Get News & Views Updates
Most Popular This Week
Popular content
Today's Top News
Kind and Fraternal Feelings
Memorial Day, it turns out, is yet another hijacked holiday. It was first observed in 1865 as Decoration Day by liberated slaves, who independently set up, decorated and proclaimed an ad-hoc graveyard – a field of "passionless mounds" – to honor dead Union soldiers.
Yale history professor David Blight tells the story in his book Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory, which traces the way in which the meaning and significance of the Civil War was reshaped in the 50 years following it. For now, the original Memorial Day Order:
The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land. In this observance no form or ceremony is prescribed, but Posts and comrades will, in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.
We are organized, Comrades, as our regulations tell us, for the purpose among other things, "of preserving and strengthening those kind and fraternal feelings which have bound together the soldiers sailors and Marines, who united to suppress the late rebellion." What can aid more to assure this result than by cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead? We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the nation can add to their adornment and security, is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.
If other eyes grow dull and other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain in us.
Let us, then, at the time appointed, gather around their sacred remains, and garland the passionless mounds above them with choicest flowers of springtime; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved; let us in this solemn presence renew our pledge to aid and assist those whom they have left among us a sacred charge upon the Nation's gratitude—the soldier's and sailor's widow and orphan.
Comments
Note: Disqus 2012 is best viewed on an up to date browser. Click here for information. Instructions for how to sign up to comment can be viewed here. Our Comment Policy can be viewed here. Please follow the guidelines. Note to Readers: Spam Filter May Capture Legitimate Comments...
63 Comments so far
Show AllI'm not in any way being disrespectful of the sentiments expressed above, but the first Decoration Day ceremony was actually performed by the widows of Confederate soldiers in Georgia just a few weeks after Appomatox.You can argue forever about whether or not their cause was worth dying for, but no matter, they were just as dead as the memorialized soldiers of the victorious side.They too deserve our respect.
I couldn't agree more about honoring the common soldier of any side. Who we don't want to memorialize are the politicians and profiteers who start these obscenities called war. They are the ones who should be forgotten for their abject failure.
I couldn't disagree with you more! I will not give my respect to anyone who takes part in the killing of people in our country or on the land of another country. The honorable thing to do is not serve or go to prison for refusing to serve, anything less is the sign of a coward.
Nicholas 101
Very well said.
UNIVERSAL SOLDIER
Buffy Sainte-Marie
© Caleb Music-ASCAP
"I wrote "Universal Soldier" in the basement of The Purple Onion coffee house in Toronto in the early sixties. It's about individual responsibility for war and how the old feudal thinking kills us all. Donovan had a hit with it in 1965."
He's five feet two and he's six feet four
He fights with missiles and with spears
He's all of 31 and he's only 17
He's been a soldier for a thousand years
He's a Catholic, a Hindu, an atheist, a Jain,
a Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew
and he knows he shouldn't kill
and he knows he always will
kill you for me my friend and me for you
And he's fighting for Canada,
he's fighting for France,
he's fighting for the USA,
and he's fighting for the Russians
and he's fighting for Japan,
and he thinks we'll put an end to war this way
And he's fighting for Democracy
and fighting for the Reds
He says it's for the peace of all
He's the one who must decide
who's to live and who's to die
and he never sees the writing on the walls
But without him how would Hitler have
condemned him at Dachau
Without him Caesar would have stood alone
He's the one who gives his body
as a weapon to a war
and without him all this killing can't go on
He's the universal soldier and he
really is to blame
His orders come from far away no more
They come from him, and you, and me
and brothers can't you see
this is not the way we put an end to war.
nice post.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGWsGyNsw00
ricardohead
Thank you for setting the record straight.
Dakota Flint
You are exactly right. This day is to honor the men and women that made the ultimate sacrifice for their country, no matter the side or the war.
But we do not honor "the politicians and profiteers who start these obscenities called war." May they rot.
ALL SOULS
Are not souls the very essence, the part, the only part of the Creator of all? The universe or more, if that is the case, and all the rest is but a creation of his mind.
How many souls are there? Can anyone put a limit on what the creator would do or tell him that what he has done is enough?
What brings this to mind is my seeing a man on his hands and knees at 5:30 in the morning in the street with just a t-shirt on and it is 48 degrees outside. I did not stop for this hurt soul but I did mention him to his Creator. Is that enough?
Is there such a thing as just a drunk or is there always a story to go along with the soul? Vets have been in the news; was this one who has seen or done something his soul will not accept?
War has mangled every part of the human body from the physical to the mental and can anyone doubt that the soul would be affected? How can any other soul not be affected when it is known that all souls belong to the same Creator?
