The Purpose of Memorial Day
Supposedly the purpose of Memorial Day is to remember and honor those who died while fighting in our nation's wars.
I think it's pretty obvious that we have failed, and are failing, in both cases.
Let's start with remembering.
26% of Americans don't know who we fought in our Revolution.
More than half of Americans are unaware that we are bombing Afghanistan, eventhough we've been doing so for 15 years. The vast majority don't know that we are bombing Somalia, Pakistan, and Yemen.
Americans are famously ignorant of the rest of the world, so why shouldn't that also apply to our foreign wars?
Simply, most Americans don't remember the wars we fought, aren't aware of the ones we are fighting, nor do we care to educate ourselves, and that clearly shows a lack of respect for those who gave their lives.
So how do we honor those we never respected?
Well, we fly lots of flags. We wear red, white, and blue colored clothing. We talk about patriotism and sacrifice, while pretending we know something about the details.
In other words, empty virtue signaling.
It's no different from liberals pretending to care about refugees, while supporting the wars that caused them to be refugees, except this is conservative virtue signaling. It's just like when Republicans say they support the troops while wanting to gut the VA.
About 20 veterans will commit suicide today.
It's all transparently phony.
Let's consider honoring those who sacrificed so much by not making more dead soldiers.
What is so unusual today is the indifference to the state of war.
Through 99% of human history, losing a war meant the losing generals would also have their heads separated from their bodies, while kings would lose land, fortunes, and sometimes their lives. Wars had consequences.
Everyone from the peasant to the royal court was aware of how the war was going.
Not anymore.
Today only 15% think we are winning the GWOT, and no one cares enough to demand accountability.
Fifteen years after invading Afghanistan we are doing another hopeless troop surge, but I dare you to find an anti-war protest.
We've spent $6 Trillion in this losing effort, effectively bankrupting the nation, and all people can do is shrug.
What’s more, the war in Afghanistan barely features on our front pages. During the past two years it has not even made it into the top 10 news stories.
In an ironic way this indifference is actually well-deserved.
Wars are never really about what we are told, and the children who fight and die in them sacrifice for causes that are never worthy of their sacrifice.
The fervent pomp of Arlington to me always exudes desperation, as though we’re trying to suppress any acknowledgement that war’s the silliest thing people do. We sort ourselves into teams based on imaginary lines, dress up in costumes, pledge allegiance to pieces of cloth, and then mercilessly slaughter total strangers.
Comments
I'd like to take a survey
to compare how many flags and flag-covered clothes a person displays and compare that to their knowledge of our wars, past and present.
I bet there is an inverted relationship.
Americans are routinely incurious about wars, a Good Thing
that there have been no land wars in the lower 48 since the Civil War. Our now 15-year battle affects so few people that we know that is easy to be numbed. The MIC has taken over, it's all for their shareholders now.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
Memorial Day in the land of amnesiacs
link
It should have been budged to April or earlier on the calendar
so that it was not one of two holidays bracketing the summer. Major confusion as to whether it's a day of mourning and respect or the beginning of bar-be-Q season.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
There's no confusion.
Only apathy.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
Decoration Day.
It used to be called Decoration Day, the day we decorated the graves of wariors. My father still calls it that. They still run a parade here, a military installation (once called Fort) just 7, 8 miles down the road that routinely sends GI Joes into the danger zones of the M.E., and has done so since March, 2003. Residents here very aware of that fact. They're expanding the runway at the (fort) so the biggest baddest military aircraft can soon land (and take off) there. Also expanding the runway of the local yokel -ahem- "International" airport here. And, what the hell, plan on building missile silos at the (fort). So... so, the War on Terra apparently winding down. /snark
But if one doesn't live near a military installation they likely would never know there's a "war" being fought somewhere, with more likely to follow. Obama barely mentioned the "war(s)." Trump can't wait to start another.
I work at a place that sees several GI Joes take care of business there weekly. I see them grab a bunch of consumables when they "deploy" for another 9 months, and see them when they return to relative safety. A few years ago I asked one of them filling the gas tank, "looks like the War in Iraq winding down, about over... " "Over? No, sir, we'll be there another ten years. At least. We ain't never leaving there." Said with a straight face. Dead serious. I knew he was serious. I haven't paid much attention to the M.E. since. But we still hold a parade here.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
@Wink please keep writing.
please keep writing. You nailed it in describing this eerie disconnect.
On Memorial Day, homage is paid
jointly to Ares and to Thanatos -- the Gods of War and of Death respectively. No tribute is made to Athena (the Goddess of Wisdom and Strategy). She has been given no part to play in these proceedings.
native
historical ignorance
I don't think it has anything to do with whether or not we "care to educate ourselves".
