Hanson points out our problem

The media seems saturated with news of how Islamic extremists are killing people and polarizing people along religious beliefs, but rarely do I see a well thought out story about the long term consequences of our actions.

The OpinionJournal's article by Victor Hanson is a well written look into how the extremists are causing us to lose sight of our core beliefs. His points about how we have stopped supporting people who push the edge of free speech opened my eyes to the importance of accepting, and defending, the most radical views among us.

Hanson touches on the societal class issue that has been discussed recently and points out the irony in our contempt for people below us in society.

We especially ignore among us those who work each day to keep nature and the darker angels of our own nature at bay. This new obtuseness revolves around a certain mocking by elites of why we have what we have. Instead of appreciating that millions get up at 5 a.m., work at rote jobs, and live proverbial lives of quiet desperation, we tend to laugh at the schlock of Wal-Mart, not admire its amazing ability to bring the veneer of real material prosperity to the poor.

We can praise the architect for our necessary bridge, but demonize the franchise that sold fast and safe food to the harried workers who built it. We hear about a necessary hearing aid, but despise the art of the glossy advertisement that gives the information to purchase it. And we think the soldier funny in his desert camouflage and Kevlar, a loser who drew poorly in the American lottery and so ended up in Iraq--our most privileged never acknowledging that such men with guns are the only bulwark between us and the present day forces of the Dark Ages with their Kalashnikovs and suicide belts.

Though Hanson doesn't spell it out, he is suggesting that the best way to preserve our way of life is for the most fortunate among us to fight for the freedoms of the whole country. Physical fighting isn't necessary when what needs to be defended is our right to say and think what we want. It is possible for everybody to see the difference between good and evil and to support the good while naming and not accepting the evil.