Imposing kindness

America is a country that strives on equality. It has gone through trials and tribulations, to then rise from the ashes into the democratic country that it is today. A beautiful progression that did not happen overnight. What happens when a country like the U.S. imposes its government on a country like Iraq? Iraq is a country that is suffering from the same growing pains that America did prior to its colonization.  In The Kindness of Strangers, Robin Fox talks about the relationship between America and Iraq, and how sometimes well intentioned acts of kindness are not always well received. Sometimes the imposing of ones’ assistance or advice can be invasive.

Fox expresses the idea that a country cannot be pulled from the grasps of a corrupt government even with the insistent help of another nation. He writes, “The goals set, beyond the toppling of Saddam, were impossible, and the real mystery is why our leaders ever thought they could be achieved. The administration may, by increased force and bribery…patch up some kind of ‘order’ for a while. But it cannot recreate the whole civil infrastructure and the sea change of values that underpin a functioning liberal democracy” (21).

            America’s efforts to implement democracy in Iraq is like lecturing to a person who has a drinking problem, but he/she is at the place in their life where they want to continue to drink. You cannot instill the desire to change in the person, it must come from within themselves. Iraq is not ready for democracy is what Fox is saying. They have not endured the phases that must come before a society truly becomes democratic. America is trying to bypass this progression is as if man tried to create the grand canyon. It’s impossible. 

I am...

My name is James Cone. Sometimes I wonder if my name were something else, like Bob, if my life would be different. Would I have different friends, hobbies, and beliefs? What if my best friend Mikey had a bad childhood experience with someone named Bob, and the experience left him sub-consciously hating Bobs throughout his life, so we never became friends. Or if I applied for a job, and there was another Bob working there, and two Bobs just seemed to be one too many, and the other Bob refused to go by Bobby. I think about things like this.

            I am 23 years old and I’m a nursing major. I work full time as a clinical technician at a drug and alcohol treatment center. I enjoy my work because I feel like I’m doing my small part in helping society. I enjoy surfing, spending time with friends, and watching movies I have seen entirely too many times. I often think of myself as a unique individual, but then I realize that so is everyone else. I really think we are all just having the typical life experience that has been re-lived time and time again throughout the history of man. 

            I have an optimistic outlook on life; I prefer to see the good in all people, things, and situations. I genuinely believe that if you look hard enough, that you can find good in the grimmest of grim. I enjoy being around people. Talking to people for me is like asking for directions, I don’t want to do it, but when I do I am glad I did.

             This is an overview of my life. I could really spend an extensive amount of time telling you about my life as Bob, but its challenging to write about my real life. These are the surface things, the things that I would put on a dating site if I was part of one. The fact still remains, that I am James Cone.