"We exist in moments of gentle apocalypse"                       Roland Barthes      

05 May 06:  Exit and Externalities

     I was chatting with my friend from Iran the other day.  She asked whether or not 'we' would attack her.  Nice to know someone is thinking of you. 

    Similarly, I was asked why 'we' have a 'war on terror' the other day by my friend in Germany.  I did not really have good answers for either question.

    It is just so hard to explain to my foreign friends.  It is not that we are a war-like people.  Don't they understand how important this all is to the economy?

    This is likely my last post from theatre.  I considered working up an exit interview of sorts for my co-workers and developing some sort of post deployment analysis.  There are better academic exercises for me to engage in, and better writers working on such material I am sure. 

    Much of my frustration stems from the fact that there is not more genuine outrage from the American populace over any number of things that are taking place in the world today.  I find myself in agreement with much of the work of the Cato institute regarding executive power and civil liberties.  I agree with Thomas Freidman that the sooner Toyota takes over GM the better off we will be because we may have some serious effort towards alt-fuel vehicles, and that the more Humv's we have on the roads at home, the more we will need here.

    I would say that congressional ineptitude, party loyalty, and little green pieces of paper are betraying the constitution better than at any time before, but I know that I merely was not paying attention the last time it rose to this level.

    I have pretty much given up hope in explaining to many of the National Guardsmen that I am serving with the difference between a liberal and a libertarian.  And am afraid that the country, much less the appropriations committee, may never know that the size of the defense budget does not guarantee security, or that security means a great deal more than the ability to kill.  Just as patriotism means speaking truth to power when necessary, and liberty comes with responsibility.  

    For now, I have fallen back to my chaos theory of the world.  There will always be chaos, and some form of fungible currency will be at its root.  There is always profit to be had on one side or the other.  If the trouble stops, so will the market.  Once you start there really is no going back.  And thoughts otherwise are to be had by those with full stomachs and dry quarters.

    I am confident that America will keep trying to do good, until it realizes how much damage it does in the process.  And it will take the outrage of a nation to overwhelm the business interests, by frightening their minions in government, to bring about change.   

    In business there is such a thing called an externality.  This can be a good or bad which happens outside the books, because it does not fit well.  Classic example of a good externality: as an apple grower, I can't account for the bees that pollinate my plants.  They would do it anyway.  Bad externality:  I drive a taxi and make exhaust proportional to the amount of business I have but am not charged specifically for the pollution that I cause.

    Our nation exists on externalities.  If we added in all the external costs to a gallon of gas would run about $10.  Add on the cost of foreign aid, military engagements, preservation of shipping lanes, interest on the debt accrued to finance military expenses.  This is to say nothing of the human costs in the lands we have hither to treated as filling stations. 

    Wars are merely less subtle examples of how humanity deals with itself.  I suspect that more lives have been lost through neglect, benign or otherwise, they are externalities.  Grieving is a common language.  The clean conscious comes from ignorance, not insight. 

    All of this... and nothing.  When I leave here I will speak honestly, when asked, of my experiences.  Unless you tell me that I fought here so we would not have to fight at home, that is straight up bullshit.  I will be more focused on my dogs and remodeling my kitchen.  The world will go on in its chaotic yin and yan and, at a comfortable distance from the death and tragedy, welcome my distraction.

Feel safer?