Instant Gradification & War

It may be that the greatest fault in the USA and what is left of Western Civilization is the drive for each persons instant gratification of desires. There is an ever decreasing number of persons who are willing to take the “long view”, putting off pleasures until they can be maximized as the least risk to self and to the “common good” (The last a term which seems to have gone out of use and usage).

This unsettling aspect of our society first came to my attention as a common characteristic of the criminals and criminal thinkers I met during my 30-plus years of professional work in a State Department of Corrections. In fact, the desire for instant self-gratification was once almost a defining characteristic between “common” criminals and either law abiding citizens or more sophisticated criminals. HOWEVER, I began to notice the spread of this self-defeating attitude to others---Noting first that weakness in the American stockholder of corporations who became more-and-more unwilling to look beyond the last or current financial-quarter's earnings and consider the possibility of growing companies by short term losses in exchange for long term gains. This attitude has spread to the world of news reporting where “breaking news” is more important than gathering all available facts and looking for the deeper meaning of such. This is specially noticeable as to the reporting done on medicine and science where every new research report, even if it can not be determined to be “reliable (By some independent repetition of it) and valid (As having real meaning and application to the scientific problem or question addressed)”OR is considered “politically correct” or, to some politician, “politically useful pork”.

This growing need for instant or short-term gratification is of great importance as we consider the war-against-terrorism—Especially that part being waged in Iraq!

As an alternative view I offer Winston Churchill's “blood, toil, tears and sweat” plan for the defeat of Nazi terrorism and the long term and great sacrifices made by America's “greatest generation” against those Nazis, Imperial Japan and foolish Italy.

Had today's attitude, for short term satisfactions, been in place in the years 1939-1945 our world would be one of gas chambers, “comfort women” for imperial troops and the other horrors of that age. If that attitude had prevailed during the “Cold War” the USA would be, at best, an isolated island in a Marxist sea and at worst a land where the speaking of Russian or Chinese would be mandatory.

Today's Members of the Congress (Including at least one ex-Marine who has forgot why and how he fought) journalists and others, with a basically “common criminal mentality”, are all taking a short term view toward the war in Iraq. (My own, more radical, position is that they are taking a very, very, short term view as to a 1500-year old war with Islam OR, at the least, that large proportion of Muslims who strictly hold to the teaching of Mohammed that there is a perpetual state-of-war between Muslims and all others who have not “submitted” to Islam.)

Certainly we cannot win any short term war in Iraq OR a longer war against the more generalized terrorism of our age OR (Again, in my more radical position) any successes in the 1500-year long war with Imperial Islam by any hedonistic attitudes for immediate gratification-of-desires. To win we must be able (As rational, strategic and balanced thinking beings) to invest “blood, sweat, toil and tears” to preserve our “common good” (And must bring that term back into use and effect), personal security and national safety.