page 6 Editorial: By Justin Zickar Editor-in-Chief Welcome to a corrupted society. Well, at least from a moral stand point. Welcome to a place where man is so wrapped up in his idealistic feuds and political agendas, a belief in any values isn’t quite evident. Welcome to a century where children are advocates of the internet and television instead of learning the value of simple morals and standards in their lives. Does anybody remember September 11%? Remember that day when thousands of innocent Americans lost their lives? Six years from that day, what has become of us? We’ve invaded two countries, lost countless lives and killed as many, if not more, so how do we look upon ourselves now? Are we justified in what we’ve done? This is where our own moral ethics come into question. Maybe we’ve learned nothing from the violent acts that were brought upon us. In all that we’ve been through, the blood we’ve shed, the allies we’ ve lost, could we have bettered Afghanistan and Iraq in means other than answering violence with more violence? Granted, millions of Americans wanted revenge and answers for the lives lost, but if we would’ve flashed ahead 6 years, would we have taken the same actions? I think not. In a statement released in 2005 by Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, he quoted President Bush as saying, ‘I’m driven with a mission from God. ‘God would tell me: ‘George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan’.’ ‘And I did, and then God would tell me, ‘George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq...” And I did. ‘And now, again, I feel God’s words coming to me, ‘Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East.” And by God I’m gonna do it.”” Now seeing the wars we were so quick to begin were terrible mistakes and the lack of evidence justifying them. Has George W. Bush become so weak to use religion as an excuse for his problems? I mean honestly, what God would want nation’s fighting and killing each other to restore a common peace? President Bush has often been quoted as saying we are “liberating the people of Iraq” and that we are merely helping their country become one The Fourth Wall 2 been fighting a war on the other side of the globe then perhaps they - would’ve been back here among the first responders to help when disaster struck. But that’s beside the point; it still took our government and FEMA days to acknowledge the problems among its own. Politicians were too busy finding people and organizations to blame rather than coming up with solutions. American’s suffered and died within our own country while our own President sat too much on President Bush, the war in Iraq and even the mishandlings of our own government, when really, we need to point the finger right back at ourselves. Ruled by our possessions and slaves of a media driven world, we hold ourselves to no moral restraint. Children live as adults, growing up quicker than ever nowadays. Idolizing Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and Lindsay Lohan, gives teenage girls a wide range of options these days. again. Sure, I would love to believe that, but here’s the big catch: Nearly 5,000 dead soldiers and over $320 billion of taxpayer dollars lost in Iraq, all because of this miraculous message from God? Morally, when did it come down to killing people because we didn’t agree with them? "Even in our own country we turned our heads to those in need. Are we supposed to sit here and believe that the reason why our country wasn’t able to respond to the hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans was because we simply were caught off guard? Maybe if over 5,000 members of Louisiana National Guard hadn’t water, and food, were delayed and non apparent to those in need. Ill conceived evacuation plans and shelters left thousands without refuge and many out to die. As a country, how could we let this happen to our own? A government incompetent of handling a situation that encompasses part of its own country has no qualification to wage war on any other government than its own. With questions of racism often coming into play, and no evidence of such mishaps being definitive; we can only hope no such foul play truly was the underlying reasons of this autocracy. I guess I’m really emphasizing Drugs, alcohol, sex, even horrible music; they all are now forgivable mistakes, becoming the norm of America’s young misguided youth. I would like to point out as well; Hollywood really hasn’t become unseeingly worse. It’s just as simple as saying the world has advanced. With technology being so sophisticated, it’s no wonder every move of these celebrities are caught by the eye. Internet, cell phones and digital cameras have only made it easier for average Joes to candidly .catch these behaviors. But as Americans, why do we sit and obsess ourselves with these lavish lifestyles? How come we allow our youth to think that this is what they should be, when really, they shouldn’t. Either way you look at it, it isn’t healthy. I fear the day I become a parent in this lifetime. What am I to expect? A society that is morally decaying with war fledged hunger among politicians? This is no world I am proud to say I’m a part of. But wait, it’s not over yet. Today, have parent’s moral obligations changed? Yes, you can blame the media, the internet, and society itself, but all you’re doing is asserting the fault elsewhere. We’ve drawn ourselves closer to a world where parents just don’t want the obligation of handling their own children. Society has pushed us to believe that discipline and punishment aren’t the answers. Welcome to a Dr. Phil and Oprah crazed utopia. We feel the need to allow our children to express themselves, I mean come on, and if we tell them, “Go to your room” or “No more TV”, we might actually encourage them to hate us for the rest of their lives or even develop some sort of psychological disorder. " Morally, if we never teach our kids the lessons and differences are they supposed to grow as individuals? They simply can’t. Therefore, we must strive to change the simple animosities of our youth today. We need to educate and help them become the people our parents, our grandparents and even our great grandparents would be proud of. In this day and age, with so many of our interests abroad, the problem isn’t what we seek to achieve elsewhere, the problem is right in front of our own eyes, in our own country, in our own government, and in our own families. Godspeed America, Godspeed. i EE — — — cf a