Oh me, oh my...

Greetings to my fellow inhabitants of this crazy world,

It has been a while since my last post. I have been a bit overwhelmed with work, school, and summer activities for my two boys. However, this morning I was listening to NPR on the way to work and decided I just needed to make the time for this post (more so for me as an outlet). There are so many things going on right now, both here and abroad, that are disheartening: Russia/Ukraine, Ferguson, Iraq/Syria (ISIL, ISIS, whatever), Palestine/Israel, Ebola outbreak, etc.

For the sake of posing a "Socratic Solution," I will focus on Iraq for this post; however, I would like to comment on two of the other issues:

1. Ferguson - Both parties (cops and citizens) aren't helping the situation. I have a dear friend who is a police officer in Vermont. Granted, the socioeconomic and cultural dynamic is much different up there, but I believe his attitude would be the same if he were a Ferguson police officer. As a matter of fact, I know it would because he served in Iraq and wasn't one of those "everyone is an enemy" guys. So to sum it up, cops need to be more a part of the community. My aforementioned buddy talks to citizens when he's out and about (not just about crime, greetings and smiles go a long way). Cops have to win the hearts and minds too, not just military units fighting an insurgency. On the flip side, citizens shouldn't be adversarial and belligerent just because. Use the law to your advantage. If you get detained or arrested and you truly didn't do anything wrong, then use the system to your advantage. Report the officer who violated your rights or file a law suit. No need to resort to violence.

2. Palestine/Israel conflict - I must point out one thing here, and I'm curious to hear some responses on this. How come the same people I hear talking crap about Jews and various conspiracy theories regarding Jewish bankers and Zionist movements (mainly rednecks in my opinion), are posting "I stand with Israel" on their Facebook pages and saying "We must send whatever help necessary to Israel"? Just saying... But really, it's ridiculous how many morons are out there. Our founding principles were based on human rights, not American rights. Adam Smith and John Locke weren't speaking to the colonists, they were speaking to humanity. People have a right to defend themselves, whether Israeli or Palestinian, or any nationality. But I do not understand how one can look at the history of Israel (the modern state, not the biblical place) and how it was formed and not see how the Palestinians were done wrong. I'd be more sympathetic to Israel if they actually won the land via a war. But the West annexed the place, kicked the locals out, and said here's your new country. Now we seem to think every Palestinian who throws a rock at an Israeli soldier is a terrorist. I know I'd throw rocks at soldiers in my neighborhood if I was forced to go through checkpoints and had land taken away from my family.

So now to the issue that is really tugging at my strings, The Islamic State and the United States' role in the issue.

Let me start by saying that I agree that these guys are horrible and they should be wiped out. The things they are doing are sick and reprehensible. But ask yourself a few questions before you say we (The USA) should go do something about with our military:

1. Why are Iraq and Syria in turmoil in the first place?
2. Are these guys doing worse than other atrocities being committed around the world; or, is the recent beheading of an American journalist any worse than ones many years ago (Nick Berg in 2004 comes to mind)?
3. And lastly, why can't our huge national security apparatus that is capable of taking out Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan and conducting precision drone strikes on wedding parties in Yemen capable of taking out ISIS? Why must we have military intervention with conventional airstrikes? Why must we have more boots on the ground (advisors, stabilizing and peacekeeping forces)? And who is going to pay for this, at least monetarily? We already know the service members who are sent and their families are the ones that are going to pay with their blood, sweat and tears while "We the Sheeple" continue to watch football and the Kardashians while not voting or speaking out on these issues.

So here is what I propose, both for individual American citizens and for the United States government:

Individuals - if you want to fight ISIS, apply for a VISA or just go over there the same way ISIS' foreign fighters do and take up arms against them. Join an organization or start your own outfit (I'm imagining "Machine Gun Preacher" right now). Or just donate money to a charity that is already doing this.

Government - avoid any involvement whatsoever because you have already proven that your reckless actions create so much blowback (unintended consequences, horrible ones I might add), that we and the rest of the world would be better off if you did nothing at all. However, if leaders from the Middle East and Central Asia come to us humbly and ask us for help, the only things we should offer are precision drone strikes on ISIS and airdrops of critical rations (food, water, medical supplies, etc).

It is important to note that ISIS is not a threat to the American way of life. If Israel gets rocketed by Hamas, America is not going to fall apart. If Russia annexes Ukraine, we are not going to have a "Red Dawn" scenario in the United States. Of course, some neocons and their like-minded allies will argue, "Terrorists are evil and we don't want another 9/11 on our hands." Sure, that statement is true, but that doesn't mean we need to go invade other countries to fight terrorism or prevent another 9/11 from happening. In fact, I would argue that our foreign adventures create more terrorists, resulting in a higher chance of another 9/11.

The last thing I want to say to my fellow citizens, is that IT IS OUR DUTY to have a voice on these issues. If you are concerned about the world and the way our "leaders" handle the issues at hand, you should be writing your representatives on a weekly basis and monitoring how they vote on these issues. We literally pay their salaries and the salaries of those who go do our bidding (the military, the cops, etc). Regardless of what many politicians, police and military members say, we do have a right to say something about how things are handled even though we may not have the experience or may not have ever been in their shoes. Our tax deductions (along with borrowed money from China, which becomes your debt) pays their salaries. So speak up, and speak to the right people if you actually care. Facebook posts are helpful, but not enough. Write your political representatives, and if they aren't responsive, then tell everybody about it on social media and vote them out the next time around. As I've said in the past, citizenship comes with a responsibility to act. If you don't, this "government of the people, by the people, for the people" is going to disappear. It is already rapidly deteriorating.

Until next time, stay conscious my friends...please. Sheep get sheered and slaughtered, so let's stop being sheep.

Semper Fidelis,
Chris Bentley