Film footage of Hiroshima after the bomb gets released.
My morning reading on Veteran’s Day included more than a few comments on facebook about the bravery of our troops & how they are preserving our freedoms, & oh, thank you, thank you, you wonderful men in uniform. Warm, fuzzy declarations of agape love stirred haphazardly together with hero worship do feel delightful. Such syrupy sentiments sound wonderful & their formulaic style makes them easy & fast to dash off. But I would suggest they display a distinct lack of critical thinking.
I’m sorry to tell you this Virginia but your government will lie to you. Don’t give out your trust with the indiscriminate enthusiasm of a 10-month-old Labrador retriever. War is utterly stupid. Humans make such a big thing of their fat brains; they are the only species with writing, the only ones with consciousness. And what do we do with it? Make weapons. Wow. I am convinced that if some alien race came to visit earth, they’d look around & say, “Good grief Zontor! Look at these strange hairless creatures. They are the worst virus we’ve ever seen! They kill each other, then go home & try to breed more! And they’ve nearly destroyed the planet. This is the most horrific genetic abnormality we’ve seen since Vagbar 12. Good thing we got here in time to eradicate them so the peaceful, non-humanoid beings can continue on. Perhaps, one day, conscious life will evolve here.”
After the bombs were dropped in Japan in WWII, films were made & pictures were taken. And then our caring govt did what it so often does with information – it hid it away for decades. It’s fine for comic books to have brave soldiers displaying a restrained, manly satisfaction after ackack-ing another nest of nips, but letting adult Americans see families, kids, old people, dying of radiation, showing them the utter destruction – can’t have that! People might actually start to protest war.You can see some of these films at Greg Mitchell’s blog.
You should know what you are so thankful for. You should see what war does. And you should put some hard, hard thinking into why you think this is worthwhile, & also you should ask the question, what freedoms is it that our wars are protecting? Is cheap crap from China really worth it? How about being limited to 3 oz of fluid when you go thru the airport? Do you enjoy it when your kid’s school grovels for money every week in the newsletter, while the Iraq war costs billions a month? Did you know that our govt won’t buy the best armor for soldiers over there? They made a deal with a company that makes low quality armor. And if a family saves up & buys the best armor & send it to their brother/son, & the guy gets injured, the army won’t pay benefits because he’s not wearing the govt issued armor. Even tho that’s what people get killed in. Does this make sense? “Freedom” isn’t the right word. We pay for it. In compromised schools, in deals with automakers & oil companies. CEOs of drug companies live in mansions that we pay for.
Be a critical consumer. In all things. Do you need it. Is it worth it. And what is the truth.