Thoughts on our world

Seeing the opening of the Olympic Games last evening, from Beijing, made me think how clever mankind can be, both collectively and individually. We all get together and create and see these wonderful spectacles of sight and sound and cooperation. And then we go back to our own homes and countries and all the intelligence and possibility seems to go out the door, so to speak.

We get back on our own home turfs and start thinking that "those people" out there, whoever we fear, are "out to get us" and that we must protect ourselves from them, whether they're Russians and Soviets or Vietnamese or Koreans or Blacks or Chinese or Communists or gays or whoever just isn't like us.

We let our fears and even ignorance of our fellow man and the world take over.

Instead of working together for all of our betterment, we feel and think we have to work to keep "what is ours" and/or to make sure that, "in the future" we have enough.

And it's true for the stereotypical "hillbilly" from Appalachia from a century ago, right down to some people who are supposed to be leading us in and from Washington, today.

I think it's this kind of thinking that Vice President Dick Cheney, his ilk and those of this administration seem so concerned about. It's why we attacked Iraq, it seems. After all, we must have all that oil, mustn't we?

You'd think that, after all the centuries of struggle, we would all, collectively, come together and work together to solve the issues of disease, hunger, pollution, even war--all our problems.

We could do it.