I'll Fight for You!

 

I’ll Fight For You

 

As the most recent political season fades into memory, the lingering races in Georgia, Minnesota and Alaska have contributed the excruciatingly slow death of the political acrimony that accompanies each election. When we combine this with the discussions of who will replace the people who were appointed to President-Elect Obama’s Cabinet, we find ourselves in what feels like a never ending political discussion.

 

In this perpetual political dispute, the words that have become disturbingly ubiquitous are, “I’ll fight for you!” Hillary Clinton, Barrack Obama, John McCain, Sara Palin, Mitt Romney all promised to fight for me. Okay, so perhaps they were not all pledging to fight for me in particular. With the wide range of issues and questions and the array of possible positions, they might have been pledging to fight for those whose views differ from my own. What is disturbing is that so many politicians view the tag of “A Fighter” as a good thing. If being "A Fighter" is such a wonderful thing in itself, then weren't Hitler, Stalin and Atilla the Hun all great guys? Doesn't that make scourges of freedom such as Osama Bin Laden great guys? Being one who is willing to fight is not in and of itself, a redeeming social value. Consider this, if you are in a hostage situation in a bank, will your first call be to someone who will come in and fight for you? A team of S.W.A.T. officers might be just what you need to get you out of there, but I venture to guess that you would prefer to have your departure from the bank arranged without any shots being fired.

 

It concerns me that our culture here in America is so rooted in the concept that fighting is good. I understand that sometimes when all other options are exhausted that a person or country must fight to protect it’s self or it’s interests. But we seem to have become a culture whose knee jerk response to any conundrum is … fight. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, we were prepared for war, but wise enough to negotiate. If we could make a time machine, and exchange the Kennedy presidency with that of George W. Bush, what do you suppose the outcome would have been? Is it a scenario that you even want to imagine? On a smaller, more personal level, what do we do when we are driving and someone cuts us off? What is gained by showing our rage with an expletive or a particular digit? But we choose to do so nonetheless. I can attest to the fact that offering a friendly wave and a smile has it’s benefits. You don’t allow a careless driver to ruin your good mood, you feel good about being in complete control of your emotions and you don’t get yourself embroiled on a confrontation with someone who has clearly demonstrated a lack of judgment.

 

But something in us doesn’t allow this triumph of reason over emotion. Whatever that something is, it runs through the veins of our entire society. From parents fighting at little league games, to drivers fighting and shooting on our roads … all the way up to a fight-first foreign policy that says, “You are with us or against us!” We glorify victory by brute strength. You can see it in our devotion to things like football and full contact fighting. Our movies seem to succeed best when they are peppered with violence. Surely the ability to compete has some value, but we seem to have completely disregarded the value that is inherent in ability to lose with grace and the ability to use diplomacy and co-operation.

 

As if this is not disturbing enough, there is no way to address this mentality when the majority of the population does not see it as a problem. I am immensely perplexed that a nation that calls itself a largely Christian nation seems wholly unfamiliar with the words of Matthew 26:52

Reviews

[BrightEyes]

I sit down to write this review with so many thoughts on this piece. My first thought was to defend my love of football lol I do love a strong defense in the game, making me wonder if I was one of whom you speak of here. yet I am not looking for anyone to get hurt, and never advocate those cheap shots that can not only end a career but have life altering effects. I felt compelled to say a relish a good argument, yet again, upon thinking it over, that is not exactly true. I like a lively discussion, the way it sparks my mind, and sends those gears turning. I do believe there are those times you need to fight. not only as a country , but on an individual basis. sometimes it is for principle, sometimes it is in defense of a loved one or a friend. in the bigger picture, I am all for diplomacy first. yet I do not think diplomacy means sacrificing your security, and that sometimes fighting can't be avoided that way. you must have a certain reason from both sides for diplomacy to work. it is not about one side doing all the conceding. I mention that because I sometimes think that is what is expected of our leaders. that we as a country give and give and the other side, continues in whatever caused the problem in the first place. that is not diplomacy, that is blackmail. that does not make me an advocate of war, for I do understand that there is no avoiding that tragedy war brings. both on a national scale, and even more heartwrenching those personal ones , for every soldier that is injured, and every soldier that falls in defense of his country and its principles. I apologize for the novel for a review, as I said, this piece did make me think. Never a bad thing at all :)

[Wildfleour]

Well, I was born, and raised, in a very reformed Jewish family, but have since found a sense of spirituality that is not limited to one faith, so to speak. There are good lessons to be gleamed from many sources.

