He'll Never Be the Head of a Major Corporation
- Wade
Unless you live underneath some sort of large stone, you by now have heard about the beheading of U.S. citizen Nicholas Berg by alleged al Quaeda members. The act is barbaric and gruesome and, as much as some people would like to claim that Berg should have left Iraq, inexcusable. And, frankly, I'm sick of thinking about it. I don't watch the TV news anymore, although the local stations were basically unwatchable before we set foot in Iraq. I only go to startribune.com to read about the Twins, only go to cnn.com to get to cnnsi.com. You can argue that sticking my head in the sand about all this is a pretty dumb thing to do, but if I think about it too much I get frustrated and angry, and-- let's face it, there's nothing I can do about it. So I spend my time thinking about my fantasy baseball team, why I don't like any music on the radio anymore, and how in the world did I gain 15 pounds over the last year?
Basically, I become self-absorbed. Which is what my generation is supposed to do, right? Oh, I'm not completely self-absorbed. I work to provide a comfortable living for my wife and daughter. I get up early to walk my dog each day. I pray for peoples' well-being, but that usually extends to family members only. When I worry about things, I worry about my lawn. About my hair. About whether drinking 60-80 ounces of coffee is bad for me or not.
I know I should care about the state of my country, and the world around me. And I tried, for a while. I got the New York Times. I listened when MPR did a feature on the ruling tribes of Zimbabwe. I thought about the things I could do to make the world a better place to live. I even did a few of 'em. But I kinda gave up on that. What I did, what I felt about national and global issues... it didn't really do anything but get me frustrated about how the system works, and made me a good conversationalist at parties when the subject turned to politics. Now the subject turns to politics, and I leave the room to find someone who wants to talk about Prince, or to find someone who wants to talk about Daunte Culpepper.
People my age, once the sheen of college graduation wears off, generally don't give a rip about this country because we get the distinct impression that what we do, how we think, none of it matters. Around the world people who have never met me hate me, simply because of the fact that I was born in this country. Dubya makes policy decisions based on who gives his campaign money, and I'm not blind enough to think that Clinton didn't do the exact same thing. Even local issues are decided by who knows who, not by what's right.
This isn't a big "woe is me" gambit, don't get me wrong. I've got a great life, a great family, a job that pays me enough to order buffalo wings or buy a liter of whiskey whenever I please. But don't ask me to get passionate about stem-cell research, treatment of prisoners, or how Halliburton affects gas prices. Because I don't have the energy.
What do you think? Drop us a line at webmaster@simpleprop.com and give us some
feedback. Maybe we'll even run your letters in future Gambits. 'The Daily Gambit' is updated every weekday.
