Because a radio talk-show host read the following essay last afternoon despite his own convictions that reading on the air is a radio black hole, I post this link to Thomas Sowell's "A Fatal Trajectory." I am curious to know what readers think: Is Mr. Sowell correct? Is he representative of "more-of-the-same" fear-mongering from the alleged right-wing lunatics recently voted out of office? Or is he on to something? Is it true that the best days of America have passed?I find myself somewhat ambivalent, though not so much by the message but by its manner. I am quite certain the world is a far more dangerous place than most of my contemporaries seem to think. Many of my peers apparently feel that the problem with those who are mugged is not that they have been mugged, it is that they were jogging in the wrong park, or in the wrong clothing, or in the wrong way, and thus merited mugging because of their dereliction, ignorance, or presumption. What makes the world a dangerous place is the jogger, not the violent mugger.
Peace through dissent.
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2 comments:
I fear Mr. Sowell may be correct in his pessimism, and I pray he is one day vindicated in his hope for the winds to change.
I wouldn't ordinarily take issue with Thomas Sowell; on cultural, social and economic issues he has always done his homework. In this piece, however, he is clearly voicing an opinion on a different topic, and while I agree with the thrust of his article and certainly share his concerns, I am not quite as pessimistic as he. Not yet anyway.
He asks the question, 'Will we surrender after nuclear bombs go off in one or two of our cities?' Then he observed that the Japanese did, and they were a much tougher people then than we are now. That may be true, but it ignores the fact that by August, 1945, Japan had gone from a superpower undefeated on land, sea or in the air to a reeling pugilist, pounded into exhaustion, unable to keep on his feet, keep his gloves up or even see his opponent clearly. Japan was defeated before we dropped the first bomb, but hadn't the courage to admit it. Yes, I know that they had more than 100,000 fresh troops in China, but that's really beside the point. The entire Japanese population was preparing to fight us with sticks, stones and bare hands, down to the last woman and child. The bomb simply gave them the opportunity to admit defeat without losing face.
We are not there yet. Besides, we will not be the first victims of a nuclear-armed Islamist fanatic -- Israel will. They have made that clear. Still, what will we do when that happens? Will this administration claim that it didn't see it coming? They seemed genuinely surprised at the Hamas attacks in December, apparently thinking that because we had elected someone more sympathetic to their cause that they would show some restraint. These people clearly don't have a clue as to the nature of our enemy.
And that's scary.
Richard White
Austin, Texas
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