The Peoples' Focus

In class today, I tried to impress upon my AP students the importance of global interdependency. Their reaction, was reflective of the population at large. There is incredible difficulty connecting the importance of our trade relationships with China to our commitment to human rights. It is hard to explain how our commitment to fossil fuel drives our foreign policy while impacting our economy. Americans focus on pocket book issues. Guns vs. Butter. In the words of Jim Carville, "It's the economy stupid". Yes it is. The President doesn't want to be perceived right now as a man who cares more for Libyan Oil than he does American jobs. His enemies are piling this message on to the voters and as polls suggest, we are very weary of war and leary of the mission. And yet, I think the President has been crystal clear with Libya and hopefully he will do a good job tonight convincing others. The reality is that Americans are going back to work, the GDP is growing, there is stability in banking and some positive signs for manufacturing. Growth is slow and there remain economic issues unresolved, but if our focus is on the economy, we need to look around. Things are beginning to turn positive. Our focus may be selfish at times, after all we have bills to pay, but our greatness comes from our sense of right and wrong, our sense of humanity and our history of collaboration. There must be a balance between our place in the world, and our place at home. President Obama has a lot on his plate, but I think fair minded people will agree that his focus is the same as ours. The United States must be a partner in the future stability of the world for reasons essential to our economy and our morality. Where are you Americans for reason and truth?