If anyone has ever seen South Park they would know that the half-hour cartoon on Comedy Central exhibits some of the most politically controversial issues of today compiled in one little show of Biblical greatness. I recently stumbled upon one particular episode (or series of episodes) called, “Imaginationland.” This particular show was about Kyle, Stan, Kenny, and Cartman’s magical adventure into, literally, human imagination (Imaginationland). Terrorists blow up Imaginationland and let all terrible human thoughts run wild. The Department of Defense gets word of this news and immediately wants to send a nuclear missile into the imaginary portal to rid, once and for all, Imaginationland due to the terror rampage that has set human imagination ablaze.

After laughing hysterically I realized that the episode(s) were directly proportional to present-day American foreign policy; somehow I’m able to contrast everything to present-day American foreign policy but run with me on this one. The parallel between the terrorist attacks in “Imaginationland” and those of September 11^th, 2001 are freakishly similar and has most likely been done deliberately. An expected blowback on American soil caused political panic and chaos, leading to over dramatization and irrational strategizing that actually existed in everyone’s head and had no adverse affect on reality.

In the months after 9/11, we threw troops into this “portal” otherwise known as the Middle East, suffered harsh casualties (as did the troops in the episode), and immediately developed this paranoid concept of the world, reverting back to Cold War nuclear politics. In fact, every action the United States has taken after 9/11 has been sheer paranoia. And just like the DoD’s response to Imaginationland, whatever we think of Islam and the Middle East today is all in our heads. Terror is a feeling, not a reality. Terrorism is an idea, not a national security threat. Terrorists are human beings, not soldiers of the Prophet Muhammad.

What does this have to do with property rights? Nothing. “Civil Rights” is an issue over half a century old and we clearly have more important things to worry about today. Like South Park. And our imaginations.