I was stuck in traffic on the freeway and noticed some charred grass where a fire had been put out a few days ago...someone threw out a lit cigarette and started a fire. Traffic is way backed up on our freeway because CalTrans is finally widening it and almost everyone slows down to gawk at the freshly moved dirt.
As I am opposed to the war in Iraq, I have often been accused of hating America. Since I had some time on my hands and was feeling hateful for being so inconvenienced, I decided that I should reflect on the question; why do I hate America so much?
I actually love America very much. It is a beautiful country and I enjoy the great outdoors and traveling around the place. I love our theory of government, Constitution, and balance of powers. But I do often have great issues with the inhabitants and leaders. Do I hate Americans?
(please read on...)
Hate is such a strong emotion. I hate to hate anything. I do hate ignorance, though. And my country definitely is full of it at times. Take the smoker who tossed out his butt on the freeway and started that fire. Sure it looks cool to leave a trail of sparks as the butt hits the road at 60 mph (I'm assuming there wasn't traffic at the time). I've seen lots of people do this, and I'm not sure why. Maybe it is the coolness of total disregard. Maybe they want to keep their ashtray pristine and can't snuff out the cigarette first. I consider it total ignorance though. The firemen had to come out and extinguish the blaze and a few houses were at risk. Surely the value saved on their car was eclipsed by the cost to our community.
Or maybe it is selfishness that I hate so much. I'm a big labor rights supporter, but selfishness kills the labor movement. People who are already doing well don't want to rock the boat at work and won't support a union. Long time employees that are unionized often negotiate contracts that protect their interest at the expense of new hires. Beyond the labor movement, as Taxpayers we tend to want to keep taxes small. My county finally had to pass a bond measure to widen the freeway, because the State would never pay for it, even though the 2 lanes had been clogged for decades.
I hate the short-term mentality of so many Americans. I used to be a strategic planner by occupation, and my projects used to run for two years on product lines with a ten year lifespan. I would always hate when our project budget was cut because our quarterly profits were not as high as projected. I hated this, because often management would ignore the strategic value of being first to market and would simply sacrifice our profits 2 years out to make Wall Street happy on a given quarter. They often profited from this unproductive behavior as well.
I don't even hate Bush. I like his rhetoric about democracy, but I do hate his execution and imperialistic tendencies. I hate his hypocrisy about upholding Christian values. Although I tend towards being Agnostic, I believe that only God should punish people with death. We humans tend to make too many mistakes with unintended consequences when we use death as a form of punishment. I love Civilization, and feel that War and violence is the antithesis of civilization. War tends to lead to anarchy. War is hell. I hate War, and wish our President would use diplomatic means to undermine the fanatic's use of violence and terror. War and destruction is so wasteful. Israel bombed the hell out of Lebanon and now we have to rebuild the nation. And our "Christian" President encouraged the destruction. I do hate ignorance, violence, hypocrisy, and selfishness. I love America, and I wish that more Americans did not have the values that I despise. I love my nation for its potential but hate that we do not come close to achieving it. I hope someday we value education, tolerance, diplomacy, and the golden rule again soon.
"Every religion emphasizes human improvement, love, respect for others, sharing other people's suffering. On these lines every religion had more or less the same viewpoint and the same goal." The Dalai Lama
Islam:
"None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself." Number 13 of Imam "Al-Nawawi's Forty Hadiths."
Christianity:
"Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." Matthew 7:12, King James Version.
Hinduism:
"One should not behave towards others in a way which is disagreeable to oneself." Mencius Vii.A.4
Judaism:
"...thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.", Leviticus 19:18
"What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. This is the law: all the rest is commentary." Talmud, Shabbat 31a.
Socrates:
"Do not do to others that which would anger you if others did it to you." (Greece; 5th century BCE)
Seneca:
"Treat your inferiors as you would be treated by your superiors," Epistle 47:11 (Rome; 1st century CE)
http://www.religioustolerance.org/...