Isn't It Time?

Now that Americans have come to realize what the world has been saying about the Bush Administration for years, maybe the iron is hot for a complete rethinking of our national direction. We have proven that pre-emptive war does not lessen terrorism, but increases it. We have proven that cutting taxes and approving deficit spending does not improve the economy for anyone except those at the top. We have proven that cutting trade deals to satisfy huge corporations neither provides wanted jobs for the world nor helps protect the environment. We have proven that spurning diplomacy and rejecting other nations’ thinking out of hand does not win international acclaim.

Isn’t it time we proved something positive? Isn’t it time we gave up mankind’s belief since the beginning of time that warfare is a problem solver? Isn’t it time we began assessing the impact of our actions not just by looking at short term corporate profits, but by considering the long term potential of living up to the teachings of all of the greatest leaders the world has ever known? Why is it that we preach the words of Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Gandhi, King and all the other representatives of the highest levels of light and thought ever to grace the earth, but do not follow them?

Isn’t it time to try developing political policy around the faith you say you follow? Isn’t it time that we try to teach others a better way through example instead of through violence? Isn’t it time that we devoted a fair share of our national wealth to the well-being of all the peoples of the earth and a peaceful future instead of an overwhelming share to the development of weapons of war and competitive striving for one-upmanship in the marketplace? Isn’t it time we tried putting more of our money into efforts to create peace than preparations to make war?

Isn’t it time we talked to the rest of the world about how we can all work together to reduce our arsenals of nuclear weaponry instead of threatening them with plans to develop new ones? Isn’t it time for us to recognize that America is just another nation and not a special case more blessed by God than anyone else? Isn’t it time that we subject ourselves to world law rather then holding ourselves aloof from it while demanding that others follow it?

Isn’t it time that we consider the idea that the era of nation-states has outlived its usefulness just as much as the era of city-states has? Isn’t it time for us to help develop and then pledge to abide by a body of law to govern the interactions of nations in order to enhance the well-being of people on the globe rather than the economic growth of nations?

I remember the civil rights activists of the ‘60s in America being told that while they were morally correct, the time just wasn’t right; that they should be patient and wait for society to evolve to the point when the majority would come to understand that the time had come for change. Their response was adamant; they had heard that argument for far too long. The time, they shouted back, is NOW! In the same vein, what better time than NOW to drop war as diplomacy? Isn’t it time?