Anyone that reads my blog knows that I am a staunch critic of the way this country treats our veterans…….we asked them to do their best and when they do we turn our backs on them the first chance we get……
Every candidate and every politician has nothing but support for the vets…..but most of it is hollow words with absolutely NOTHING of substance done on their behalf.
Then there is the “Support The Troops” movement….it raises lots of money and does little to nothing to assist the veterans in getting what the country owes them.
There is a pervasive idea in today’s American society that regardless of political philosophy or party affiliation, one must never criticize the members of the United States military. Conventional wisdom holds that we must appreciate the sacrifice soldiers have made to “fight for our freedom,” and even if one is against the war, they must always “support the troops.” This line of thinking is not coming solely from the pro-war crowd; many of those who consider themselves antiwar (or at least oppose a specific war or conflict) have the utmost regard for those who fight in them. But is this canonization of those who take up arms in the name of the United States government truly just? Or is it a falsehood based on propaganda, emotion, and a lack of critical thinking?
Source: No Thank You for Your Service: The Fallacy of Troop Worship – Antiwar.com Original by — Antiwar.com
Our veterans deserve so much more than this country is willing to give them……a cute little flag or a “special” sticker does NOTHING to repay them for their service.
We have a tendency to wrap our faux support for the troops in some obscure BS about patriotism…….
A U.S. ranger who served in Afghanistan and a Marine who was in Iraq put light on the dangerous myth that America has built around its “warriors.” Now, in acts of civil disobedience, they are determined to right the wrongs of war.
Source: Chris Hedges: The Lie of Patriotism – Chris Hedges – Truthdig
Patriotism is another one of those slogans that generates applause…..but very little else.
As a Viet vet I can tell you first hand just how unfeeling this country can be.
I see it all happening once again.
I think the phenomenon we are witnessing now is a direct result of two things; 1) the failure of the American public to maintain their democratic republic, and 2) overpopulation.
I believe it could be shown the last war in which a large percentage of our population was required to participate as warriors was the Civil War in the middle of the 19th century here in the US. Since that time, our military forces have become more and more removed from the concept of a militia made up of the citizenry, to its current state of complete removal from civilian regard and oversight. During the Civil War, so many American men were killed, and wounded, then went home to people who didn’t understand what they’d been through, for they did not fight themselves. But, that number wasn’t the major proportion of the population.
Now, though citizens still go to fight, they often become ‘de-citizened’ assuming the mantle of the professional warrior, who has loyalty only to his miliatary superiors and peers; the country, and the people become secondary in their point of view….
And, now, there are, literally, millions upon millions of people who NEVER have the courage, or initiative or motivation to participate, beyond lip service to the ideals they hear parroted on TV, and in the small amount of education they can handle with their weak, gullible minds….
Add together the degree of stupid now extant in society to the sheer weight of numbers, and you have a culture that is completely lost, and bears no resemblance at all to a functioning democracy… nor will it ever do so again, for it is too late. The world is NOT going to get any smarter; it’s a mathematical certainty it can only get worse.
gigoid, the dubious
This is why I have written numerous times that conscription should be re-started. Or maybe the idea in Starship Troopers……only after serving does one become a citizen….chuq
Heinlein had some interesting ideas on social construction, as seen in a number of his books. My only problem with the Starship Troopers scenario is its insistence that being violent is such an important part of our nature; I don’t think the universe out among the stars is going to be all that vicious toward us. I believe the sheer distances will make that unpractical, as well as rather ethically unsound… I believe we need to grow up some before we’ll be able to handle another planet’s culture without our own tendency to be paranoid and violent because of it getting in the way.
Let’s grow up instead, and give up the idea of countries, and governments, and religions, altogether. We’ll go a lot further, with a lot less trouble.
gigoid
The “Federation” example? Not a bad idea at all….chuq
Yes; at least those in charge are the ones with the courage of their convictions. My only worry about that is that many evil people have the same courage, but, with the wrong convictions… which may be why they are STILL at war…
gigoid