In our modern America we often take the time to beat ourselves up over the stuff we got wrong. We see MIC remind us of the 3/5 rule in the constitution, we hear about the rule of thumb and we have Indie constantly telling us that things we say are offensive regardless of the fact that many of the things we say are ingrained in us since childhood and are more along the lines of cultural than purely racist and evil.



I found this t-shirt at www.tshirthell.com (by the way, they have some of the funniest t-shirts I have ever seen but they are not for the faint of heart) and it reminded me of some of the things we got wrong but in the end were necessary evils of their day.

Slavery- WRONG! But look at the world that was built on the backs of thousands of years of this wrong. The Pyramids, the many cities we today seek to uncover, most of which were built in this way, the beginnings of this country, (I will not entertain that Blacks built this county, but there is little doubt they were instrumental in the beginning).

Use of Gasoline- Not a wrong! It has been and will continue to be the most efficient energy source this planet has to offer until another is discovered... Not reworked to be cheaper, but discovered. We do not yet have anything besides perhaps coal (which is just as hated as oil except that the price has not spiked like oil has recently) that can perform at the rate oil does at the cost associated with its removal from the planets deposits. Oh, I forgot Nuclear power, but God and environmentalist forbid if we should use something so incredibly safe to heat our homes, offices, light our streets and other permanently build power users while leaving oil and coal free to power our lifestyle into this fledgling century.

Isolationism- WRONG! In a world where the Internet and mass transit and transportation have made the planet smaller, we were smart to engage in every corner of the planet through commerce. Today we can see the benefits to the poor around the world as China, India and others begin to move into at least the 19th century in how they operate. Perhaps one day the primarily Muslim countries will emerge from their ignorance and join the planet in allowing women to vote, own property and be free to express their ideas openly and without shame of being brilliant. (Actually, to be fair and balanced here, there is a recent book that was released that speaks to the increase in governmental intervention in our lives and how it corresponds to the women getting the right to vote. I will look it up later)

Environmentalism- WRONG! Well that might be a bit harsh. The American version of Environmentalism as practiced over the last 40 or so years has been wrong. The idea that only by stopping all industrial forward momentum can we somehow return Earth to some preconceived paradise is just plain old stupid. What they should have been doing during all this time was working on the systems and replacements for oil and coal and whale fat (that one really doesn't get used that much anymore) and introducing them to the American public as a cost savings. Oh wait, they couldn't. Most of the replacements are too damn expensive and do little to replace the oil and coal we still need today.

Nuclear bombs- Not a wrong. the splitting of the atom has catapulted this planet forward by decades from where we would have been without it, perhaps even a century. We have massive peace keeping forces on ships that can refuel yearly instead of weekly and through these ships we can keep our forces on call at a moments notice to keep the peace, support our allies and save our very way of life. All the while spreading our unique way of life around the world. Maybe not our Democracy but definitely our desire for a better tomorrow. not to mention the fact that during the only two examples of our using them, we saved millions of lives in the process.

Tiered Taxation- WRONG! Why on earth would you use a tax system to punish those who have succeeded? It make no sense to me. I can kind of understand not asking the very poor to pay a large portion of their limited funds in taxes. If we are truly one people, equal in the eyes of the law and the Gods, why do we continue to make some pay a larger percentage than others in this country when we all use the same roads, the same water and breathe the same air. I also do not understand the whole tax the hell out of things that are legal just o try to raise money off of it while paying lip service to its bad influence and possible danger. Take cigarettes for instance, we tax them at a high rate to raise money for the children's health care and to offset the medical costs of these people. as a result many people quit smoking. Now we start to experience a shortage in the finds for the children and our government starts looking for the next thing to tax at a higher rate to make up for the shortfall of a program we didn't have to begin with...?

The last thing we do or have done wrong is the insistence in recent years that all of our woes can be solved by some mythical creature called government. A good analogy would be the recent call for a moderator on this site. In America we are free to be who we want to be. We can be racist pigs, we can be thoughtful apologists and we can be everyday people with our own concerns while not really engaging in the problems of others. There's nothing wrong with that. It's why we live in a free society. It may be offensive to some but we have a right to feel how we want to feel. Like here on this site, we can determine by our actions what is and is not acceptable. Simply do not respond to it, report it to the junk pile or trash bin and it will go away. And stop being so thin skinned about every thing. You have no constitutional right not to be offended. You do have a right to move along... move away... or respond in kind or with kind... It's your choice. Just like in today's society; government is not the answer, we are.

Now I know this might start a small debate on something, probably not on what I am hoping for, but something....

But what would I know; I'm just an Average American.