I am not sure where to even start…
Posted : July 1, 2007 at 11:03 pm [America/Los_Angeles]
I like Michael Moore’s works. It really started off with “Roger & Me”, but it was really “Bowling for Columbine” that made me sit up and take notice of his works. “Fahrenheit 9/11″ was quite an eye-opener too. So when Sicko came out, it was just a matter of time before we saw it. Well, we finally found some time yesterday to see the movie. Let’s just say that we both went in with very high expectations and it did not disappoint even a tiny bit.
I am not sure where to start. From my vantage point (following American Politics closely for last 7 years), American politics today is all about the color “gray”. Forget black and white. Forget clarity. Forget the fact that our nation is more important than our party affiliation or religion or ideology. After spending close to twelve years in this country, I am beginning to see the things a bit more clearly. And one thing is clear - it seems impossible to find issues in this country today that Americans (Republicans and Democrats) generally tend to agree on. Or so it seems after watching the smart clowns on Cable channels or listening to the hearing impaired clowns on talk radio on a fairly regular basis. Bloggers are not any better.
So I started thinking on this 4th of July: If I had to pick my top five things that I feel needs to be addressed sooner rather than later in America, what would they be? Well, here’s what I came up with -
1. America’s Foreign Policy: How about less wars, more diplomacy, more sharing. And no, I don’t think wars are unavoidable or that brainwashed suicide bombers can necessarily be reasoned with. That being said, America’s war with the so-called Islamo-facists will not be fought and won on the streets of Baghdad or Tehran. No Muslim is born an Islamo-facist, just as no Christain (or should I say, Caucasian) is born a member of Klu-Klux-Klan. It’s not going to be easy, but if you truly want to fight this war on terror, stop dropping bombs and start using brains. We need to get to these young Muslims before the Al Qaeda brand of soldiers get to them. Is it going to be easy? No. That said, in my humble opinion, it is definitely the primary way we will ever contain this madness called “Islamo-facism”.
2. Immigration Laws more in line with the needs and challenges of 21st century: I can go on and on about this one (no surprise there), but how about this for a start - Whenever we talk about Immigration in this country, it invariably zeroes in on the illegal immigrants. And while that’s understandable, America suffers. Why? Cause it fails to do anything to improve the situation of those who have come to this country “legally”. It sure would be nice if we split the “Immigration Reform” debate into two - “Legal Immigration Reform” and “Illegal Immigration Reform”. I would argue that both systems are broken and need to be updated to meet the challenges and realities of 21st century. That being said, I truly believe that “Legal Immigration Reform” is not as contentious an issue as the “Illegal Immigration Reform” for two main reasons - i) It poses minimal Security Risks and certainly nothing that can’t be handled. Why? Cause all these “legal immigrants” are documented and have a proper documented history of their stay in this country and ii) It’s more about attracting the best minds of the world to come and work here and make America their home. As for the “Illegal Immigration Reform”, my stance on that is simple: If you don’t think someone is serious about fixing their financial situation unless they first agree to control their extravagant expenses, how can you be really serious about dealing with the millions of illegal immigrants in this country if you are not willing to first fix the broken apparatus (especially borders and employers who hire illegals) that perpetuates the problem to begin with. Yes, I favor what my friends on the right call “Amnesty”. But not before we have fixed the broken system that made this situation possible to begin with.
3. Global Warming: This ain’t rocket science.
4. Gun Control: Ugh.
5. Universal Health Care. If not for everyone, how about for every United States Citizen and Permanent Resident who is 18 years or less and 65 years or more.
Whatever you think about the current Health Care situation in this country, do me a favor. Go see Sicko and then let’s talk.
- Anand
Category: US |
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