NORAD Resurrected

Just who the heck are we supposed to be protecting ourselves from? I think that Canadians need to think about this question rationally given that our new government is about to recommit to a beefed up NORAD agreement. But rationality seems to have nothing to do with it. Once again people fail to think for themselves and let others do it for them. Weren't we born with our own minds? What are we so afraid of?

So who is it? China, Russia, Al Qaida, Iran, North Korea. This is a joke. None of those states would ever dream of attacking us. China, as I've previously mentioned, is our best friend. They provide us with all the plastic crap that we can't get enough of. Thank the Chinese for that talking doll your kids love. The Chinese certainly thank you for the $50 you spent on it. The Russians are making a mint out of our SUV addiction and associated terrible fuel efficiency. It's not only the tar sands and the Gulf that keeps all these millions of cars running. Iran and North Korea know that they would be smoking holes in the earth if they ever spat on American and to a lesser extent Canadian soil. Even "rogue states" have the ability to think rationally.

That Al Qaida could threaten the way of life of North Americans, as we are always told, is another joke. Do you think that Al Qaida wants to impose an Islamic state in Canada? If you do you're pretty thick. And even if they did crash a plane into another building (if you believe the official story) once every few years, how does that really affect all of us? We'll still be stuck in traffic the next day and still be saving for our imaginary retirements. For almost all of us, life goes on.

So right now there's really no need to spend billions to protect ourselves from the monsters in the closet. But you had better believe that the military is thinking ahead. Business thinks short-term, the military long-term. So what's on the horizon? Climate change. Peak oil. These two realities are proven and will have a dramatic impact on our lives, not to mention our retirement savings. The potential for violence is real unless we start building bridges with our enemies. But with NORAD we are clearly setting up a wall around our continent and declaring our intention to fight to the bitter end. Is that SUV worth it?

I keep seeing television ads from banks that tell me that "life is an investment with great returns". Death unfortunately seems to be a much better investment.