My Grandfather, George Rupp, is an amazing man. I always knew it growing up, but it wasn't until graduating from university that I understood just how important he is. I wrote to him this Memorial Day, and thanked him for protecting my right to live life MY way.

Just as any soldier or serviceperson makes that selfless contribution in protecting the American interest, my Grandfather has been critical in developing our nation's defenses. And while I am not a 'warmonger', I had to realize that he and other members of my family have been part of the American military-industrial complex. I must honor and respect the contributions of our military and intelligence corps, for without their sacrifice Americans would have much less opportunity.

However, the issue is complicated by all the international negativity of the American paridigm. As such I must attempt to perceive this reality through self-knowledge and global awareness.

We are widely viewed [and rightly so, perhaps] as being a greedy, corrupt, heretical people; meanwhile, the world consumes American pop culture and entertainment in huge amounts. People are wrapped up in cycles of hate and jealousy that are only reinforced by the weakness of Earth's established political and social systems.

How can humanity reconcile equality for all with the inherent flaws of both Imperialist Democracy and Marxist Communism? On one side is the extreme of property ownership, and on the other is the extreme of wealth redistribution. The problem is that personal freedom does not equal anarchy or mob rules, and the rich will never trust the majority to define what is an 'equitable distribution'.

Ultimately, therefore, society has advanced too far to reconfigure without first being destroyed. I believe this because the status quo is firmly established, and the collective social models have temporarily failed.

America is a social experiment, and it may not survive. If not, it is humanity which is to blame - because people have been destroying each other since the beginning of time. Competition is natural, and humans of today have evolved the survival game beyond 'the basics' to include the mental and emotive.

Human nature did not start with the Europeans, but it may very well end that way - especially if the Y2K media hype reaches its fullest fruition. I desperately hope that nuclear and/or chemical terrorism is not the wave of the future, and I fear that as a nation America may already have it coming.

What to do? As an individual I must strive to be as good a person as possible, and I must try to understand life regardless of my pole position. Out of 6 billion people I was born here, and if not for service people like my Grandfather I might never have had a chance at happiness. Thanks, regardless of how brief my moment may be.