N.O. Pundit

The American Ether

There is a type of person who takes and does not give back. Call him by analogy the unsubscribed PBS watcher. Enjoys the programming, tolerates (barely) the fund drives, takes but not does not give back. Right now, it seems that America (and the world, really) is chock full of these folks. Let's call these folks the Ungrateful.

To be in America (legally or illegally) is to walk in the American Ether. There is no other place on the planet which has this Ether. It is not because the US Government has patented or classified the formula. It is not because other countries are incapable of manufacturing their own (I will grant that several other countries have attained a partial level of success in mimicking the formula).

It is a true fact that fish do not have a word for water. So immersed they are in their medium of life that the term has fallen from their bubbly lexicon. Likewise, we Americans live in a medium supersaturated in safety, liberty, trust, and orderliness, and yet, can anyone remember the term for our water? For this spirit or substance I call the American Ether?

The Ungrateful deny the existence of the American Ether. Perhaps more aptly put, the Ungrateful have no sense whatsoever about the existence of the Ether. America is a rotten and evil country, hegemonic, and stupid, too.

The Ungrateful attend rallies where their speeches and assembly are protected by the very forces they hate. They are not jailed. They are not beaten. Their tongues are not cut out. Their hands are not cut off. They are not killed.

The Ungrateful despise capitalism, yet enjoy the fruits of capitalistic forces daily in their shopping at clean, well-lit, well-stocked supermarkets, automobile dealerships, and cybershops. They are forced to make horrible choices: BooBerry or Count Chocula? what color BMW? Goretex, or just ripstop nylon raingear? Shuffle or Nano?

The Ungrateful buy split-level ranch homes in safe suburbs and do not for one minute acknowledge just what a miracle this is. Their home will not be seized by the state. Their home will not be seized by thugs or guerillas. They live in a country where they can own a home 100% yet provide only 3% of the purchase price. The level of trust inherent in the American Ether for this transaction to take place is, frankly, miraculous. From the Ungrateful, nothing but an ungrateful yawn.

The Ungrateful despise evil corporations. Not a minute is wasted in reflection on the market forces which brought them their Razrs and Levis and Z-rated Michelins. However, many minutes of planning go into breaking store windows during anti-global rallies. In a delicious twist of irony, among the Ungrateful there are those who dip toes and hands into the stream of commercial activity by owning coffeeshops, internet dating boards, local zines. You'd think the Ungrateful entrepreneurs would have a sense of the American Ether and how precious it is before they hang their "Sorry, We're Closed" sign in the window and pick up a brick. You'd be wrong.

The Ungrateful love countries and leaders who would disappear them in a heartbeat were they a citizen of that country. Imagine if Cindy Sheehan was, as a Venezualan citizen, speaking out against Hugo Chavez in the same manner she speaks out against George Bush. The Ungrateful may not know what they have here, but they have an admirable level of certainty that they would not have it there.

The Ungrateful hate the American military. Baby killers. Village burners. Torturers. The Ungrateful can see nothing else. They do not see or acknowledge that the American military arrives first to every humanitarian tragedy on the globe, be it a tsunami, earthquake, hurricane, flood. They do not see that our Armed Forces take painstaking precautions in only targeting the enemy and sparing civilians. The Ungrateful never see the gratitude showered on our men and women in uniform by recently liberated peoples. Perhaps most important, the Ungrateful do not acknowledge that a strong military is always necessary, and that fighting wars is sometimes necessary.

Let's dream of the day when there are no bombs. Kumbayah.

If ever that day came to pass, the Ungrateful (along with the Grateful) would lose their split-level ranch homes, their Beemers, their IPods, their Cap'n Crunch, their Northface parkas. Everything as we know it would cease to be. And the reason is simple, really. The American Ether must be defended. Sometimes by rhetoric. Sometimes by diplomacy. Sometimes by deadly force. And always by grateful participation.

Today is the day we give back, however inadequately it may seem, to our American soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines. This is the day we honor those who have given the greatest gift, their lives, and give a humble thanks to those who stand to defend the American Ether.

We will never be rid of the Ungrateful. That is a fact. But please know that there are enough of us resubscribing for another year to keep this quality programming coming. I can't wait for my American Ether totebag.

Posted by nopundit at May 29, 2006 02:21 PM