Early 2000's and the Iraq War

      In the 2000's, the most influential presidents were Barrack Obama and George Bush, and they tackled with the same problem. They both were involved in the Iraq war. They know what it means to make mistakes in war and they know what it means to grasp victory. They've dealt with joyful weeping as well as mournful tears. A lot of pressure is put on them to choose wisely, and sometimes they really mess up. It's easy to accredit every failure and success of war to the presidents in charge at the time. At the same time, maybe we give them a little bit too much credit for the events that transpire.
      War is confusing. Good intentions can end up killing thousands. Ideology clashes, and each side see's the other as some sort of monster. Sometimes brother fights against father, and cousin fights against aunt. The real question going through everyone's mind, though, is; who's the good guy? In perfect honesty, neither side is ever going to be purely good. Both sides are putting a value to human life, and neither value can ever be perfect. Further, war is not made up of only a couple opponents; it's made up of thousands. Each side consists of individuals. Some of those individuals may fight righteously, sparing civilians, but others will torture and mock. In the Iraq war, we Americans were shocked when we discovered the misdeeds of some of our soldiers. Some were reported to have hooked Iraqis up to electrical units and tortured them. We had determined ourselves to be the heroes, but in reality, American forces weren't pure as salt.

      One little seen consequence of war is the drastic effect it has on it's veterans. Veterans often come home psychologically compromised and with few options. Especially after the Iraq War, such veterans weren't treated nearly as they should have been. Many soldiers reported they were denied help from the government in order to get new education for work. Vets also have reported long waits for medical attention after getting home, sometimes up to six months. Besides these problems, vets had a hard time reconnecting with others and with a normal lifestyle. Not all vets experienced these difficulties; in fact, the majority of them thrived after coming home. But what about the ones who got left behind?  It's probably a sign the government needs to be more careful, but it might also just mean that life isn't always fair. Either way, these veterans felt and probably still do feel the injustice.

      The thing about the Iraq war that made it different, was that it wasn't a war fought for personal gain. In fact, we were fighting with Iraq for the rights of the people of Iraq. Why? We wanted to defend and uphold justice, and we believed that the Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, was hugely trespassing those ethics. In addition, we were defending ourselves from possible terrorism by Saddam Hussein. We fought the war to defend, virtue and people, but ironically we began the war, being thus offenders. The Iraq war shows how dynamic war can be in this respect and how defense doesn't always have to be fought on one's own territory. It also shows how sometimes, defense and offense are the same thing.

      Just like neither side of a war is ever 100% good, neither side of a war ever 100% wins. In the Iraq war, Americans lost thousands of soldiers and around 2 trillion dollars. In Iraq, terrorism increased, thousands of lives were lost, and leadership became chaotic once Saddam Hussein was off his throne. His debunkment may have been the only semi-good thing they got out of the war besides unseeable domino effects. Even though war sometimes accomplishes it's goal, the consequences of death and debt sober the victory.
      War has an annoying tendency to seem necessary yet to never seem quite justifiable. Sometimes when a war fails, we blame it's failure on whoever is at the head of things, but in reality, failure is a combined effort. In addition neither side of a war is usually extremely good or extremely bad, which can make things confusing. Soldiers coming home from war experience difficulties readjusting. Wars can be fought with the intention of defending another but end up attacking that other. Lastly, no matter what, neither side of any war is completely victorious. When it comes down to it, war isn't avoidable, but it always causes pain; that's because it's one of the consequences of sin in the world.      
         

 

21st Century Children

No longer the 20th century

      Some people think of the 21st century as an era of rebellion and decay. Other's consider it to be a positive turning point in history. It's hard to say which one it really is, though. While the availability of information has expanded and become much easier to access through the internet, the youth of the early 21st century has reacted to the plethora of accesability to one another in not so comforting ways. Right now, it's only the beginning of this century. Who knows where we'll be by the end. The speed of our growth in technology and of our decay in social interaction leaves hardly any clue to what lies ahead. 

      What defines the children of the 2000's? And by "children of the 2000's", I don't just mean children born in the 2000's. Primarily, I'm talking about kids who grew up then. That includes me, born in 1998 and technically a millennialist. I remember my childhood as being filled with days spent in our little yard playing with my siblings. In the summer, we rollicked around on the hill in our backyard, pretending we were horses or playing hide-and-go-seek-tag. We also biked up and down the block and ruled a domain consisting of a small wooded area across the street. In winter, I remember gearing up to play in the snow (building snow forts, sledding, pretending to be trekking in snow-covered mountain tops) only to come back inside a half hour later shivering and begging for hot cocoa. These are the memories that stand out the most to me. The truth, however, is that my childhood wasn't just an old-fashioned storybook. 

