In August of last year, a massive power outage swept across the Northeast and millions were without electricity. Throughout the region, skyscrapers were rendered unusable (people could not get to the 64th floor easily or quickly by foot), thoroughfares impassable (no traffic lights meant much more traffic), and cities uninhabitable (without refrigeration and fresh water pumped in, people simply could not continue to reside in them indefinitely). In this moment, we were provided with a glimpse into the future; this is how a civilization in decay and disrepair (perhaps our own civilization, one day) might live.

While all of this was occurring, by sheer coincidence I found myself in Córdoba, Spain, a city that shows these same scars centuries of a civilization in decline. Though many history books might not mention it, Córdoba was the greatest cosmopolitan city in the world just over 1,000 years ago--the New York City of its times.

During the time of Islamic rule, as the seat of the Muawiya Caliphs, Córdoba was the largest city and embodied the most sophisticated culture and the most developed bureaucracy in Europe. [...] The 10th century Caliphate of Córdoba was the largest, culturally the most sophisticated polity in all Europe (link).

As I walked through the Mezquita--the Great Mosque--which was at the focal point of the immense Moorish Empire (a highly tolerant nation in which Muslims, Christians and Jews lived side by side in peace and prosperity), I realized that at the same time the denizens of New York and countless other cities and towns in the Northeast were gazing upon our great buildings which were then just as dead as the mosque I was in. With our failed system unable to provide the necessary power, our great buildings were about as useful as the Pyramids, the Parthenon, the Coliseum, or the Mezquita.

This was a wake up call for me. Getting a glimpse of what our country might be like a thousand years on as I stood in the greatest building in the capital of a once great nation like our own, I could not help but be aware of our mortality as a nation.

Too many Americans, believing that our country will last indefinitely--unlike any other previous powerful nation--believe that no matter what we do or no matter how poorly we do it, it will always work out in the end for us. Certain theoretical (or more precisely ideological) schools believe that we can continually use our strength to make the world a better place--for us at least. They will try to tell you that they no the way to make the world safer, and that following any other path will lead to great disaster and calamity. Inherent in this belief is the idea is that this approach--imposing our will on to all other countries--is necessary to making our nation immortal. This concept is flat out wrong.

I am neither pro-war nor anti-war; rather, I--like most Americans--find myself somewhere in the middle of the spectrum, feeling it was both important to rid the world of a tyrant who supported terrorism (even if it wasn't from Al Qaeda) but also not so important that it was worth straining our alliances and thus weakening our standing in the world. If one thing is clear, it is that we are weaker today than we have been since the fall of the Berlin Wall and perhaps even before that. We may be strong economically and militarily, but unless we wish to coerce all of our neighbors on this planet indefinitely, we cannot solely rely on these two areas forever. To survive, we must learn to cooperate with the rest of the world... it is that simple.

I, unlike some on the right, do not believe that electing a specific candidate this election is the key to our continuing viability. Nevertheless, I know that this is a crucial election in which tough choices need to be made, and I believe that these choices have never been more clear.

Our country, just like each and every one us, is mortal regardless of the outcome of this election. Some day our nation will not exist--just like the Moorish empire, the Romans, the Macedonians or any great power. I hope that day comes in many centuries and not in a few short years, but the fact remains that we will not last indefinitely. That having been said, the choices we make today will have many effects in the years to come and it is thus important to choose wisely.

As I'm sure you can tell by now I do not believe that fighting much the rest of the world, rhetorically or militarily, is the most effective way for us to thrive in the future. This is an opinion, and you have every right to disagree with me. However, if you believe that the ideology which states that imposing our will on other nations is the key to our immortality is fundamentally flawed, your choice in this election could not be any simpler. Not only do you have to vote (this goes with out saying), you must also give your time and/or money to ensure that the candidate whom you support is elected. I have made my decision already and hope that I am doing all that I can to see the best man and the best ideas in this election prevail because I believe that New York City does not have to be the same as Córdoba, Persepolis, Tenochtitlan, or any other shell of a great city any time soon.