Our Beautiful Nation

The president and vice president want to establish a Space Force. The president has signed legislation for a military budget of more than $700 billion dollars.

The number is staggering. And the motives within it alarming.

There is not a single threat facing us that warrants such a ridiculous idea as a Space Force. What does seriously threaten us is global warming, world poverty, national weather disasters, economic inequality, racial division, the destruction of public education, congressional greed and corruption, a future Stock Market collapse, the arrogant aggression against terrorist groups and the killing of their innocent women and children.

Those are the real threats. Those are the things that may end up destroying us as a nation and maybe even the world.

And yet, pennies are thrown at these problems, and in some instances, nothing at all is being done to address the dire situations created by these threats.

We are not being led by smart people. Money is a useless measure of a person’s ability to lead the nation. Being a billionaire does not automatically make you brilliant. It only means you have a lot of money. How one uses their extraordinary resources—that counts, that establishes real worth.

Our leaders offer the nation nothing in terms of wise and thoughtful considerations regarding the enormous hazards facing us. What we get are incoherent tweets, petty attacks, empty bragging, embarrassing lies, humiliating rhetoric, bullying and angry campaign speeches.

I am not slamming Republicans, or conservatives, or even Trump supporters. I am calling out ignorance, hate, character assassination, war mongering, stupidity, rage, and the unwillingness to see the dangers in our government.

First, we were being laughed at by other nations. Then we were considered insulting and belligerent. Now we are seen as a threat to the world, a superpower pushing its way across the globe and even into space to rule the universe with ruthless force.

Is that how we want America represented?

This is a beautiful nation. Our parkland and forests; our ocean shores and seascapes; our freshwater rivers and the glory of majestic mountain ranges—these define us. Our small-town businesses and rural landscapes; our home cooking cafes and the fruit stands along the highway; swimming in the farm tank and fishing on the bank; chats with a neighbor on the porch and the shared tears of friends in sorrow—these things still exist, these still make us American.

Yes, we have giant cities with their gnarled traffic and the sound of guns in the night. But there are breathtaking museums there and the chatter of sidewalk bistros that offer balance to the congestion. There is thrilling theater and the exhilaration of outdoor concerts; there are quaint art galleries and offbeat coffee shops. There are high rise office buildings populated, not with crooks and shysters, but with people of integrity and professionalism. Yes, there are the cheaters and the users, of course, nearly everywhere, but in the shadow of their crude limelight stand the salt of the earth folks, the hard workers, and the decent souls.

This is what makes America great. Not war schemes and space forces; not drone attacks and the murder of children on foreign soil. Not broken politics and compromised politicians. We are a people who know how to love and how to live with honor. Let that be our example to the world. Let that be the America we choose.

© 2018 Timothy Moody