The Young Turks

We were not created to self-destruct. It's not a viable evolutionary solution. Yet, time after time, like an incurable cancer, we kill and pillage and destroy.

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Are we incapable of imagining a world at peace? We are a very cynical, mischievous species. Our intentions are not honest and we fear the actions of others. We horde and steal and manipulate.

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Yesterday, I took my daughter to the pet store. In this huge glass box was a mass of hermit crabs. Fascinating creatures. Did you know that hermit crabs are capable of envy and jealousy? No sooner do they get comfortable in their own shell, then they start lusting after the shell of their neighbor and before you know it, the one hermit crab is pinching and pulling on the other for it's home.

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Sometimes, even after a hermit crab is successful and captures his neighbor's shell he then grows homesick for the place he left behind. The new shell isn't as great as he imagined and he misses the nooks and crannies of his old home and the cycle starts all over again.

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Are we so different? Iraq does not belong to us. We have no claim on their oil, land, rivers, cities and people. There is no justice or glory when babies die. We have soiled ourselves in front of the world. We shamed our ancestors who valiantly sacrificed for our welfare. Worse, we lied to brave young men and women and convinced them to give their life in a strange land.

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All I could think about this Independence Day were those stupid crabs fighting over painted shells.

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Kmuzu