The early days. The first british settlers landed in North America at plymouth rock; they built a settlement not to different from that of communist china. They might not have said it, but the collective was correct, and the collective was god.
But for the early pilgrims, the defining force behind their settlement and courage--was fear. Stranded in a new land, the natives were sons of the devil. The pilgrims were upon a holy hill, set up for all the world to see, and their failure was eminent unless they relied upon god to defeat the devil and his minions.
Look at the American Revolution. The British were the enemy. Look at world war I & II, and you shall see that we as americans were terrified of the Nazis. The Red Scare, as well.
It seems america can not function without an enemy to fight, and someone to fear and hate. Our entire history, after all has been structured after fighting our enemies. But what of other countries? Is it normal to fear, to hate, in order to unify a nation?
More importantly, we are running out of people to fear. Cocooned as we are on our own continent, it is not easy for anyone to invade or attack us. And if anyone did, they would swiftly be destroyed. In truth, terrorism is blown out of proportion, for the chances of another 9/11, statistically, never had any merit in the first place. The chances of having two, are less than miniscule. We would do better to ignore any Al Qaida organization and focus on outreach programs, donating support, encouraging democracy.
But will Al Qaida only grow stronger? It is doubtful. The truth is, Al Qaida is exactly similar to the united states; it is an organization that needs to hate somone, anyone, in order to stay unified, and if an enemy is no longer in sight, Al Qaida will quickly fall apart.
The same thing will happen with the United States.
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