Having a war on war

To my utter horror, I find that I have a tendency of stating the obvious time and time again.

I’m the person who, when asked what I think something is, will read the printed words on the package aloud as if others hadn’t thought to do just that.

“Gee, thanks.”

But my flair for the obvious has made me wonder whether why seemingly fundamental things are not as evident as some of us consider them to be. Such is the notion that we live in a violent society.

We bemoan the advent of video games and movies that progress in their depictions of blood and gore with each passing year, and yet we use the words of battle in a celebratory way to deal with anything that causes us grief.

The War on Drugs, The War on Crime, The War on Terrorism, The War on Poverty: Seeing a trend yet?

It seems that we can only get a handle on our lives by beating the proverbial life out of our problems.

But when have we ever won, or for that matter gained ANY ground, in these battles against what ails society? It seems the only war we have any hope of winning is the war on literacy. Illiteracy, after all, seems to be advancing quite nicely.

Now the good president has declared a War on Avian Flu.

As soon as the words were spoken, I shuddered. If this is how we’re going to deal with a pandemic, I fear things do not bode well for the health of our beloved citizens. (Ok maybe the BELOVED will be okay, but the rest of us saps are going to be hurting.)

Perhaps they’re just trying to get their ducks in a row, but I wonder in this new war where will we deploy troops? Where are the embassies that have to be pulled? What types of ammunition will be dispensed and to whom?

I struggled to find the humor that must be hiding in their voices as I listen to talking heads say that the reason we don’t have vaccine manufacturers in this country is that the liability is too high. I translate their words to mean that, in all actuality, the profits are too low.

Does anyone really believe that we are a country of entrepreneurs who are afraid to take risks?

One need only look toward car manufacturers to see the method to the madness. They ratio cost averages — the cost of lawsuits versus the costs of a recall — to determine whether or not to let consumers know that a defective component in hundreds of thousands of vehicles needs to be replaced.

There’s a lot wrong with the world, and while I don’t presume to know the answers I’m certainly tired of the spin.

I’m leary of the swagger and the bravado, which makes it seem that we are being handed more public relations than public service.

I would like to think that the potential worldwide devastation of avian flu is never realized.

However, I think the country and its people deserve more than such a brash and flashy pseudo solution as “take personal responsibility.” This seems tantamount to doing nothing more than hoping the person with whom you’re shaking hands washed them first.

Perhaps it’s time we declared war on wars.

We don’t need another fear-based war we can’t win. We all know what “mission accomplished” has meant thus far, and it’s of no comfort.