Mike Dedwylder is a junior majoring in architecture. He can be contacted at [email protected]. It seems that lately there has been a trend in bombarding the public with negativity. I’m not sure if this is simply an attempt to garner attention and therefore ratings, or if it’s faithful reporting.
As usual, there have been stories of war and ineffectual government, but more recently, the economy, the environment and our way of life have all been cast in a negative light. The most terrifying aspect of this is that most of the stories are true.
War sees no end
Recently, Gen. David Petraeus was questioned about the state of affairs in Iraq, most pressingly about the stabilization of the Iraqi government and the pauses made in troop withdrawals. Unfortunately, it seems as though little progress has been made in understanding or solving the problem on either side of the ocean. The hearings were used, shamelessly, as an opportunity for the upcoming political candidates to showcase their ability to be tough when the time came.
However, they weren’t able to tease out the one thing everyone was looking for, a success metric for the war in Iraq. While progress may have been made in understanding why the Iraqi government is developing so slowly, we still have no idea what constitutes success. As it grows increasingly clear that the violence won’t end anytime soon, people should start to question how long we can afford to act as police in a country disillusioned with a promise of freedom and safety still being chased, five years after we invaded Baghdad.
Recession looms
There is no doubt now that our country is on the verge of a recession, with all signs pointing to an imminent downward swing. In fact even Alan Greenspan has said there is more than a 50 percent chance of recession.
This is bad news not only for us, but the global market as well, and many countries like Italy are already suffering the effects of cutbacks from one of its most important consumer bases. While this is not the first recession the country has experienced, it comes in a time of war and questionable tax policies, which have already stretched the economy thin. With little proactive measures being taken to curb the recession at this point, stockbrokers around the world are surely stocking up on antacids and antidepressants.
EPA stalls
Finally, the current affairs of the environmental protection world deserve some amount of discussion, and as people are buying hybrids and asking their energy companies about green energy options, the Environmental Protection Agency and James Lovelock are marching to a decidedly different tune. Twelve months ago, the EPA stated that in 12 months, they would present a statement on the progress of green energy sources and a plan on reducing our dependence on oil. Instead of following through with this course of action, however, the EPA decided it would need more time and would leave the country’s energy concerns in limbo. Also, James Lovelock, the man behind the Gaia theory and one of the first people to speak out about global warming, has made some disturbing statements. Basically, he’s saying that everything we’re doing is too little, too late, and in a few decades, natural disasters caused by global warming will start rolling in.
All of this seems overwhelmingly depressing, and they shouldn’t control how life is lived. However, these topics do need to be discussed, as sweeping problems under the rug is half of what created the problems we now face.