Glory's Illusion

Alexandra

U.S. History

Mrs. S.

Oct. 23, 2007

The times of the past have always been riddled with tragedy, betrayal, almost unbelievable acts of hatred, bloodshed, and inhumane methods of deception and action. These things have defined who we were, and why we are who we are now. The rough of diamonds have been found in the colossal destruction – acts of selflessness, sacrifice, holding ideals above pain, loss, and personal death. We look back on these things with shock. Shock of what went wrong, how something came about, and then admiration for those that did right – those that through adversity brought about change, when nothing promised it.

As human beings, with a more complex emotional spectrum, there are more complex issues. The majority of such is gray – morally, ethically, and academically. Lines through discovery become even more dissolved. We are flawed, nearly unimaginably so. We are foolish also, and through this naïveté we lose sight of the reality in which we dwell, for the environment of which we were previously accustomed to.

Will my generation be able to look back on life and apply this understanding? That rocking events pushed the edges of history, claimed its losses, and we as a whole overcame it? Will I be able to say that I was there, that I watched the world fall into calamity, watched it change, was a part of this, and saw it revert back – just as previous generations have done so? Do any of these problems ever truly rest? The history changes the future. It never leaves us. It is never overcome. It erodes. An acid that never dilutes.

For us there has been no precedence for intelligence. There has been no bar, no standard, no model – nothing that can serve as comparison. What do we expect from ourselves? Different languages, warring religions and ideologies, claw for control and the ability to impress those opinions, to win majority with those singular goals. This whole marble is in turmoil. A mute little thing suspended in space, where all the microbes with their growing basis of education threaten and kill each other, destroy things consciously and unconsciously. For now, it seems, we are used to it. It is the essence of normalcy, since we have known of nothing else. Our very nature seems to reject any other system of thought, seems to impress violence. Controversy because of knowledge and individual personal belief will always exist. It does not diminish because even through these battling points of view, each opposition holds legitimate merit and cannot debunk the other indefinitely. For now.

And through all of this complexity, we have weaved our politics, our government, and our native and foreign policies. They were therein initially in theory to guide, not rule; to protect, physically, monetarily, and rightfully. We still believe this simple wholesome idea to remain intact by heart and that the events complicate the issue, hinder its simplicity. Our nature does not allow this. People covet power, they covet influence; they find opportunity for this. I am one who believes in democracy. I am also one that does not believe it exists past the illusion. Or that we know what to do with it. I am a person that is beginning to believe that not only do we make foolish decisions as a democracy, but now, that we have little interest in these affairs.