Why Should I Care?

Our troops are getting killed in Iraq. The war may have been illegal. We told the world there were weapons of mass destruction when there were none. Our government was slow in responding to Hurricane Katrina. They have been illegally spying on us for years without warrants to protect us against terrorists. The war on terror spins on. Iran is defiant about wanting nuclear power. Genocide rages in Africa. Millions of young girls are sold into sexual slavery each year. The drug trade continues and flourishes. Millions of people are in this country illegally and we don't know who or where they are. I could go on. But why bother? I have no reason to care.

I am not in the military any more. I know nobody that is. So, if they get killed, why should I care? Whether the war was legal or illegal, it doesn't matter to me. I didn't start it. I'm not fighting it. So, why should I care? Whether there were weapons of mass destruction or not is not important. If the rest of the world hates us for illegal aggression, why should I care? I don't know anyone in New Orleans, and I haven't visited there in years. If the city is destroyed by flooding and hundreds of thousands of people are homeless and displaced, why should I care? I'm not one of them. I haven't done anything wrong, so let the government spy on me all it wants. I have nothing to hide, so why should I care? If the government wants to hunt down terrorists, let them. I'm not involved. I don't know anyone who is. Why should I care? What Iran does with its nuclear power doesn't affect me, so why should I care? I don't know anybody in Darfur and will likely never know them, so if they get killed in a genocide, why should I care? I don't have a daughter and my niece is well protected and too young to be taken into sexual slavery, so why should I care that people are kidnapping other children? I don't use drugs and don't know anybody who does. So why should I care whether some people want to continue smuggling this stuff into my country? The illegal immigrants aren't competing for my job. They aren't taking food off my plate. So why should I care where they came from or how they got here? Why should I care about any of it? I have a job, food, shelter, and enough money to live off of for many days to come. I am blessed beyond measure. So what difference does any of this stuff make to me?

I remember growing up in a nation that stood for something - where we were taught ideals about peace, freedom, responsibility, knowledge, and respect. I remember thinking that this nation was the greatest nation in the world, not because of all the great blessings that we had and because we could now lord it over the rest of the world, but because when the chips were down, our nation was the first to respond with offers of help. I remember a nation that did the right thing not for political expedience but because it was the right thing to do. I remember a nation that feared no one and no thing - that stood defiantly in the way of nuclear annhilation and said, "Go ahead - make our day!" I remember a nation that would not bend, nor break, no matter what horrible thing happened to it.

Alas, I fear that that nation no longer exists. But why should I care? I've got mine, and that's all that matters.