Archie Kobain

Welcome to my promised mini-series…
Sometimes, when I get on a rant, I start talking about all the things that are wrong with our country: corruption in politics, partisanship over citizenship, etc., etc.  And while it’s all true, sometimes we have to focus on bigger things because, at least for now, dysfunctional as we may be at times, we’re still the greatest country in the world …and that’s really why the corruption and other shortcomings piss me off so much.

Let’s face it.  Our country is big enough, in both economy and population, to be able to survive even the largest, even the deepest and darkest depths of government corruption, and I guess that should be something to be proud of?  It’s no wonder that we the primary target for so many others to hate and throw stones at.

The Butterfly Effect
These days, our entire existence is under attack from multiple angles. Some attacks are small, while others are quite large but they all need our attention.  Are we all familiar with the concept of the butterfly effect?  Chaos Theory tells us that small changes, like a butterfly flapping its wings in one part of the world, could be responsible for setting in motion the sequence of events that eventually leads to a hurricane forming in another part of the world. In other words, it’s all connected – so pay attention, even to the small things.  They are the ones that will most likely creep up, build momentum and get you, when you least expect it.

A very powerful and wealthy government is trying to displace The US Dollar as the world’s default currency, global hackers are trying to steal our corporate technologies and tap into our government offices, while religious nut bags are insulted by how we think, how we dress, our lack of deep religion and they believe that we should be either exterminated or, at least, terrorized into changing our ways.  So let’s start there…

War on Terrorism?
America is at war.  I would call it an undeclared war but I think we’ve all heard the words spewing from the various mouths of US Presidents, “the war on terrorism”.  So instead of calling it undeclared, I’m going to call it ill-declared.  The truth is that, we don’t know how to go to war, unless it’s against an established country with clear leadership.  We can fight the Germans, the Japanese, the North Koreans or the Vietnamese but we really don’t know how to fight hacking, drug trafficking, communism, terrorism or religious extremism.  Once we’re battling a concept or a movement that doesn’t stick within our man-made geographical borders, all we seem to know how to do is to try and defend ourselves.  This is a bad strategy. No one has ever won a game based purely on defense.

Thankfully, we now have ISIL to point to and say there is our enemy.  Unlike the Nazis and Hitler’s Army, however, you typically don’t see ISIL coming because they are already there. They just need to be activated and that’s why their “fighters” are spreading so quickly throughout so many countries, including ours.   We’ll talk more about this later.
But first, since I mentioned ISIL, let me answer a FAQ…

ISIS vs. ISIL
I’ve heard a few people say/ask, “I thought it was ISIS, why does Obama call them ISIL?”
I don’t don’t know what they call themselves but around here, they seem to be called ISIS. This stands for the Islamic State of Iraq & Syria.  ISIS is also a somewhat friendlier name because, although a name is just a name, it implies that the Islamic State that they are trying to create would be limited to the geographical areas now known as Iraq & Syria.

President Obama likes to call them ISIL.  ISIL stands for Islamic State of Iraq & the Levant. Personally, I think he calls it ISIL to downplay Syria’s critical involvement in this, since, in my opinion, he screwed up so badly in handling the situation is Syria that it is now best to try and pretend that Syria doesn’t have that much to do with this.

That said, the name ISIL, creates much farther reaching implications than ISIS.  Unlike Iraq and Syria, which is a large but still somewhat limited geography, the Levant is a much larger area. The Levant States, as they were originally referred to, back when the French controlled much of that area, included what is now Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and much of Turkey. It also included Palestine.

So for different reasons than Obama, I too like to call them ISIL.  For me it’s because I don’t think they are planning on limiting themselves to just talking over Iraq & Syria.  I don’t even think they would limit themselves to controlling the Levant…but hey, soon enough, we’ll talk about GIS, the Global Islamic State.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming and this week’s most important concept…

Rooting for The Home Team
Before we can talk about anything in great detail, we have to change our mindset.  We have to think differently.  And before we can do that, we have to understand a few basic concepts.  I already threw out the concept of The Butterfly Effect.  The next concept is one that I call, “Rooting for The Home Team”.  Everyone does it.  If you don’t root for the home team, it’s usually because you consider home to be somewhere else.  But see, you’re still rooting for your home team.

I guarantee it.  Pick anyone.  Go out of your way to find someone from Los Angeles who absolutely doesn’t like basketball, then take that person to a Lakers game.  I guarantee you that when it gets to be a close game, they will root for the home team.  It’s inevitable.

