The catalyst for irrationality.

America’s future (maybe even the world’s), in my opinion, will all boil down to who will be elected the next president of the United States.

I strongly believe the world is watching and listening to what we are going to do with this constitutionally given elective power. 2008 will most likely be the most important political year in our generation, if not in the last 100 years.

If we elect another “everyday” political hawk, democrat OR republican, we will turn down a path that will lead us to a darker and more unAmerican future, and the point of no return will probably be passed. But, If we choose one of the unlikely candidates like Kucinich, Paul or maybe even Obama, we may be able to turn around this country, and potentially even our global image for the good.

This is what I do know. This country has changed significantly in the last 8 years. I, or my elders close to me, don’t remember a time when people were more reactionary, and consumed with irrational fear than right now. Think back to the Cold War. Now that was a real threat; yet our leaders told us to be calm and confident, to trust that we would come out as the stronger of the nations. Our patience and intellect won the war against the Soviet Union.

Today on the other hand, we have been motivated … lead to operate in fear, and it is changing who we are as a collective society. Why is this dangerous you may ask? Well, let us break down what fear means.

The human emotional center can be a very dynamic and fluid subject. Yet, if boiled down to its most basic foundation, one may see how simple it can be. All, I repeat all, emotions are manifested from just two main emotions bases — fear based or love based. No matter what emotion is being discussed — hate, anger, sadness, happiness, jealousy, excitement — they all can be traced back to one of the two base emotions, love or fear.

Our Past

Now let’s look back at our nation’s reaction to the defining event of 9/11. In other words, let’s define where our slide to being the fearful country we are now started. There was a short moment after 9/11 when the country was brought together because of our country’s national pride. Now, we started on a good path because we had a love for our country and wanted to express it. This could be attributed to the fact that, at the time, we had no enemy, so in essence, there was nothing to fear. We just wanted to show that everyone had and gave their support. So, we then turned on the TV’s and awaited instructions from our leaders for what we as a country needed to do.

And, what happened next is the most saddening subject to discuss. This involved how our leaders told us that we were in danger, and how our security was compromised. Instead of instructing us to be a nation of calm, confident and strong citizens like our leaders in the past (think Kennedy, Reagan, Roosevelt), our trusted leaders started with their fear driven rhetoric, and then our enemy … enemies were defined.




Osama bin Laden, a single man with nothing but a dangerous band of rebels, was irrationally made into America’s biggest threat. Then, we started the war in Afghanistan — “We have to fight them there, so we don’t have to fight them here.” And finally, we started another war against an innocent (in regards to 9/11) country — “Saddam has WMD’s, and biological weapons!” Our leaders took advantage of our ignorance to the situation and to the middle east, and led us down a path of fear and demise for reasons unknown to many.

All this irrationality was allowed because of our powerful, emotional bias — FEAR! You may say that fear is good, right? Well, yes and no. When it is rational like being chased by a bear, then yes, but when it is irrational, like being blown up by a terrorist, then no. American citizens are more likely to die in a car crash, or from heart disease, than a terrorist. Still don’t believe me that you are insane to fear a terrorist? Let’s look at the factual numbers.

2,974 people died as a result of the 9/11 terrorists. That is 0.001% of Americans were killed on or as a result of the event. In that same year, 17,448 people died because of drunk driving (alcohol), more than 6 times as many people, but have we waged a war on drunks, bars, clubs or breweries? How about smoking? 440,000 deaths are caused annually by smoking! Have we waged wars on tobacco farmers? But yet, terrorists are at the top of our “to fear list”. Does that make any sense? Was our reaction rational? I say no, not by a long shot.

Should he be a terrorist?

Our Present

As a result of this reaction, we have killed more Americans trying to destroy this imaginary enemy, than what was originally lost in 9/11. Now here comes my point. When fear is your motivator, you become an irrational being, naturally trying to destroy what is making you feel so negative, so oppressed. It becomes an insatiable thirst that you will never overcome. You essentially blow up your closet in an attempt to destroy the “bogeyman”, having it later manifest in your bathroom or under you bed.

So here we are in 2007, and what have we accomplished, really? We are no better today than in 2001. Actually, I would say we are worse off today, than compared to 2001. Our dollar is weak, our country is more polarized than ever, our national debt is out of control. Oh, and don’t forget about the looming war with Iran. But the worst of all the consequences, we have even defined each other as an enemy. Republicans are the democrat’s enemy because the liberals fear losing their civil liberties and freedom. The democrats are the republican’s enemy because they fear the liberals will make the country weak and dependent.

This fear that is now consuming us has turned us against each other, creating enemies not only across the Pacific, but across the street, even on the other side of the computer screen paralyzing us in fear. One could easily theorize that this was exactly what bin Laden wanted. In our attempt to prove that we are the strongest, we revealed our biggest weaknesses. We are now trapped in a self-fulfilling prophecy and breaking this spin cycle of irrational, emotional thinking will be our greatest challenge.




Our Future

First, we need to rise above our current situation by realizing how sick we have become, replacing all that is illogical and irrational with factual, logical thoughts. We need to become conscious of what fear has done to us and convert that emotion to love of our country, and our future. This needs to be our first priority. 2008 is our opportunity to realize this potential, and change what we have done to ourselves and others.

Our 2008 presidential candidates need to be analyzed with this razor sharp intellect, removing our emotional center from our decision process and listening to the candidates motivations and intentions. The ones that use the most fear in their rhetoric are the ones that will perpetuate our sickness, leading us further “down the rabbit hole.”

The citizens of this country need to reclaim their freedom from fear, from the oppressive manipulation that our current leaders have used to govern this country. If we succumb to the fear, we may never be able to return to the powerful and exemplary country we were before 9/11. We would then be no better than the people that we are trying to destroy as they too are motivated be fear–fear of not being respected, fear of losing their precious religion, fear that our military bases are diluting their religious beliefs and destroying their holy lands.

Ask yourself two things. Do we want to define ourselves by what we fear, or what we love? Which ever one you decide, do everything in your power to fulfill that definition. Vote with it, live with it, even fight with it.

Second, we need to ask ourselves what are we willing to pay for. Are we willing to pay for the price of freedom (love), or the price of security (fear)? I would rather pay for my freedom, because in the end, I will always have my pride and honor intact. If you choose security, be aware that it is an elusive creature, and as soon as you think you have a grip on it, its weakness will be exposed, and the price paid, may be everything you have.

2008 will be a time for discovery. A discovery of whether this nation really is a democratic nation that is governed by its constitution, or if it’s all just a facade being destroyed by fear as the years go by.