Isn't It Time?

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. 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 age old belief in warfare as 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, The Dalai Lama 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 we say we 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 we recognized 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 people on the globe as well as the interactions of nations? Isn’t it time for all of us to recognize that each of us has the right to the same level of security as any one of us possesses?

Isn’t it time for each of us to take some action to ensure that these high ideals can become reality? What are you going to do?

Be the change you wish to see in the world. – M. K. Gandhi