"Easy" Ain't Bad

Maniates could not be more right: there needs to be a stronger, more central leadership to persuade us Americans to change our ways. Without it, the people of this nation will not be inspired to act, and to act accordingly to what needs to be done. However, Maniates, even though he says doing the "simple things" is not all that bad, he did not emphasize that it is, in fact, good!

I remember reading the sections from McKibben's book Maybe One, and I can recall his point that, even though reducing the population is not enough, it gives us time. Sure, we would be delaying the inevitable, and clearly more would need to be done, but if we do not know what that is yet? Surely Revere did not gallop down those streets without sure knowledge that the British were coming, FDR would not tell people why we should oppose Fascism was bad until he had a clear agenda as to why, and certainly Martin Luther King, Jr. did not perform for those brilliant forms of prose until he was sure what he was going to say. I am under the impression that the United States is doing this now - they are not sure exactly what to do, but for the time being, they are prescribing the easy, almost "duh!" things. I reiterate - I agree with Maniates that there needs to be more, "easy" is definitely not enough. But if it is all that we have, that we know, and it could allow us more time to think, then is doing "the easy things" really that bad Should it be condemned so strongly?

Overall, the United States needs to clearly do more - and this is a fact that can not be debated against. But I have enough faith in this country and its past performances to be able to say strongly that I believe we have the will to act, and "the easy things" is only the tip of the iceberg. Whenever our government knows the game plan, they will relay it to us, and as the good nation we are that does well in a time of crisis, we will respond strongly and efficiently. Thus, the people will need to rely on the strong central government that understands that this is a test of our character, and will need to rule with dominion. The American people will respond when that time comes - until then, "the easy things" will have to suffice, for it the best (good!) option that will allow us to think.