Post by nana on May 24, 2006 18:36:51 GMT -5
*gets up on her soap box yet again*
I'm glad there are a few cyber-places where I can really say what I think and if this one gets me censured or banned, so be it
No matter how they dress it up and wrap it in the flag of whatever country, the ultimate purpose of a military force is to kill other human beings and to get your own human beings to be able to kill other human beings you have to brainwash them into believing that they are somehow:
serving their country
when what they are doing is offering themselves up as canon fodder in exchange for a promised education IF they manage to live long enough or remain un-maimed enough for it to do them any good
sacrificing for their country
when what they really try to do is make some other schmuck in some other uniform sacrifice his life by killing him before they themselves can be killed
currently the only people actually choosing to sacrifice themselves for what they believe in are the suicide bombers and NO I don't condone that either
demonstrating their patriotism aka love of country when what they are really demonstrating is their willingness to be turned into someone who can be made to hate the people of some other designated country enough to kill them ... which 'other country' is determined by the politicians currently in power
they try to make 'giving one's life for one's country' into some noble, honourable, praiseworthy thing but very few of the people in one's own country's military actually willingly gave his or her life
- except when they act in a way that leads to their death in order to save the life of a 'comrade'
what happens usually is they had done to them what they were trying to do to the other guys, they got murdered - they did NOT willingly get themselves killed by the 'enemy' for some lofty purpose, they simply got killed by the guys on the other side who had bought the same hatriotic hype ... neither side 'gives' their lives, they are TAKEN by the current 'enemy of choice'.
There was a photo, in a newspaper, of a military funeral a few months ago, the widow and 3 year old son of a US Marine where beside the coffin, the 3 year old was wearing a MINIATURE US Marine uniform and saluting the coffin with mom and others looking on SO PROUD of their little soldier!
I felt sick.
Already being brainwashed for the next generation's enemy of choice? In my world, that looks like child abuse. That kid will be taught that it was noble and brave and heroic and all that other stuff so that by the time he's old enough to enlist, guess what *sigh*.
Yes there may have been wars that had to be fought because a real tyrant like Hitler et al were allowed to commit all sorts of atrocities and get so out of control the only way left to stop them was with war .. this current obscenity in Afghanistan and Iraq is NOTHING like what the British Commonwealth and eventually the USA did to stop the horrors in Nazi Germany and elsewhere. This time the US's and Britain's 'leadership' are acting more like Hitler.
When will we learn that someone dying in a war or invasion or occupation or uprising SERVES NO ONE. No one is 'defended' by another's death in some far-off country. My being shot or bombed or shrapnel-led to death doesn't serve any noble purpose, I'm just dead.
Dress it up in a flag and people will find all sorts of justifications for allowing ones self to be slaughtered or slaughtering some other poor schmuck who bought the same 'snake oil'.
The death of one diminishes us all.
*sobs and gets off her soap box*
I'm glad there are a few cyber-places where I can really say what I think and if this one gets me censured or banned, so be it
No matter how they dress it up and wrap it in the flag of whatever country, the ultimate purpose of a military force is to kill other human beings and to get your own human beings to be able to kill other human beings you have to brainwash them into believing that they are somehow:
serving their country
when what they are doing is offering themselves up as canon fodder in exchange for a promised education IF they manage to live long enough or remain un-maimed enough for it to do them any good
sacrificing for their country
when what they really try to do is make some other schmuck in some other uniform sacrifice his life by killing him before they themselves can be killed
currently the only people actually choosing to sacrifice themselves for what they believe in are the suicide bombers and NO I don't condone that either
demonstrating their patriotism aka love of country when what they are really demonstrating is their willingness to be turned into someone who can be made to hate the people of some other designated country enough to kill them ... which 'other country' is determined by the politicians currently in power
they try to make 'giving one's life for one's country' into some noble, honourable, praiseworthy thing but very few of the people in one's own country's military actually willingly gave his or her life
- except when they act in a way that leads to their death in order to save the life of a 'comrade'
what happens usually is they had done to them what they were trying to do to the other guys, they got murdered - they did NOT willingly get themselves killed by the 'enemy' for some lofty purpose, they simply got killed by the guys on the other side who had bought the same hatriotic hype ... neither side 'gives' their lives, they are TAKEN by the current 'enemy of choice'.
There was a photo, in a newspaper, of a military funeral a few months ago, the widow and 3 year old son of a US Marine where beside the coffin, the 3 year old was wearing a MINIATURE US Marine uniform and saluting the coffin with mom and others looking on SO PROUD of their little soldier!
I felt sick.
Already being brainwashed for the next generation's enemy of choice? In my world, that looks like child abuse. That kid will be taught that it was noble and brave and heroic and all that other stuff so that by the time he's old enough to enlist, guess what *sigh*.
Yes there may have been wars that had to be fought because a real tyrant like Hitler et al were allowed to commit all sorts of atrocities and get so out of control the only way left to stop them was with war .. this current obscenity in Afghanistan and Iraq is NOTHING like what the British Commonwealth and eventually the USA did to stop the horrors in Nazi Germany and elsewhere. This time the US's and Britain's 'leadership' are acting more like Hitler.
When will we learn that someone dying in a war or invasion or occupation or uprising SERVES NO ONE. No one is 'defended' by another's death in some far-off country. My being shot or bombed or shrapnel-led to death doesn't serve any noble purpose, I'm just dead.
Dress it up in a flag and people will find all sorts of justifications for allowing ones self to be slaughtered or slaughtering some other poor schmuck who bought the same 'snake oil'.
The death of one diminishes us all.
*sobs and gets off her soap box*