I think that violence is not a trademark solely stamped on America. Perhaps it goes back to the time when we were cavemen and women. Perhaps it's part of our genetic code. But it is also within our humanity to make the choice. Life offers the balance, which in this case is compassion. I don't know why more people don't make that choice.

[Rain]

First off, John Kennedy could "never" be a President, not with the "up close and personal" news people we have today. His many liasons would make him impeachable. I see your point as far as fighting goes, but you confuse fighting because your gut reaction is to attack, and fighting to stop genocide, and many other justifable situations. At Columbine, because we didn't fight soon enough, we allowed dozens of killings. We stood outside an assessed the situation, while we could hear shots and screams from inside. If you cut me off in traffic, my first reaction is not to fight. I catch you in my hallway at 3am walking towards my daughters bedroom...fighting isn't close to describing my reaction. We do tend to automatically want to fight if we feel dissed, but there's a difference between that gut, primative reaction, and stopping a Hitler. Many times our enemy hopes we try reason, and negotiations. They want the intellectual approach...the moral hesitation. I find it easy to totally agree with your piece, because it has so much truth. I also can see it's flaws. In Darfur, we have reasoned, sanctioned, tried every non-violent way to stop the total extermination of non-Arab blacks...to no avail. When you fight for a human moral issue, and not just a
trivial personal issue...fighting is not only just, but our moral obligation to our fellow human beings. Great thought provoking piece. Rain..

[Babbette Francis]

I must agree with you that fighting seems to be the answer to just about everything.

I for one, I'm totally against violence, but I would FIGHT to put an end to it. To fight for my country, my freedom, my children and their freedom is very important to me, I would fight and fight to death for these things, but to trust that someone in office could feel the way I do is something I've never been able to do, mainly because they're not in my shoes, they've never seen my troubles. Them? Fighting for me? Not a chance! But then again, I don't trust words, I trust actions, and even then I disbelieve what I've just witnessed. Fighting for what I believe in, is something I will always do. Fighting because I'm in a bad mood, I'll refrain from. A fight can be a good thing. Its a powerful tool~ if used correctly.

Oh and by the way, I think road rage is childish...
until someone dents my new Lincoln. ; )

[marjorie noble]

I understand the point you make, however the glorification of conflict is hardwired into our dna. Conflict is the essence of a good story and most of us view our lives as a narrative. Perhaps there are societies that exalt reason and diplomacy, however what keeps us riveted is who's going to prevail. Hopefully, our species will evolve, but the war between good and evil--good being defined as "us" is something that will play out again and again until we change what makes a good story.

[Kristina Moulaison]

I have shared very similar thoughts. We do glorify violence. I think we are wired for survival and when we do make the choice to rise above we do so against our coding. It's the same thing that makes us racist and exclusionary. We CAN reason however and so we have the ability to understand our baser instincts and act enlightened. We can forgive each other for being reactionary, fearful and self preserving however because we have all had an abundance of our own unenlightened moments. Sometimes it seems as though we are getting better as a whole and then it seems we are just becoming better at rationalizing our prejudices. Religon should help us to rise above as it calls us to be more other oriented, but all to often it becomes another rational for an, us and them mentality. It is an inner struggle of my own that I watch with fascination. I am a theoretical pacifist, thoroughly peace loving and woodstocky and yet I lack the faith in the human race to really be dogmatic about it. I want to be all Jesus, Gandi and Dr. King but it seems so pragmatic and natural to defend. Where would we be if we didn't? You have to either trust everyone else implicitely, which is clearly folly or not care that they will take advantage and pillage and rape you. I am clearly more selfish than saintly. I sense the same thing in you. A pessimistic hope, a wish that things should be better and could be, if people weren't all such a wreck. I think all we can do is forgive each other for being human and try to be better ourselves. I think you desire moderation and wisdom. Ratical anything is perhaps too far, in whatever direction you're traveling. Whenever I talk to you I know I am just preaching to the choir, so I'll just leave it at that. This was a good essay and gave voice to some of my own thoughts... and then I decided to babble on about them for a while. Good fun!