War is not the all, as we know that there are a multitude of causes that can afflict the body and some will set a soul free afore times are finished as surely as a war. What does the soul think of this type of situation?
What of the poor, the homeless, that because of a circumstance, have naught? What of the souls that have; should they share; is there limited space in the Creators abode and so we keep the souls who fall from a chance to share?
Sharing some thoughts on this Memorial Day
Tony 5/26/2009
I believe, as a Vietnam veteran, that this is an extremely important article with the first sentence deserving very important consideration when it states: "Memorial Day, it turns out, is yet another hijacked holiday." As a former English major in college I believe that all too often words are tossed around in the English language without any serious regard to their meaning. A case in point is a holiday like Memorial Day in which politicians and the media will continually state that those soldiers who have died in America's wars should be "honored." That is the word that is continually used with this particular day or its variation- honor.
I submit that there is nothing honorable in what those soldiers died for as many, such as those who needlessly died in Vietnam and who are currently getting blown up in Afghanistan and Iraq, were killed for absolutely no justifiable reason whatsoever. There is absolutely nothing honorable for dying for the lies that they were given by their most uncaring government. What the politicians and the media should be instead saying is that those soldiers should be mourned for having died for a less than noble cause. But it is quite doubtful if the words mourn or lament will ever be substituted for the word honor or hero as those words do not fit into the narrative as viewing them for having died for some [alleged] justifiable reason. Looking at those poor bastards in their graves as being victims is not as uplifting as falsely describing them as being heroic or honorable.
excellent post!
Well said.
I suppose this comment will elicit some criticism, but I cannot help expressing this opinion. All war is immoral and wrong; there is no honor in killing anyone for any reason. There is no justification for any armed conflict. War is not a continuation of politics, but the total failure of politicians to perform their duties. Where is the honor in sending young people into combat to kill and maim other youths, while rich older politicians sit comfortably at home, voicing platitudes as they tally their war-industrial profits? How can we categorize murder by uniformed conscripts as honorable, when all societies reject murder by civilians as criminal? Draping flags over our crimes confers no legality; covering our state-sanctioned mercenaries with medals does not absolve them from murder. We are sentient beings; we are supposed to be better than that. We should be more than capable of resolving our differences in non-lethal ways.
"As long as you build memorials to war, you will never know peace." -Bertrand Russell
How can all conflicts be immoral?
When Japanese invaded China and raped their way through city after city you honestly believe that it was immoral for the native Chinese to defend themselves?
When Germany went Genocidal against the Jews, gypsies, and Homosexuals you think it was wrong to interfere?
Not all wars are instigated by the military-industrial complex.
The true crime of warfare is that the people who do the fighting and dying aren't the ones that instigated the conflict in the first place. However, not all wars are created in the way our current Iraq conflict was. Freeing the Philippines from Japan wasn't immoral-although setting up home there afterwords was definitely no good.
Do you consider the police officer who uses his/her firearm to stop a killer from murdering an innocent person to be criminal?
I'd wager that if someone was holding a knife to your neck you'd want the police to do everything possible to save your life.
"When Japanese invaded China and raped their way through city after city you honestly believe that it was immoral for the native Chinese to defend themselves?"
Use your brain. The immorality began with the Japanese invasion of China. I will never preach against self defense. The invasions of Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan are immoral. "Insurgents" in those countries occupy the high moral ground.
"When Germany went Genocidal against the Jews, gypsies, and Homosexuals you think it was wrong to interfere?"
That is not why Americans interfered and you know it.
"Not all wars are instigated by the military-industrial complex."
Yes, they are, at least all wars, invasions and occupations the United States has fought.
"Freeing the Philippines from Japan wasn't immoral-although setting up home there afterwords was definitely no good."
Did this atone for the earlier U.S. invasion and genocide in the Phillipines?
"Do you consider the police officer who uses his/her firearm to stop a killer from murdering an innocent person to be criminal?
I'd wager that if someone was holding a knife to your neck you'd want the police to do everything possible to save your life."
What do either of those questions have to do with initiationg warfare? And if warfare by the United States is so moral, why aren't you in the military? Of course, maybe you are. If so then I can understand your point of view as the first thing the military does is brainwash its new recruits to think of "the enemy" as less than human.
Go read Needles post again.
"All war is immoral and wrong; there is no honor in killing anyone for any reason. There is no justification for any armed conflict."
Needles stated a quite broad opinion that anytime some one raises a weapon they are immoral. He did not limit his indictment to initiated warfare but rather implied that even self defense is wrong.
I just made a very references of the top of my head that challenge such a position. You even agreed with the native Chinese defending themselves from invasion.
