Wendell Berry 2

". . . .
And now his mighty government
wants to help everybody
even if it has to kill them
to do it--like the fellow in the story
who helped his neighbor to Heaven:
'I heard the Lord calling him,
Judge, and I sent him on.'
According to the government
everybody is just waiting
to be given a chance
to be like us."
--Wendell Berry

What nation is next in line for us to move on? The line is long, the line of those who need someone to give them the freedom that comes with an imposed democracy. Maybe Myanmar (Burma)? They held a legitimate democratic election and chose a president: Aung San Suu Kyi, but a military junta has kept her under house arrest for most of the past sixteen years. It is one of the most oppressive governments in the world. Just the sort for us to go in and set things straight.

I started to write that we are good at that sort of thing, but reality immediately invaded my mind. We are not very good at that sort of thing. But we do like to try.