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Winners and Losers
We all like a winner. We take pride in the accomplishments of our favorite athletes and our favorite sports teams. When they win, we feel like winners, too. Their winning transfers to us. We become the winners.
In politics, our carefully scripted candidate wins and we root for him. Everyone loves the winner. In being patriotic, we, too, share the glory of winning. The flag waves high on our homes and from the windows of our SUVs. Proudly we salute Old Glory as it drives regally by.
In winning the war we become the good guys. We glory in our military’s prowess and it becomes ours. We, you and I, are victorious and powerful.
And, as in sports, we ignore the costs – the crippled bodies, the broken dreams, as long as our team wins. No matter how much suffering. No matter how many innocents are killed. In war, we are taught to call it collateral damage. We can’t see ourselves as the arrogant bully - we see ourselves as the embodiment of freedom and democracy. A world of varied hues simply becomes black and white. Except for one thing. One overlooked item on the list of our gloried accomplishments. You see, its hard to say it, but most of us are really just a bunch of losers.
By focusing on what winners our leaders are and how superior our military is we can avoid the naked truth of our lives. That our wages have declined over the last twenty years. That our children are worse off and less well educated. That we have a huge homeless population living on our streets. That we only get to vote for candidates that the corporations have carefully chosen for us. That our clothes and shoes are made by child and prison laborers. That one out of every one hundred-forty of our citizens are behind bars. That there are police on every corner in combat armor protecting us from “terrorists.” That one percent of the richest Americans have taken half of all our wealth. That the environment is on the verge of catastrophic change. That we have lost all that truly matters. Our freedom. Our self respect. Our dignity. Our honor.
It matters not. So, hooray for the winners! We’re number one! Strongest in the world! No one can stop us. We are loved by all or, at least, all are fearful of our might. The world cowers before our testosterone-driven reach for global domination. America, and by extension, you and I, Über Alles!
Johnny Peaceseed