I never said all warfare is moral-i try not to make broad statements-and certainly not all warfare activity by the US is moral. I do challenge the position that all warfare is inherently evil.
"What do either of those questions have to do with initiating warfare?"
-I was retorting the statement, "How can we categorize murder by uniformed conscripts as honorable, when all societies reject murder by civilians as criminal."
It is regrettable that sometimes killing one who is engaged is criminal activity is necessary to protect the lives of others.
Also, with regards to the German statement, i was referring to the involvement of the US but rather the European partisan movements. They targeted and killed any German soldier they could.
It is indeed a weekend to remember all those men and women who have fallen in battle. Battles which were both just and unjust in cause. There can be no doubt that people of sound mind and body have been called to service and unquestionably answered that call. Many made the ultimate sacrifice.
This is also a good weekend to educate ourselves and to begin to question the unquestionable. There is a rising stench of rotting corpses emanating from Wall Street and it is high time Americans take a good look at themselves and decide whether they want this corporate fascist juggernaut to seal the deal and seal our fate. We are now immersed in two foreign occupations. Tens of thousands of innocent civilians have been killed. Thousands of our children have died.
War hero Smedley Butler, holder of the Medal of Honor, had this to say:
"I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents."
Those same forces of 1900 exist today and have grown stronger. They own our media, they own our government representatives and have declared war on much of the world.
It is time for all Americans to remember what it is we should stand for. Freedom, justice and a fair shake for everyone. Do we have the courage and strength to take on this corporate fascist scourge? Remember the fallen and realize what we have become as a nation. Now is the time to carefully reflect and ponder the possibility of taking this country back.
How about not honoring any soldier. Sure they are brave, but how bright are they, allowing themselves to be slaughtered for a 'cause'? I think it's nature's way of weeding out the mentally challenged.
Forgive me if I don't have feelings of patriotism. I know what makes a good soldier. I was bullied by the little creeps when we were in secondary and high school. And when I was grown, I couldn't 'serve' in the military because of my sexual identity, even if I had wanted to. Yeah, forgive me for not buying all the bullshit.
I'm hardly a patriot, but I do honor the memory of those who have died in our wars. Some of them may have thought they were fighting for some kind of ideal, but I think most of them were young kids who got caught in a shit-storm not of their own making,and to me that is a very sad thing:Lives cut short in a terrifying environment of flying metal and high explosives,or blown to pieces by roadside bombs.There's a very good novel from a few years back called "Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All." It talks convincingly about these issues,about race and sexual identity,about what actual grunts do to save themselves in the shit-storm, and about invasion and occupation, and it does so with great humanity and humor,even. It suggests that Robt. E Lee was gay,and that's a hoot.
GEORGE MARKLEY,
Please see above in my response to THOMAS, at :
_____ nan◎thermite May 24th, 2009 12:32 pm
… which also directly addresses your own issue of sexual identity, and how intolerance of another's righteously truthful ( although different ) moral compass is the ( very ) rough ground we need to smooth through shared understanding -- in order for us to survive.
The higher dimensions of hared morality, are accessible to us all, although challenging and at first a struggle to learn 'walk in the other's shoes'.
Namaste
More Darwin was wrong and the world is flat reasoning. Its quite strange to see so many people go to such lengths to disreaspect the dead.
It also discredits the person that can't honor the kids that are gone that are so much better than them.
A lot of fun is made of Patriotism here which can only lead to the question, if you are not Patriotic, why aren't you? Loyalty to nothingness is empty. Empty reasoning is just that.
THOMAS MORE
I agree that our collective loyalty and connection to the larger societal bond is not only crucial to our survival, and fundamentally is also a morality issue too.
I've posted about this article before, but would appreciate your comment specifically, as it really opened my eyes to my connections to my own Veteran ancestors ( as well as to understanding you ).
=== Conservatives Live in a Different Moral Universe -- And Here's Why It Matters ===
See this address: http://tinyurl.com/over-all-morality
Overall, a Society's morality is a dynamic tapestry, that many are not attuned to - nor see the aspects that manifest more easily for others. I now see it as analogous to forming an archway between the tendencies of both progressive and conservative groups, and that culture as we know it completely depends on both aspects to complete and sustain the archway of our common good.
Either end of the common arch of shared morality, is incapable of maintaining society on its own, as both need each other to stand in contrast and mutual support, for either to actualize and thrive.
Simply stated, we each have unique moral compasses, each with valid true Norths.
Society as a whole exists out of the shared commonality and tolerance of each to express their own portion that they experience and live -- while learning to live better by observing those unlike us who have valid but different perspectives on what is the greater good.
