Two Views of the World

Two Views of the World

Two things stood out for me when watching the Republican National Convention. One was the audience's incessant chant, "U - S - A, U - S - A." The other was Senator McCain's constant use of the word, "fight."

I don't know, maybe I've traveled too much. But I've found that people are very much the same the world over. We all want the same things. Generally, people are great.

And it's not their nationality that makes them great, it's their individual character and humanity. I just don't get the extreme nationalism of the Republicans, as if the rest of the world doesn't matter, or is somehow "second-rate," because "U - S - A" has to be "first."

McCain's favorite verb is "fight." He's gonna fight for this, and fight for that. He implores us all to "never stop fighting." To the Republicans, the world is a "dangerous place," full of evil persons from whom we in the U.S. need to be protected.

Boy, I sure don't view the world that way. Most people are terrific, and willing to reach out to each other. Yes, some get screwed up along the way. Politicians, in particular, are prone to abuse the power they are entrusted with, as we have so recently seen in our own country.

I don't want another President who has the "us versus the world" mentality, who feels he has to confront and threaten other world leaders rather than meet with them as equals, and who considers "winning" more important than finding ways to work together so that everyone can win.

I believe there is a much more positive and caring way to view the world. Look again at the words of Michelle Obama from her speech at the Democratic National Convention:

"He'll achieve these goals the same way he always has – by bringing us together and reminding us how much we share and how alike we really are. You see, Barack doesn’t care where you’re from, or what your background is, or what party – if any – you belong to. That’s not how he sees the world. He knows that thread that connects us – our belief in America’s promise, our commitment to our children’s future – is strong enough to hold us together as one nation even when we disagree."
"And as I tuck that little girl and her little sister into bed at night, I think about how one day, they’ll have families of their own. And one day, they – and your sons and daughters – will tell their own children about what we did together in this election. They’ll tell them how this time, we listened to our hopes, instead of our fears. How this time, we decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming."

I look forward to the day when Senator Obama is President, and the rest of the world once again respects and likes the United States and looks to it for cooperative leadership.

Listen to your hopes. Stop doubting. Don't come from fear.

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Hello everyone, and welcome to Niedy's Nest. This is Fred's soapbox. Feel free to discuss.