Freedom: April 2008 Archives

Why we have to stay in Iraq

The people of Iraq are depending on us. The population of Iraq is estimated at well over twenty-seven million; twenty-seven million of our fellow human beings that have had their country and their lives turned upside down by this war; twenty-seven million; twenty-seven million people that are only going to be affected negatively by our withdrawal from their country in its current state.

You don't have to believe that us going into Iraq was a good idea in the first place, I certainly don't believe that it was. But that does not change the fact that we are now in Iraq and that those twenty-seven million Iraqi children, women, and men, both young and old and every age in between, are in a much worse situation than we are.

We are certainly going to be affected as well: There is a huge cost to us staying in Iraq for the long haul, a cost of many American lives and a large amount of Americans tax dollars. But it is the Iraqi people that are going to end up paying the greatest price, a far greater price than we could possibly imagine, if we choose to abandon them and their country, leaving them with the mess that we have started.

It doesn't matter why we are in Iraq now, or why we went there in the beginning. Yes, we all know that Barack Obama voted against going to war with Iraq; we all know that Hillary Clinton voted to go to war with Iraq; and we all know that it was the idea of the Republicans, George Bush, and Dick Chaney in the first place, but none of the matters any longer. The reality of the situation is that there are millions and millions of innocent Iraqi civilians, people just like you and I, that are going to end up paying the real cost of this war. Think of those people the next time you are discussing, listening to, or reading something about the war in Iraq. Think of those people the next time you hear a person or a politician say that we need to abandon Iraq.

The Housing Bubble

The drop in housing prices in many parts of the country is not necessarily a bad thing. The value of homes in many areas of the country was increasing at an unsustainable rate that had absolutely no basis in reality. It wasn't demand, it wasn't the cost to build those homes, the price of wood and labor did not rise with the price of the homes; it is because the prices were being artificially inflated by everyone involved in the sale of homes; from the builders, to the bankers giving the loans and in turn packaging them up and selling them to investors, to the buyers of those securities, to the buyers of the actual homes, likely some of you people reading this, we consumers that wanted our investment to continue to increase at such an astronomical rate.

It wasn't real, and the reality is that if the bubble continued it would have made things much more difficult for future generations to buy homes in many areas of our country. It would be like a couple fresh out of school trying to buy real estate in Manhattan, except without any of the actual value that is derived from the huge demand for real estate in Manhattan. The truth is that everyone involved was at fault, including the consumer. It's understandable though, of course the businesses and workers involved wanted to make as much money as they possibly could, and the consumer simply wanted a solid investment that they hopefully wouldn't have to worry about in the future, something that they could rely on, something that would always be there for them.

Sadly most people didn't see the bubble bursting, as is the case with all bubbles, so we now have to deal with all of the issues that are being piled on to the deflating price of housing in the United States; such as the credit crunch, the rapid devaluation of our currency, and a general lack of confidence in a majority of our fellow Americans with the economy and our country as a whole. Adding all of this to the numerous other political issues that the country is currently dealing with has made things much worse than they should have been. And then all of the problems are amplified once again due to it being a general election year.

We have to understand that all of us are at fault for the current economic issues; we can then come to the conclusion that the securitization of debt is a good and powerful tool for our economy, and as such it should not be overly regulated into something much less useful.

The Problem with Atheists

The problem with modern atheism is that its followers do not seem to have a firm grasp on the fact that religion is a part of our modern culture. We have people making outrageous claims and making attempts at refuting religious beliefs, and denying the fact that many religious values and concepts are ingrained in our culture as a people.

Many atheists are so against having a belief in God that they would infringe on the rights of others who do choose to believe in God. Many atheists will persecute any and all people who freely choose to follow a religion and have a belief in God. They will bring up petty, minor, nearly irrelevant issues such as whether or not the word God is used in our Pledge of Allegiance; or that In God We Trust is printed on our money and used as a motto; simply to continue their efforts to persecute and look down upon those that choose to believe in God and follow a religion.

Certainly some people are going to disagree with our feelings on religion and beliefs in God, and they should of course be free to do that without being persecuted for it. Just as you or I, or Richard Dawkins should be free to at the very least state our feelings, our thoughts, and our opinions on the subject. I just feel that a great many atheists are very invasive with their beliefs, and that stems from the more popular atheists in the world. People see Richard Dawkins being extremely arrogant with his opinion everywhere that he goes, increasing his popularity with these extreme atheists, and indeed they are building his ego up as they continue to follow in his footsteps, which is just going to make the issue worse. It's a vicious circle.

Of course there is an issue if and when religious beliefs somehow change our policies and laws, in our free country, in these modern times. I do not agree with that at all, and believe it to be a much greater issue than the word God being in the Pledge of Allegiance, using the example above; or the fact that many of our and much of the worlds holidays take place on dates that are particularly important to various religions throughout history, or are for various figures of Christianity and other religions. Religion is an undeniable part of our history and culture as Americans and of humans as a whole, and it should be respected as such.