Have you noticed how much political rhetoric is being put out on news and social media? Oh my gosh—everyone has an opinion! In fact, I would venture to say, though I haven’t conducted a survey—not even a scientific one—to verify my opinion that Americans are slightly opinionated. What do you think? Wait, no need to answer that. But, have you noticed how ill-informed and diabolical some of those opinions are? Especially those on “the other side”?
Amidst all the confusion and ill-informed arguments, it’s no wonder our country and world are in such a mess. Not only can our best, brightest, and strongest NOT agree on how to solve our problems, they can’t even present a united voice on the brink of international disaster.
My college-student son pointed this out recently, reminding me about the Sokovia Accords. I was impressed that he was not so ill-informed on current events as I had thought the youth of America to be. In fact, he knew the details quite accurately—far better than I did. He knew all about the issues—the right of individual conscience and liberty balanced against the need for international security and order. And I was so proud when he sided with the American envoy, who, simply walked away from the negotiations, refusing to sign. Almost all of the other signatories agreed to curb personal liberties for the sake of ensuring political stability.
“Now wait…,” you may be saying. “I’ve heard of the Sokovia Accords. What are they again?”
Well, I thought you’d never ask.
But before I answer the question, I want to bait you like all those advertorials on the internet where if you click to find the answer, you have to go through a thirty or sixty-minute presentation to get a myeh answer to the question that hooked you in the first place. (Okay, cat’s out of the bag—yes, I’ve clicked on enough of them to know they’re a black hole that sucks your internet time into infinity.) Was that a rabbit trail or what?
Anyway, back to the topic at hand: If you already know what the Sokovia Accords are, then you pass as a well-informed up-to-date citizen of the modern world. If you don’t know, I can only shake my head sorrowfully.
The Sokovia Accords were proposed in May 2016 because a group of vigilante Americans thought they could do whatever it took to take down the bad guys of the world. A battle occured in Sokovia. The city was pretty much destroyed in the process, and countless lives were lost. So, to prevent similar tragedies, the Sokovia Accords were drawn up. Surprisingly (or maybe not surprisingly), Hollywood stars, who better understand political issues than the rest of us, took a prominent role in bringing this agreement to the table. Unfortunately, even they were split. A showdown between America’s virtuous envoy, Chris Evans, supported by Anthony Mackie, Paul Rudd, and a couple others, and Robert Downey Jr.’s gang of superheroes was inevitable.
Yes, folks, you can learn all about it in Marvel’s documentary, Captain America: Civil War. Of course, nobody knows (except the screen writers, directors, and actors) how this superhero civil war will resolve itself in the next Avengers movie, but whatever the case, I admire Captain America for doing the right thing, even though his decision cost him personally. After all, who can fault Captain America (other than Tony Stark)?
After the enlightened conversation with my son, I didn’t bother to test him further on his knowledge of current affairs. He might have exposed my ignorance even further. Or, I could have exposed his lack of knowledge. Shoot, MSNBC found that Gary Johnson, 2016 US presidential candidate, didn’t even know what Aleppo was, and look how badly he lost the election. I figured that testing my son’s knowledge further presented two scary possibilities: One, my son could fail at his university studies, and two, I could fail in my tenuous role as wise, intelligent father to my son. In light of those unacceptable risks, I settled for being schooled in current affairs by my bright, intelligent son (chip off the old block, if I don’t say so myself).
Amidst all the confusion and ill-informed arguments, it’s no wonder our country and world are in such a mess. Not only can our best, brightest, and strongest NOT agree on how to solve our problems, they can’t even present a united voice on the brink of international disaster.
My college-student son pointed this out recently, reminding me about the Sokovia Accords. I was impressed that he was not so ill-informed on current events as I had thought the youth of America to be. In fact, he knew the details quite accurately—far better than I did. He knew all about the issues—the right of individual conscience and liberty balanced against the need for international security and order. And I was so proud when he sided with the American envoy, who, simply walked away from the negotiations, refusing to sign. Almost all of the other signatories agreed to curb personal liberties for the sake of ensuring political stability.
“Now wait…,” you may be saying. “I’ve heard of the Sokovia Accords. What are they again?”
Well, I thought you’d never ask.
But before I answer the question, I want to bait you like all those advertorials on the internet where if you click to find the answer, you have to go through a thirty or sixty-minute presentation to get a myeh answer to the question that hooked you in the first place. (Okay, cat’s out of the bag—yes, I’ve clicked on enough of them to know they’re a black hole that sucks your internet time into infinity.) Was that a rabbit trail or what?
Anyway, back to the topic at hand: If you already know what the Sokovia Accords are, then you pass as a well-informed up-to-date citizen of the modern world. If you don’t know, I can only shake my head sorrowfully.
The Sokovia Accords were proposed in May 2016 because a group of vigilante Americans thought they could do whatever it took to take down the bad guys of the world. A battle occured in Sokovia. The city was pretty much destroyed in the process, and countless lives were lost. So, to prevent similar tragedies, the Sokovia Accords were drawn up. Surprisingly (or maybe not surprisingly), Hollywood stars, who better understand political issues than the rest of us, took a prominent role in bringing this agreement to the table. Unfortunately, even they were split. A showdown between America’s virtuous envoy, Chris Evans, supported by Anthony Mackie, Paul Rudd, and a couple others, and Robert Downey Jr.’s gang of superheroes was inevitable.
Yes, folks, you can learn all about it in Marvel’s documentary, Captain America: Civil War. Of course, nobody knows (except the screen writers, directors, and actors) how this superhero civil war will resolve itself in the next Avengers movie, but whatever the case, I admire Captain America for doing the right thing, even though his decision cost him personally. After all, who can fault Captain America (other than Tony Stark)?
After the enlightened conversation with my son, I didn’t bother to test him further on his knowledge of current affairs. He might have exposed my ignorance even further. Or, I could have exposed his lack of knowledge. Shoot, MSNBC found that Gary Johnson, 2016 US presidential candidate, didn’t even know what Aleppo was, and look how badly he lost the election. I figured that testing my son’s knowledge further presented two scary possibilities: One, my son could fail at his university studies, and two, I could fail in my tenuous role as wise, intelligent father to my son. In light of those unacceptable risks, I settled for being schooled in current affairs by my bright, intelligent son (chip off the old block, if I don’t say so myself).
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