Veteran's Day Hypocrisy

I'm not a vet, but if I was one, nothing would piss me off more than all the obligatory flag waiving rah rah gibberish of Veteran's Day. I do come from a family of vets. My Brother, Dad and Grandfather all served in the military. Unfortunately for me, (or fortunately?) they don't take handicapped people. My job often involves helping vets find work. Soon, that will be even a larger part of what I do. I see and talk to vets almost every day. No, I'm not saying I have a perfect understanding of being a vet, but I think I know more than a lot of people. So here's my problem. We, as a country, treat vets like any other commodity. We use them and throw them away. I'm more cynical than most. I see everything the US Government does as making more money for those who already have money. Iraq was never about WMD. Obviously, it was / is about oil. Operation Iraqi Liberation was the initial name given to the invasion of the invasion and take-over of Iraq; OIL. Some PR guy caught this and the name was changed. Meanwhile, in Afghanistan this guy was hanging out. Somehow, the war in Iraq was all about fighting for our freedom. The troops fight for our freedom! Freedom isn't free! Fight them over there or fight them here! The last slogan is my favorite. Somehow, I cannot picture 10-20k Jihad types mounting an invasion of the USA. Perhaps I just missed it. I never heard OBL say we hate you for your freedom. No, the real threat to our freedom is an uninformed citizenry that stopped asking hard questions. But I'm digressing.

We send good young people off to places like Iraq and Afghanistan (why are we still there this long after OBL's demise?) to kill and be killed. Even if you want to believe the official party line for going to such places, there is no denying how bad we treat our returning "heroes." I've yet to meet a vet that likes being called a hero, even the ones who are. Short of all the flag waving and related hoopla, we treat our returning vets shamefully. Check it out... 

More deaths by suicide than combat

Homeless Veterans

Vets Not Treated Properly with PTSD

And just consider

True Costs of War


So until things change a lot, I'll pass on the Veteran's Day chest thumping, meaningless slogans and bumper stickers that do NOTHING to address the challenges returning vets face.  

If you are serious about helping vets; hire one, call your senator to raise hell about the above mentioned problems and or simply be there for one. If you do none of the above get that damn sticker off your car.

Terror by self-inflicted means

America's Homegrown Terror

Can't you hear it already? Those who will be saying, "we never saw this coming." No, it's not a bunch of dudes in Afghanistan who will be our undoing. We have met the enemy and it is us. I think that's how it goes. 

Just a small article to brighten up your day! Well, it will inform you of avoidable disasters in the works. Cut the EPA. Cut OSHA. Cut it all. The free markets will sort it all out!   

Neoliberalism

Something we all need to be aware of. 

Neoliberalism

Ranchers and Militia Men

The case of The Rancher and the Federal Government in Nevada recently, sure brings the weirdos out in force. The linked article seems to be the most neutral I've read. People always want to oversimplify things, casting people as good guys and bad guys. The far righties cast the government as the bad guys and the rancher as the little good guy. I've not read a ton on this on-going conflict. But I've read enough to know it is far from something so simple. I'll let the link rehash a little of the history. I'm more interested in what happens when a large armed white mob decides to take on Uncle Sam's minions. Uncle Sam is not a nice guy, Ruby Ridge, Waco and so on and so on. Some people are foolish enough to believe this is some kind of "victory" for freedom. As best I can tell, the rancher, Cliven Bundy was breaking the law. Uncle Sam got all huffy and sent in the armed goons / agents. Mr. Bundy called in his buddies who in turn called in their buddies (all armed of course) and the stand off was on! Somebody in the Federal Government fortunately decided such a confrontation was not a good idea and backed off. I don't think Uncle Sam was worried all that much about a cattle dispute. Standing up to Uncle Sam is not in itself a bad thing. He's a bully and a thug, no doubt. I'm not so sure this is a good thing. It is not good. Here's why.

Number one, I stand for resistance against oppression via non-violence. Had cooler heads not won the day, how many dead people would there be now and for what? Sorry Militia guys, Uncle Sam still wins any direct confrontation hands down. What if it had gone differently? What if people showed up with no weapons? Uncle Sam would have still backed down and there would be much broader support for the rancher. Am I naive? Well, look at our history. Civil Rights were not gained by force via violence. Gay rights? No, they don't use guns either. Women's Rights? I don't think there were any gun carriers whining  about Mexicans. Let's just take a pass on the violence, shall we? 

Number two, violent change is too damn costly. 600,000 dead in the American Civil War to end slavery is a high price to pay. The French and Russian Revolutions brought about change but also filled a lot of graves along the way. I'd shutter to think what a violent revolution would really look like here in the USA. The Civil War of the 1800's would be a sunny day at the beach by comparison. We have much better guns, more armed people and air war. Anyone who advocates for such a thing is a god dammed lunatic. Somebody had to say it, so I said it. There it is. How can these brave freedom fighters be advocating anything else? This is just not the way to go for so many reasons. This is no way to resolve differences. 

Number three. Damn it! We are in 2014. Have we not learned anything? Uncle Sam at least was smart enough to back down from this. As far as the gun carriers, how many of them have ever seen real combat? Some sure. I bet there is a good percentage who have never shot at anything but paper or unarmed animals. I saw nothing to indicate they were at all organized. That's not going to end well either once the shit storm gets really going. We have a system in place. It is far from perfect. I'd still take it over armed mobs be they government goons or so called militia groups. I'm no fan of either side. Here are some things to ponder. 

1. I mentioned race on purpose. If the rancher were a black guy or a Mexican, how many of the militia guys would have shown up to defend them? If the rancher was a poor person? 

2. How can armed people facing down law enforcement be a positive thing? If it were a group of brown people or Muslims, what would the reaction had been?                

3. Do we want to live in a country that works this way? Mob rule? 

4. What could have Uncle Sam done differently? Macho-male bullshit too often goes hand in hand with badges. How did it come to this?  
      

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Back on!

Finally back on line. More posts soon!! 

Off line a few more days

Hi Readers!!

I'm currently off line at home. Can't write too much here at work. I hope to be back up and running by the weekend! Once I'm back on, I'll upload my book to Amazon.

Thanks!

-Paul