I really don’t understand.

I like to think that I’m a “citizen of the world.” To me, that means that I feel that I (and my country) should be a team player on Team Earth.

Team Earth is the team that works together for the benefit of our world. When we see a crisis looming — global warming comes to mind — we work together to try to prevent it. When we see drought in one part of the world causing mass starvation, we step in with funds and technology to help the victims. When we see genocide killing off huge ethic groups in a country or region, we take action against the murderers.

The players on Team Earth do what’s right for the world. They don’t do just what will benefit themselves, especially at the expense of others.

So I can’t understand it when I hear the comments of some Americans — especially those living the good life — when they talk about “bombing the hell” out of one country, stealing the oil of another country, and ignoring the serious problems of yet another country.

I can’t understand why people would rather set up oil rigs in a pristine wilderness to provide just 5% of our country’s current oil use in 2020 or beyond when they could be spending the same money developing alternative energy sources that don’t destroy the planet — or simply act responsibly to reduce their consumption of fossil fuels. (Do we really need to commute to work in vehicles like Hummers?”)

I can’t understand why people who have health plans (today) are so opposed to a universal health care system that would protect those who are less fortunate from financial ruin in the event of a catastrophic health problem.

I can’t understand why any American — other than a very wealthy one — would support a candidate who would give a taxpayer earning more than $2.9 million per year a $269,000 tax cut (on top of the tax cuts already handed out by G.W. Bush) while cutting the taxes of folks making less than $19K by less than $20 — all while the government is funding an expensive War in Iraq and bailing out financial institutions. (The numbers are summarized here, and here’s a video for those who struggle with tables of numbers.

I know I’m not the only player on Team Earth. But am I the only American player on the team?