History, along with all the other arts and humanities, has gotten short shrift indeed in our modern non-education system where "teach to the test about STEM" rules and all else gets shown the door. That's not the fault of those who were
educatedvictimized by that system.And it is the obvious decree of the handful of corporations which control 90%+ of all traditional media in this country, too.
When confronted, most of these people do, in fact, honor those who sacrificed their lives for this country, even if their brains are woefully devoid of the stories they are trying to honor. But the fault, as usual, lies with the greed of the 0.1%; in this case actually depriving these Americans of their own national patrimony, their nation's story. And while the idiocrats in your video certainly frustrate, they are merely victims.
We need to disempower and dispropriate the criminals who victimized them and thereby victimize us all on a daily basis. And we need to honor, respect, and love our troops in the most cogent way possible: by demanding they be returned home, now!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
I get depressed
every year on this hallmark holiday.
I served for twenty so maybe that has a little to do with it. But the real issue is that the majority don't give a shit what the day is about other than "holiday". They shoot their fireworks, blast their guns, buzz around on their boats and bitch if the weather isn't perfect for their "holiday".
I wish for no one to have to serve in the military. Many, like myself, joined because there were and are not enough jobs to pay for the basic necessities of daily life. It is what it is. It's also a tough life.
It's not only my government that angers me. It's also the capitalistic mindset that envelopes so many. It's the goal of not what's needed but whats wanted. Yet that's no reason for the majority to forget what this day is about.
I will never forget it's not a holiday. It's a day of remembrance.
Thanks gjohn.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
What is so unusual today is the indifference to the state of war
...
no wonder, the bombs don't drop on American soil and American civilians. Your sons, boys, your soldiers, you send out to foreign territory and force them to kill civilians in other countries, these men, if they happen to have been killed, are just considered collateral war damage ... to the tptb, who send them into wars, which are not wars of defense, but wars of choice in other countries than your own, and which are wars of profit and for profit.
Veterans kill themselves, because they can't deal with knowledge that they participated in killing people they never wanted, needed or never should have killed.
It's of course the military that is the biggest employer of the poor folks, who can only make a decent salary, when they join the military.
Morally the US war activities are broken, failed their pretended purposes and goals, and has hit the bottom.
Two days ago I heard for the first time a German former politicians of considerable age to openly criticize the way the US handles its wars with regards that their bombs always and exclusively drop on foreign territory and not on their own.
Times are changing.
Well said, mimi
Sadly, too many people think that our wars are defending our country and our freedoms. It never crosses their minds to question how terrorists could take our freedoms from us. Nor do they know that our own government has taken most of them away after they passed the Patriot and military commission acts.
They don't know that Habeas Corpus has been suspended. I doubt that many people understand what it is or what the ramifications of its suspension even means.
And while both parties were complicit in voting for the two acts, the Patriot act was written before 9/11, Obama signed an NDAA which has the provision for the military to be able to arrest anyone and hold them indefinitely without charges or a trial.
Hopefully, more country's leaders will also start speaking against our wars and just maybe one day, our government will be held accountable for its actions.
This is in the letter that Pat Tillman's brother wrote in 2006
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
@snoopydawg Kevin Tillman's letter
Kevin Tillman's letter so powerful its hard to believe this country has blithely danced down the spiral, flags gaily fluttering. Depressing day.
just to prove the point I made above,
here is just one of the articles who are lingering around about it still today on Tuesday EU time zone.
Germany steps up attack on Trump for 'weakening' the west.
That is "a first" and it is new. It's scary. But it seems that too many in Germany felt it was necessary to admit what they really feel and say so in public.
Well that's just a matter of "behaving appropriately". I remember that Merkel seemed to have seen through Obama's charming and wordy seductions early on. But you don't say that, if you have such a gentleman showering you with "nice words" (like making a war into a "“Overseas Contingency Operation” as lotlizard pointed out above). It's something you bury in the back of your mind, if you are a somewhat sane politician like Merkel is.
You know that Merkel needed some beer before she had the nerves to talk tacheles, right? I also realize that foreigners to Germany have a little bit more difficulties to "read" her facial expressions correctly. She has a very shy, but clear way of showing what she thinks at any given moment through her little hidden smiles and eye and eyebrow movements. I was amused to read something about that on TOP and the obvious confusion many had about that, as well as how to translate Martin Schulz' wordings. (see here a US article about that)
One word which was thrown around in Germany may just say it all: They called Trump a "Depp". I would say that's the most warmhearted way of expressing one's thinking about Trump. To call someone a Depp is clear, but "menschlich".
