FRIDAY NIGHT REFLECTION MADNESS

Apparently everyone is writing about self-interest and the Nationals game, so I guess I’ll just hop on the bandwagon. I think that people almost always act in their self-interest, and it is human nature to do so. That does not, by any means, mean that people are intentionally out to screw each other over. In fact, I think it generally works to the advantage of others. People in general take pleasure out of helping others. Donating time or money to charitable works makes people feel good, because they are helping others. I think this translates well into the world of international relations. It is often in the best interest of state to look after other states. Unstable states breed bad trading conditions and radical governments, which no one, or at least very few, stand to gain from. This ties back to our discussion a few weeks ago concerning what actually isn’t world politics. Depending on the circumstances, a seemingly small event such as the inability of a state to provide plumbing services can quickly spiral into an event with worldwide implications. In this case, it is certainly in the best interest of Israel to make sure that Palestinians receive basic social services.
As far as the baseball game goes, I think the most interesting aspect was the patriotism of the night. Even the setting was patriotic; we were in the Nationals’ stadium, in Washington, D.C. watching America’s pastime. Granted, we were watching two teams so bad they could barely beat each other, but it is still America’s pastime. Being there on veterans appreciation night was interesting, I had never heard a Musician First Class sing the national anthem (nor did I know there was such a rank). I think there was a good response from the crowd considering how small it was when the veterans were paraded onto the field. Everyone loves the troops. For or against the war, everyone loves the troops.