It went by faster than I could ever imagine. Christmas 2005 – gone in a blink. In fact, 2005 – gone in a blink. I was busy and accomplished a lot and I know the year was filled with events of great import, but I must admit, I wish there'd been more time to breathe, to contemplate, to think and yes, to smell the roses.
It's not getting any better either. Yes, we had phones and pagers, but now with cell phones, e-mail, the gamut of electronics and computers, everyone is wired 24x7.
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That's not a good thing. When it's possible to work anywhere and anytime, when it's possible to be reached anywhere and anytime, it means that we have no privacy and we have no private time – or private life, for that matter.
I try to resist. I don't like being at the beck and call of the world. I have always liked the idea of being master of my own fate – well, at least to the extent that's possible!
The world is moving fast and anyone who's the least interested in what's going on knows that we're suffering from information overload.
When I was a child, I always thought the thing I'd love best would be to be locked in a book and magazine store overnight so I could read everything.
I got my wish, in the form of a computer and the Internet. It's a window on the world with everything at my fingertips.
And my eyes glaze over. Sometimes, so does my brain, and I know I'm not alone. Politics, world events and news of every form are there. The downside is that sometimes it's just too much. Sometimes there's too much contradiction. Sometimes there's too much truth. Sometimes there are too many lies. And most times, it takes concentration and depth of knowledge to know the difference.
News isn't local anymore. Neither is politics. Because of the speed of communication, we know what's going on across the world in an instant. The result is that our worldview is more broad and realistic than ever. It isn't always a pretty picture.
Sept. 11 changed the world forever and the future that Americans long took for granted is no more. Al-Qaida determined to change our lives and succeeded. No, they did not defeat us then, although they continue with their plan. What they did accomplish was to change our lives for the foreseeable future.
Prior to 9-11, Americans felt safe. We looked at the violence and terrorist attacks in Israel, Europe, South America and Asia as "over there." It was never "here." We were safe. We were. Now we're not. Now we must take precautions.
Our travel procedures have changed; police work has changed; our schools have guards; our plans for the safety of our families and homes have changed; our "emergency plans" are more complicated than just fearing home fires.
We're concerned about nuclear weapons, again, as well as biological and chemical attacks. Those things weren't even in our vocabulary before. Now, we're all amateur experts.
It's easy for political partisans to rail about the war and what they think should/could/would have been done. It's too easy to say the war was and is wrong and should be ended. But they don't deal with the reason for it. Even if it ended tomorrow, it wouldn't eliminate the terrorists and their threats against the United States and the West, and the fact that they're dedicated to their cause – to destroy us, to convert us, to control us.
Like it or not, that's our future. It affects us all, Republicans and Democrats as well as all the political colorations in between. Our enemy, militant Islam, makes no distinctions. Unfortunately, too many Americans are so blinded by political partisanship that they put all of us in greater danger than we already are.
I have many favorite writers but one comes to mind because of his focus on what we face: Lee Harris and his book "Civilization and Its Enemies." If you read nothing else, read this. It clearly shows that when a people become fat and lazy, cocksure and arrogant – they risk losing everything. Harris shows how it has happened repeatedly in the past and how we're at the point of no return. Our future is at risk – we could lose it all.
I've always been intrigued by how countries fell and how civilizations disappeared. The pattern frightens me, because I see us at the precipice. We want everything – all the toys. Too many aren't willing to sacrifice, but are willing to ridicule those who do. That's dangerous and stupid because history shows that if people do not sacrifice to preserve their freedoms, they'll lose them
Too many Americans take our freedoms for granted. They don't appreciate what makes our system of government unique in the entire world and, in fact, in the history of the world. Too many Americans are quick to criticize, refusing to realize the alternatives include systems which would target them first.
Where are we at the end of '05 and what do we face in '06? More of the same and, I fear, things will get worse before they get better – the "better" may be a long time coming.
With things moving so quickly and events across the world affecting us directly at home, '06 presents us with a daunting challenge. Whether we're strong enough to handle it to protect our country for our children and grandchildren remains to be seen. Only we can save us. The question is: Are we smart enough to realize it in time?
Happy New Year!