I have heard that many believe the changes of the sounds and tunes in the US-EU musical performances are just a matter of the German campaign season in the upcoming elections. I don't think so. It's more serious than that. Of course US propaganda will always try to "fog" your mind about what is "German campaign propaganda" and what not.
Let's just say, usually Germans don't call a US President a Depp. So, there is that...
Why is "Der Spiegel" not translating their articles anymore into English. Darn it. That should be one of them:
Merkels Bierzeltrede - Jeder Satz ein Treffer - Historischer Wendepunkt oder billiger Wahlkampf?
Angela Merkels Volksfestrede über Europa und die USA sorgt für Aufregung. Die Botschaften hinter ihren Kernsätzen - kompakt erklärt. - Von Annett Meiritz, Anna Reimann und Severin Weiland
Merkel's beer tent speech - Each Sentence a hit (me: may be a slamdunk or a strike?) -
A historical turning point (me: may be a watershed moment?) or just cheap election campaign battles? Angela Merkel's folk festival speech causes commotions. The messages behind her core sentences - compactly explained
In any case that was a 'memorable' weekend for sure.
It didn't go unnoticed:
Even Angela Merkel’s political rivals are on her side against Trump ... Just saying.
Do not forget, besides our
Do not forget, besides our school system getting dumbed down, the MSM tries hard to never mention any of the "War of Terror", unless it is to shock and scare the masses when they get complacent enough or start to ask questions, then they have to scare us back to supporting the war. The MIC has to keep us supportive and or ill informed.
So long, and thanks for all the fish
Obama repackaged the wars as “Overseas Contingency Operations”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/mar/25/obama-war-terror-overseas-...
A phrase suitably anodyne as to make the wars fade into the background.
That Obama — if there’s one thing he was good at, it’s marketing.
@lotlizard
Back in his 1st run, I heard him speak, and he came across to me as a used car salesman. I voted for Nader instead in his last run.
So long, and thanks for all the fish
Somehow I feel meah about today.
The DOD used to be called The War Department. Who was the yahoo who changed it? All this country does is make so-called 'war' so ahole corporations can make dough. That`s been going on since Vietnam. Korea was another joke. Why are the biggest greedballs among the proudly STUPID? Rec'd!!
Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.
It's has been going on much longer than the Vietnam war
Smedley Butler had this to say about war.
His book War is a Racket shows that it's not only a Racket, it's for profit.
He goes into great detail about how the corporations were able to make obscene profits from wars.
He has a full proof way to stop people from declaring wars
At the end of his book he describes how the military should be responsible for the defense of this country.
I've read this many times and each time I re-read it, I learn something new.
https://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/warisaracket.html
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
we really should have "a book corner" on C99p
I can't forget about going systematically through essays and comments and put up, on a separate page, all the books listed which c99-ers have read and liked to mention and recommend for various reasons. God willing I should have some time to read. God willing my head clears up from reading online and the frigging life and I can still focus offline. Oh well, one day... may be... I start doing that.
Thx. snoopydawg. (PS your nickname always makes me smile).
And to quot our fearless leaders...
War is a business, and corporations are people too my friends.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
War profiteers are people . . .
War criminals are people . . .
“All the defendants on trial here in Nuremberg are people too, my friends,” the attorney appointed by the Allies explained softly. “Family men with wives and, yes, children too, who, misguided or not, sincerely believed they were doing G~d’s work.”
“Well, that settles it,” said the judge, who had also been appointed by the Allies. “Not much point continuing, eh? Acquittals all round. Sie sind freigesprochen, meine Herren. What a relief! Thank you, counsel, for your timely reminder. Who are we, the victors, to judge the vanquished? Prosecuting anyone was already a mistake. Conviction and, dare I say it, execution would have been a terrible miscarriage of justice.”
Remember the 'War To End All Wars'
and the suffering of the troops of all nations.
We haven't done a very good job living up to their expectations. All that sacrifice in vain.
We really are nasty creatures.
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
"The War To End All Wars"
..... and the second movement of that self-same War, World War II.....
We hereabouts do a pretty good job of doing just that. Unfortunately, we're not in George Carlin's "big club" which has direct power over war and peace. The people who are in that "club" tend to want ever more war.
The rest of us demand peace.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Wisdom from a game
Wisdom from a game
I know, but it does use a good image that shows where we are headed if we don't put an end to the reign of the MIC, and the short words cover it pretty succinctly
So long, and thanks for all the fish
It's a beautiful poem,
worth I think quoting in full.
native