Blessed Be The Warmakers

It's pretty amazing how widespread the absolute adoration for the military is in the US. Just about everything I read shows people bending over backwards to thank the saintly soldiers and their sacrifices. And I don't disagree, of course it's a sacrifice. You volunteer your entire being over to the State, shave your head so you look like everyone else, wear the same uniform as anyone else and completely surrender yourself to a single central authority. Then you are taught to kill people and destroy things without question. You are taught obediance and strict adherence to rules. Then we are told that such people are the fundamental cause of and defenders of...FREEDOM!? Huh?!

The jingoistic propaganda has taken root. Everyone repeats the same lines about how military veterans ensure that we lowly civilians can VOTE (ooh ahh) and have FREE SPEECH! If there was no military there'd be no free speech apparently. Huh? And voting? Oh boy, I get to vote on which powermad creep gets to spend my money the way he sees fit. Oh boy, sign me up for that. I don't have any want or need for a "leader" to somehow guide my life by remote control. So the ability to vote for politicians doesn't hold a lot of weight to me. Sure there's people I like and agree with, but if you think that it's possible for another person to act as your avatar, and not only you but thousands of others, well then I think that's an insane idea. The best represenative government is one where each person is their own president.

There's no doubt that soldiers have a tough job and their trials and tribulations can often be very touching and profound, but there's a lot of tough jobs out there. Soldiers are no more deserving of our respect than anyone else. Why are the most violent jobs worshipped and not the most peaceful ones? All the good things we enjoy arise from the collective efforts of non-violent people. These things exist either in conjunction with or in spite of violent military operations. Peaceful, intelligent, reasonable, hard working and crafty people will continue to work to make human existence positive despite the efforts of power-hungry and violent people who desire to coerce their fellow man if they don't see things the same way.

Yes, many people will be directly helped by military effort. Absolutely lives will be saved by their intervention. But it is absurd to think that ALL people owe their lives to the military. Nobody needed to be shot or blown up with explosives in order for me to write this blog and all the vast amounts of technological advancements that needed to occur behind it. Peace and freedom is not maintained by US military presence in countries all over the world. It is maintained by trading goods and services between countries. Are we also to offer our humble appreciation to the soldiers and veterans in those countries "we" are at war with? Shall we respect Iraqi soldiers for defending their country as well, even though it's a theocratic system at odds with our own? Is their "sacrifice" any less? Their idea of freedom apparently involves a really goofy book and is vastly different than ours. The US military idea of freedom is vastly different than mine.

There is not a menacing black cloud of palpable Evil which is being kept at bay by the military. Human society does indeed have a violent history, but more often than not it is a peaceful one. Our cooperation and respect for one another is what allows free speech to happen, not our willingness to engage in violent conflict with each other. If the military is so great then why don't we all become soldiers and then we can be in a perpetual state of war and patriotism? Or would you rather have a real job, where your labor and skill can be used to increase wealth and well-being? Humans will likely always have a secret desire for violence and battle, but there are other avenues to express this need without actually losing your life in the process.

You might think this opinion makes me anti-American, unpatriotic or traitorous. I don't really care. Call me whatever names you like. I can't be patriotic because it's hard to be in love with groups in numbers that are hard to fathom. I can't be in love with an entire country. There might be thousands or millions of people I think are great, but others I think are jerks. I'll never meet them all, so how can I know? I will give everyone the benefit of the doubt however and say that the majority of humans are probably good and don't want to kill me or take away my liberty. So my patriotism extends beyond geographic borders. But I can't give it that name.

Just don't try to kill me or rob me, don't put me in jail, don't try to shut me up, don't make me worship your religious ideals and we're fine. I will extend the same courtesy to you. None of this requires camoflage or M-16s to make it happen.