Dr. J. would like to follow up on The Czar’s outstanding commentaries about Europe and Syria.

Regarding Europe, the ‘One World Government Utopians’ would be the first to tell you that we are destined to be a united world with a single government. For sources, they will site Gene Rodenberry, Aldous Huxley and Sir Thomas More. In other words, fiction writers. Even J. Michael Strazinsky, the creator or Babylon 5 was sufficiently pragmatic as to suggest that even in the future, humans build communities plural. While EarthGov was essentially a foreign policy arm, there were multiple nation states that ultimately included its former colonies on Mars, Proxima Centauri and B5 itself. Dr. J anticipates that the E.U. will wither on the vine, become castrated, however it won’t ever disappear (think the metric system in the US).

Go to a college cafeteria. Folks say hi to each other in line, or coming and going, but who do they sit with? Typically folks like themselves. Bender Dorm folk with Bender Dorm folk. Athletes with athletes, roommates with roommates, Pikes with Pikes, Kappas with Kappas, A Capella singers with A Capella singers, Asian-Americans with Asian-Americans. These aren’t hard and fast rules, but think back to your college days. Indeed back at Ivy University, Dr. J. decided to sit with two (Asian-American) South Jersey chums. While we were dining, a number of their Asian-American friends of his chums sat and joined us. One particularly obnoxious guy (who went to high school 5 miles from Dr. J.) said, “How do you like being the only white guy at the table?”

Dr. J. replied, “I hadn’t noticed until now, thanks for pointing it out. Would you like me to leave?”

He was silenced and Dr. J. went back to hanging out with other varsity letter winners moving forward.

Besides, smaller states are easier to manage than large nation states if one wants to maintain a certain degree of freedom for its citizenry.

Regarding Syria, Dr J. agrees that we need to stay out. Really, Dr. J. is fairly isolationist unless we have a clear goal, can utilize overwhelming firepower and it serves our nation’s interests. Liberating Kuwait was the right thing to do. Liberating Europe was the right thing to do. Laying the smackdown on the Taliban was the right thing to do. We probably should have wished Karzai good luck a while back, but still the initial foray. Iraq, we can quibble, but if only to get it off of our plate (no fly zones and such are a pain to maintain and cripple us with regard to being able to project power) it may or may not have been a good idea. Iraq, as it stands, is better off than the product we got in Afghanistan, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and even Turkey courtesy of the Arab Spring. We didn’t expect a proxy-war with Iran, but as you can see, the Middle-East is and always has been a hot mess. We care because of oil. If we were energy independent which should have been a goal for the last 30 years, we could say to the Middle East, “A pox on [all] your houses, just leave Israel the hell alone or deal with us.” If we weren’t debt laden, we wouldn’t have to worry about China as an economic power run with our dollars and slave labor, and could take the moral high ground. If our economy were vibrant and dynamic rather than stagnating under tightening regulations and taxes, private citizens and a responsible government would have more wealth with which to useful good for the poor of the world.

In other words, we have to clean up our house before we can have a private and government foreign policy with any sort of moral clarity and sense of purpose.

Back to your regularly scheduled pony break, the Lil Resident insisted:

Pinkie Pie – Gangnam Style

Dr. J.