Why oh why

Maybe it's just because I like a good argument, but I always seem to have this terrible temptation to discuss politics. More often than not I wish I hadn't brought it up, but I still keep going back to it. Must be a little bit of that youthful idealism in me that's still not quite dead.

There are a few warnings I need to share with you before you go on. First off, I'm going to be talking about politics here. I define politics as I go along, so I basically get to talk about whatever I want. Deal with it. Second, these opinions are my own unless otherwise noted. "My own" is such an amazingly relative term in today's world that I'm not going to delve into it here. Third, be warned that politicians are a very slimy bunch. You don't want to touch them without wearing gloves. Just reading this journal will probably make you feel a little dirty. I recommend setting aside some time for a shower immediately after reading, just to be safe.

All right. Let's do this. I'll try to keep this first one short, to ease you into the muck.

In a democratic society, I view wars as the most major failures possible on the part of a government. Admittedly there are times when a nation has to defend itself, but I assume that these times are fairly obvious. On the whole, though, a democratic government has failed in some regard if it has no option but to send at least some of its citizens to their deaths. The most impressive things in American history are not our victories in war, but our ability to avoid wars. America's greatest achievements are those of compromises between two (or more) sides that couldn't agree on much of anything. You look at the variety of people in this country and how badly some of them get along in the rest of the world, and it's a miracle that we've only had one civil war.

Why can we all get along, or at least agree to disagree, here and nowhere else? Because historically, the American government has stayed out of the people's way. If an issue is sharply divisive, it's probably none of the government's business. No matter which side it comes down on, a large group of people will be angry. The philosophy is that government is a necessary evil, and must be kept just large enough to carry out the few functions only a government can carry out. Obviously, we're not there anymore. Our government has gotten itself tangled up in a bunch of things that are none of its business, and that is causing all kinds of problems.

Next time: maybe an example or two.