Europe-y and Liberal-y

"I was talking aloud to myself. A habit of the aged: they choose the wisest person present to speak to."

-- Gandalf

"It is the critics themselves who are suffering from pseudo-religious certainty and superstition. Isn't there something self-righteous, slightly crazed, about directing such overwhelming anger at the man whose job it is to pick up the pieces of September 11 on behalf of the free world? George W Bush as we see him today is a response to disorder, not its cause."

--Charles Moore, Theory on why Secularists fear religious conservatives.

Perhaps one of my greater dislikes of the liberal and progressive movement in America is their constant pointing to Europe. "Look at Europe!! Look! There liberals and they make it work!!"
Not to sound crazy and psychotic, but the election is over. Somebody needs to be hosed down and stop talking. The conservatives won.
The intelligentsia of the progressive movement claim the somehow voting republican only can harm the economy. Wow. They sure forgot about Reagan, huh?
But on this note, I really don't understand the "far left" or the "left". Their ideas are interesting, but ultimately don't make sense. They basically want charity run through the gov't, that is what they preach. Yet, the US gov't is designed to be slow and bureacratic, as to prevent laws that misuse the state (Sedition and Alien Act, anyone?), so granting such an organization control over others' lives seems ridiculous. The conservatives speak of capitialism, because it ultimately rewards merit, not position. Those who earn it get to keep it.
And Socialism kills that idea, so Europe ain't bein' that cool.

"The one who does good deeds and expects to be appreciated, does something better then committing a bad deed. However, he does so for his own benefit and not for others. A truly righteous man does good deeds without letting his beneficiary know of his deeds. He does good deeds freely and does not expect that in the future someone will recognize his deeds. A monk must have resolve far greater then this. In treating all sentient beings, he must not discriminate between those who are close to him and those who are scarcely known to him."
--Dôgen (1200-1253)

Tsunami

"...And the battlefield where heaven stood

Was blown to hell again

But for just one fleeting moment

The answer seemed so clear

Heaven's not beyond the clouds

It's just beyond the fear

No heaven's not beyond the clouds

It's for us to find it here..."

--"Belleau Wood", Garth Brooks

Well, unless you don't listen to the news, or, are just very demented and sick, you should know about the disaster in Southeast Asia. I find myself astounded, and even more so by the sheer accuracy this event could be predicted. It frightened me more then anything else. The lack of a system or something, has only made the thing worse. I guessed on monday that the body count would double, although it did even more than that.
About a year ago, I watched a show on tsunamis. Amazingly, the show's example of an earthquake was freaky. And the sheer volume of the earthquake that caused the tsunami scared the hell out of me. Out of my ear, though, the earthquake, if it follows my greatest fear, kills at least a million... Well, then I will start repenting fast. I mean, the earthquake affected the rotation of the earth.
Ah well. The US lucked out once again. We weren't hit. Thank God, I guess.
Its times like this, when the Christian/Jewish strain in the US is kicking in. The American streak of charity is going to help people. And that is a good thing, even if others think were just cowboys or police or etc.
I pray everyone out there is safe and that those in the wake of the disaster will soon return to their normal lives.

"Tell me and I'll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I'll understand."

--Native American Proverb