Part of what comes with rooting for the home team is choosing sides and competition – camaraderie with those on your side and disdain for those on the other side – not unlike war. Let’s remember that in World War II, we were fighting Germans.  A lot of people still feel uncomfortable around Germans but the real problem wasn’t Germans or Germany, it was the Nazi Party, who had temporarily taken control of Germany.  Most Germans weren’t Nazis.  In fact, Hitler had about 20% of Germany’s population enlisted in his military and most of them weren’t Nazis.  They just obeyed orders, in order to stay alive.

Side note:  There was an interesting study done a few years ago specifically about soldiers but it was later found to be true about populations, in general.  The finding was that about 5% of any given group of soldiers will do whatever they are commanded to do without regard to whether they believe it is right or wrong.  In fact, they give it little thought and carry out their orders without question.  Interestingly enough, it was a carefully selected, less than 5% of Hitler’s military that was directly responsible for attempting to exterminate the Jews.  There’s no point here – just food for thought.

Nevertheless, when the US is in a conflict, most Americans root for the home team.  We’ve seen soldiers doing bad things on WikiLeaks but we’re not that appalled because it was someone else dying – not Americans.  We were way more disturbed watching some Americans being decapitated by some METBs (Middle Eastern Terrorist Bastards).  But why is that?  Why is it more horrific to us when an American gets his head chopped off then when the American military helicopter launches an rocket propelled grenade at an Iraqi family?  It’s because at the end of the day, when it’s just us against them, we all root for the home team.

Side note: Some people argue that a beheading is calculated and designed to be horrific. Those people will argue that, “at least that Iraqi family was blown up quickly and didn’t have to kneel there waiting to be beheaded”.  I won’t argue that there are theatrics involved in a beheading, designed to make the masses fearful. Nevertheless, flip the coin and look at things differently. Let’s say that you saw an Iraqi being beheaded by an American vs. an American family (maybe someone you know) being blown up while they were home making dinner.  I’ll bet you you are still more appalled by the death of the Americans.  Why?  Because, like it or not, you associate more closely with the Americans.  You are, in essence, rooting for your home team. 

The home team, by the way, scales.  The home team could be one person.  In a typical divorce, the soon to be ex-husband and ex-wife will each be rooting for themselves, a home team of one.  If we were fighting another country, all Americans might be the home team. And if space aliens came to take over the Earth, all Earthlings might be on the same home team.

It’s important to keep this concept in mind because, everyone is part of some population. When someone asks someone else about themselves, the very first answer is usually the one that is either most important to them or they believe will give you the most insight into them.

When travelling in the United States and someone asks where you are from, you might answer with the name of your state.  Outside of the United States, you might say that you are from America.  Then try asking people, “so tell me about yourself?”

These are the answers I’ve heard…

I’m an engineer.
I’m a Christian.
I’m a mother of three.
I’m currently unemployed.
I’m waiting for a guy to buy me a drink.

In each of these cases, the answer reflected what was most important to them, at that time. You can bet the engineer loves his job.  You can bet the Christian was a highly religious person. The mother of three loves her family and the unemployed person was probably very stressed about being jobless.  We wont discuss “drink girl”.

Think about your typical answer.  What do you say when someone asks about you?

The answers shown here, by the way, are very typical American answers.  As you travel to other lands, you’ll find that religion rates much higher in other cultures.  Again, let’s bring up the Jews.  In my answers above, I said that the Christian was probably a highly religious person but when someone answer, “I am Jewish” – they may or may not be highly religious but it is who they are.  Most Jewish people are Jewish first.  Most American Christians are something else ahead of being a Christian.  For example: the engineer, the mother of three and the unemployed person could have all been Christians or maybe atheist. We don’t know. On the other hand, an unemployed, mother of three, Jewish engineer might still have just answered, “I am Jewish”.

My point here goes to understanding other cultures and their prioritization of religion.  Also, recognizing the camaraderie that exist between the member who identify themselves with being part of any particular group.  Americans tend to root for Americans.  Single moms root for other single moms.  Jews root for Jews and Muslims root for Muslims.  Remember, at the end of the day, everyone ends up rooting for the home team.  So when you’re dealing with people on a global scale, it’s important to understand what home team they are rooting for because if you’re not on that home team, when it’s game time, they’re not on your side and you’d better be prepared to defend your home team and possibly fight back.

That’s probably all I have for today.  I know, I know…  There should be a picture of a redhead here somewhere.  Maybe next week.  Speaking of next week, be sure to tune in then as the mini-series continues.  Be there or be square.

Peace, my brothers and sisters.

– Arch