grace. And when she passed away, there was a sense of relief that flowed like flood waters from family members across the country. America has become that Aunt.

We have inserted ourselves in Asia, Africa, Central America, South America, Europe and the Middle East, because we feel that our way is the best way, and it is our destiny to make the world into our own image. But we have done this with total disregard for the people and cultures of other countries. And like the members of my family who resented Aunt Grace, other countries resent America. Is there any question why? We have become a very intolerant nation, a very arrogant nation, and this saddens me. We rail against dictators, yet we try to dictate to the world. We try to dictate how they should be governed, how they should do business and how they should live their lives. Is there any wonder why the world looks at America with suspicion and even hatred? The world has formed it's attitudes of America based in part on the attitudes America has about the rest of the world.

America must recognize that because another people or culture is different, that alone does not give us the right to intervene and attempt to change it. When America begins to change it's attitude, the attitudes others have of us will begin to change. America has an amazing capacity to do good and to help. And it is time for us to concentrate on the ways that we can help others in the world. We have the capacity to become partners with other nations, and work together toward building positive bridges that will forever link us in moving toward a better world for all people of all races and all cultures. America has the ability to help other nations develop their agriculture and become more self sufficient. America has the ability to help other nations to develop industry, manufacturing, tourism and education. We need to move in this direction, away from being the worlds biggest arms dealers, and toward helping others prosper. Once we move toward showing an interest in the prosperity of the people of this world, and away from imposing ideology, the more the rest of the world will welcome us, and the less we will have to fear from the world.

But the problems are not created by America alone. A single man standing alone can not get into a fight. And the other people in the world must also change their attitudes. The Muslim world must accept that every person on this Earth has the right to decide which religion they want to accept, and the Christian need to do the same. The Communists need to accept that Capitalism is a way of life that many in the world have chosen, and accept that, and the Capitalist's must accept that Communist governments have as much right to exist as any other form of government. And all countries must accept the fact that they have no right to intervene in the internal affairs of another country until they are invited to do so by that country, and only if that intervention is one that the people of that country want.

Certainly, I realize that this is a dream, but change first begins with a dream don't you think? And I realize that no matter how peaceful a person is, no matter how tolerant, no matter how much good a person does, there will be some crazy who will want to stop him. Look at John Lennon. But also look at the good people who have brought positive change to this world, people who have brought about change by showing tolerance and love. Look at Ghandi or Mandella. I am sure that I will continue to write about this and similar things in the future. America is not to blame for all of the world's problems, but we have part of the blame squarely on our shoulders. And Americans can not change everything, but we can begin the process of change within our own minds, lives and attitudes towards others.

Have A Great Day,

The Old Hippie