We live in a world of confounding contradictions.
We call ourselves a peace-loving people, yet we continue to engage in far-flung wars. Domestically, gangs, guns and drug dealing proliferate. This is not a recipe for peace by any measure.
Nearly half of us say we are morally against the death penalty. Yet a jury in Boston — a decidedly anti-capital punishment region of the country — sentenced to death the surviving Boston Marathon bomber, 21-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Another jury in Aurora, Colo., is currently considering the death penalty for an admitted killer who, in July 2012, shot to death a dozen movie-goers and wounded at least 70 others at a midnight showing of the Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises. This defendant also outfitted his apartment with an elaborate and deadly booby-trap, hoping to kill those who arrived to investigate.
We earnestly say we feel for families struggling to help a relative with mental illness, but society has done little to help establish institutions to treat these unfortunate people. We seem blind to the idea that if we help the most tortured souls among us, they can’t or won’t harm themselves or others.
We automatically expect that when we call 9-1-1, police will instantly and heroically come to our rescue. Yet many fail to understand that officers are constantly confronted with situations that require snap decisions, and the deadly, daily dangers they face can cause their very human instinct of survival to kick in — even when it’s not really a life-or-death situation.
We preach personal responsibility then think nothing of suing over an accident hoping someone or some entity with deep pockets will make us rich.
Many cry for “income equality” across the land. But stop and think about that. A nation where everyone makes the same money, regardless of work product, is socialism. Is that really what we want? Forced equality is not fair.
Many condemn Big Business and corporations as “evil” and want them abolished. Yet they have never run a business or provided job opportunities for their fellow Americans. They fail to realize where jobs that can lift people out of poverty come from. Conversely, corporate leaders who advertise their good deeds but pay no taxes are an abomination.
We claim we are for good government, yet continue to re-elect politicians who lack the integrity and foresight to do what’s right for the country. We know Washington is a mess, but our busy lives keep us from demanding ways to fix it. We repeatedly fall prey to huckster politicians who promise everything and only deliver to their own political party. Even worse, a majority of us don’t even bother to vote.
Some law-abiding Americans make pleas for amnesty for all those who have entered our country illegally. They extol the virtues and good intentions of the alien working class while ignoring the very real problems that come with opening our borders. Overtaxed hospitals, schools and welfare programs, for example. Giving away resources comes with a price.
Contradictions abound, yet few seem to notice. Seems we’ve just stopped thinking through today’s issues.
Who among us doesn’t say they want an exemplary, competitive, affordable education system for our youth? But can you honestly say we have one? No.
When will we stop saying we’re for something and then fail to act to make it happen? That’s more than a contradiction, I fear. It is self-destructive.
We claim to be an enlightened group of parents who protect our young like no generation before us, but check the growing number of missing, exploited and sexually abused children. We may brag we are “helicopter parents” who perpetually hover to swat away danger, but sadly, the statistics prove there aren’t enough good parents to go around.
We distract ourselves and argue about things that mean so little. Like whether the word “thug” is racist. Criminal thugs live in crime-ridden inner-city neighborhoods, and they commit multiple murders in Waco, Texas, over something as silly as a motorcycle gang rivalry. Thugs are white, black, Hispanic, Asian and lots of colors in between.
A wise man once told me that when confronted with a myriad of problems, there is really only one main problem.
So what’s this nation’s one problem? It is us.
We have failed to install the leadership this country deserves. It is way past time to change that. I wonder if we will see that change in our lifetimes.
— Diane Dimond is the author of Be Careful Who You Love: Inside the Michael Jackson Case. Contact her at diane@dianedimond.com, follow her on Twitter: @DiDimond, or click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are her own.