After discussions on some other threads, I thought some more about what I saw as differences between the life of an Iraqi in Baghdad and what living here in America is like now. Having seen the other side, not just in Iraq, but even in some of our own cities, I am reminded yet again just how thin the veil between our perceived comfort and security vs. the big ugly reality of how this world really functions. Every so often we get shocked by some big criminal tragedy such as Virginia Tech; our media playing up the spectacle as though it was some strange unexplainable phenomena that one or a few could do such horrific crime against the innocent. In fact, it happens every day, in places that have a generation or more of history of such violent, destructive activity, here at home as well as abroad.

Movies like "The Brave One", due out mid September, bring up an interesting notion. What happens to the average person when their veil of comfort and security gets pierced? "The Seige" shows us what happens when it is on a widespread level, but what about for the individual? This movie reminds me a lot of Bronson's "Death Wish", with much the same conclusion I suppose, only it's a woman instead of a man, which probably increases the dramatic effect.

The point is, most of us live our lives without really experiencing direct violent confrontations like this, and so we remain unaware, either ignorantly or willfully, that our next step could lead us into a nightmare from which we will fight the rest of our lives.

Maybe we could take a lesson or two from Spartan history. How would our perception of reality change if each day we had to face death, and find a way to stay alive, one more day? What sort of country would we have then? I suspect if we continue the way we are, we just might get the chance to find out what such a life is like. I am also sure there are more than a few of us who already know.

How would our world change if other countries believed we were the first people to turn to for help, and the last ones they would ever want to make made at them? It seems most of them now just expect us to give them our boodle, then spit in our face and call us pigs. How did that ever happen?