October 23rd, 2009
What About The End?
I was watching The Daily Show on Comedy Central tonight, where Janet Napolitano was the guest. I’m guessing she was there to promote the book, I don’t remember the exact details, but John Stewart asked her a question about Department of Homeland Security. Napolitano is the Secretary of Homeland Security under Obama. Stewart asked her if she foresees a future where her department can actually carry out the kinds of conspiracies that they get accused of. However, I thought he asked her a different question, and I haven’t been able to get that question out of my head.
Do you foresee a time in our future where we DO NOT need the Department of Homeland Security. A point of time when terrorism isn’t going to be a threat anymore.. or will some form of conflict always be with us. That led me to ask the next question.. will there ever be a time in our future where we do not need the CIA? When we do not need a military.. when we do not really need United States..
The United States, like every other nation in this world, is a union among men. That means that just like men, our she is not eternal. She had a definitive beginning, over two centuries ago.. And you know what that means.. Anything with a beginning has an end. When will our country end? Every other empire in the world, no matter how large and influential, declined and in most cases ceased to exist. Is that a path that awaits us?
I asked my roommates what they thought the end of United States will be a result of. Sean said nuclear war, and Eric said it would be an economical collapse. But I can’t help but disagree with them. When I think about the end of US, I don’t see a negative ending. I think we will be the first empire in human history (We have so so much potential!) that can come to the end of the reign gracefully and positively for the rest of the world. Our decline can be a boon to humanity. We can be the second to last human empire – the next one can be the one that unites mankind world wide.
Star Trek definitively has a right idea.
