reactive america

i have often said that america is a reactive society. this viewpoint was mostly from my education in the early child field and seeing more of a need for better pre-natal and parenting resources for lower income (and some higher income) families. i was always of the opinion that if we spent a fraction of what we do on imprisonment on proactive measures we would diminish over the long term needs for reactive things, ie. reactive law making, imprisonment, social programs..

with this i really liked a friends quote & closing paragraph by brian mclaren in talking about a commentary by james skillen on the war in iraq.

A friend of mine says that we're only as sick as our reactivity. If our reactivity to Sept. 11 played a part in getting us into this terrible situation, we will not be well served by reacting to the status quo with still more reactive behavior.