   

      In my early childhood, I delighted in watching movies on our giant cube-shaped TV, and later on, I spent a pretty chunk of my time playing computer games and taking Photo Booth videos on our new computer. I retained creativity in the technological world, mostly taking videos of plays acted out by my toys or by my sister and myself, but my slow introduction to technology and the internet provided that I held no qualms in regard to it. Later on, at the beginning of the 2010's, I began to use the internet and social media in larger amounts, until my use of it became excessive. Looking back, it is obvious to me how at that point, as a young "tween" and teen, the effects of so much time plugged in were not pretty. That period in my life was also probably the one I am least proud of. It's hard to say whether my overuse of the internet was a cause or an effect of that - or both. Either way, the internet didn't help. But going back to my first question, what sets apart me or any other kid who grew up in the 2000's? The children of the 2000's were (and are) the first generation born into easily accessible technology. But besides that, we had our little quirks too.

My sister and I taking a video on our computer

      Growing up, I went through several phases and had several interests. First I was obsessed with tigers, then I wanted to be a tomboy, and finally, I became a teeny bopper. Through all these stages however, I never ceased to be touched by the pop culture at the time. Probably my first experience with any kind of "pop culture" was Barney. He was more like toddler culture, though. Still, every toddler I knew either adored or strongly disliked him. I was part of the booing crowd. Next, it was Miley Cyrus, or "Hannah Montana". We had strong opinions about her too. Again, I turned my nose down on her. Finally, Justin Bieber claimed the lime-light, but he too found my opposition. It was part of my nature, as a kid, to rebel against everything extremely popular. There were, of course, still things I liked that were considered popular at the time. I loved Tamagotchi's, and so did everybody else. They were one of my first experiences of controlling my own mini virtual world. I also liked Taylor Swift at one point, and I probably spent too much time watching her videos online. With regards to fashion, even though I couldn't wear it for lack of money, I too desired after whatever expensive name brand was popular. Although I would never have admitted it at the time, I wasn't as independent from my peers as I liked to think. 

      On the whole, I remember the 2000's better for my childhood memories and nostalgia than for any certain culture, but bit's of culture were still infused into those memories here and there. I remember the neighbor boy's pants always sagged revealing the tops of his boxers. The early 2000's were the height of that popularity. I also recall kids collecting charms for their croc shoes, teens dressing emo, and the popularity of flare jeans. The 2000's were sometimes tacky and plastic, but other times they were actually pretty charming. (or maybe that's just because it was my childhood..) I don't miss them, but I won't forget them either.      

The 1990's America

 

The 1990's, the millennial kids era. It was the kids then that make up today's youth. For that reason, much of our youth culture has some roots in the 90's. We also look back nostalgically on the 90's, even those of us (like me) who only experienced their reverberating effects in the early 2000's. They weren't that long ago, but already, they've taken on a tacky genre. The 90's might best be described as a stale bowl of popcorn leftover from last night's movie. Either that is a terrible comparison or a wonderful one, but it's what works in my head. 

The 1990's were the decade when Princess Diana died in a car accident. She was being chased by the paparazzi when it happened and her driver was trying to lose them. This resulted in a crash and her death. When the public found out, they were horrified and grieved. Much of the blame for her death went to the media and the royal family. Queen Elizabeth wanted little to nothing to do with the whole affair at first, but eventually she was forced to concede a public funeral for Diana and show the public in various ways that she cared. This was because the media and the public was beginning to wonder if there even should be a queen. The loss of Diana was felt everywhere. She had been very loved. The gap she left caused people sadness, but it also tested the monarchy, which be it good or bad, survived. Today, Diana's celebrity status still has an impact as we idolize the current royals. 

Another death marking the 1990's was the murder of Tupac in 1996. He was shot multiple times before being rushed to a hospital and dying from the resulting injuries. His death caused awareness of perhaps some bad things going on behind the rap scene. It also may have made rap more appealing to some and less appealing too others. it probably shifted the audience just slightly. 

Another large event of the 1990's was Y2K, the prediction of the future that scared more than half the nation. it was believed that in 2000, all computers and anything in connection with them would shut down. This would be a giant problem, the end of the world to some. Thankfully, it didn't happen. Since Y2K, however, other conspiracies have formed and Y2K is sometimes referenced.

The 1990's weren't that different than today, but they were definitely still what we would call old school. Bill Clinton, the president, had an affair and famously argued the definition of the word "it". More than a normal amount of people were suspicious of alien life and a decoy alien was created. Nirvana became a popular grunge band; many of their songs are still popular today. And so on, and so on. Yes, this was decade of the Furby and the Tomagatchi, of famous iceskating rivalries and great comedians. Do you remember it? If you do, do you miss it?