From the article:
"- Harm/care. It is wrong to hurt people; it is good to relieve suffering.
- Fairness/reciprocity. Justice and fairness are good; people have certain rights that need to be upheld in social interactions.
- In-group loyalty. People should be true to their group and be wary of threats from the outside. Allegiance, loyalty and patriotism are virtues; betrayal is bad.
- Authority/respect. People should respect social hierarchy; social order is necessary for human life.
- Purity/sanctity. The body and certain aspects of life are sacred. Cleanliness and health, as well as their derivatives of chastity and piety, are all good. Pollution, contamination and the associated character traits of lust and greed are all bad."
_________________
On a different level of the same discussion, our natural tendencies toward PATRIOTISM is often twisted to invoke misplace loyalty, especially to politicians and expansionist gov'ts, as was clearly known thousands of years ago :
"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar." (Julius Caesar)"
Because of Jingoism and perennial abuse, most progressives tend to ignore the morality aspects of AUTHORITY/RESPECT, while the morality aspects of PURITY/SANCTITY are manipulated with too extreme exaggerations about 'gay marriage' and abortion.
Recall the lesson of the two mutually supporting archways, that intrinsically require tolerance to stand up by leaning back to back, allowing, and ultimately in complete acceptance of each of our differences ( as actually important to form society ).
It is when we come together in this manner, that the miscreants who are parasites and beyond this shared morality can be detected and dealt with ( isolated from harming us ).
The idea that torture and suffering ( means ) can ever be justified ( to any ends ) is clearly a self-serving pretext to erode and manipulate our moral compasses, for profiteering and abuse of power granted conditionally by the people to gov't "leaders".
Corporations really have no morality, other than ridiculous excesses of profit ( not security at all ) -- so that their made-up wars and corrupting personHOODs must be banished for society to again flourish.
Namaste
Thomas More asks, apparently with a straight face, "if you are not Patriotic, why aren't you?" Perhaps if Mr. More spent less time waving the flag and actually engaging in critical thinking he might finally come to the realization that there is very little reason to feel patriotic about this country. According to one of my dictionaries, a patriot is one "who loves his country and supports its authority and its interests." Given the fact that the United States has approved torture under one administration and has stripped detainees of any rights that they possess by the present administration and that the good old USA has dropped 500 lb. and 2000 lb. bombs on innocent women, children and grandmothers in Afghanistan and has had drone missiles rip apart innocent Pakistani civilians and that the United States is the only advanced country in the world without Universal Health Care, I find very little to love about this country and the authority that pursues its interests with such reckless abandon. Coupled that with the fact that I and hundreds and thousands of other poor bastards were used to justify the lies of our government when we were sent unjustifiably to a place called Vietnam, then I will continue to believe, as one of my bumper stickers correctly notes, that Dissent is the Highest Form of Patriotism.
Another Thomas, a patriot too, said “My country is the world, and my religion is to do good.”
I am sad on this Memorial Day remembering all those who did not get a chance to live their lives because of this odious habit and machinery of war.
Joe
Well put. Memorial Day should be used to remember all those poor bastards who were deceived into fighting wars for their country's "national interests" which always means stealing something from some other group of people in another geographical location. It is those dead and their families to whom we owe APOLIGIES on Memorial Day, not HONOR.
Let's see how long this "good feeling" for the glorious dead last when a 20 percent increase in Veterans Affairs spending is proposed in Congress.
Then we will hear all the whining about breaking the budget, or some such nonsense, from the politicians and Wall Street.
Come on now, its all about the bottom line in America. "Honoring the dead" costs nothing. Honoring the living but horribly broken by warfare is quite another thing altogether. That costs MONEY, and THAT eats into the bottom line. Only the DEAD can be honored HEROES. The living? Tough shit, buddy, you did your "duty" and now you're on your own, chump, but don't forget to salute the flag on Memorial Day.
and where is the memorial for those who refused to fight?
VDB
Excellent point. The closest thing might be the powerful documentary Sir! No Sir! which told the story of the GI Resistance at or near military bases both at home and abroad during the Vietnam war. But since the major film companies had no desire to see that film widely distributed, it ended up being shown at independent theaters across the United States where it ended up, by design, down the memory hole.
There is a plaque in Paris where Jean Jaurès was assassinated for his anti-miliarist stance at the start of WW I.
Joe
I was in my twenties during Vietnam, and I will never forget one night I spent comforting a returning GI who's lover died in his arms in that country. There are no heros, there are just poor fools trying to survive.
And then there are guys like Patton and Westmoreland. The former should have been shot for what he did to his men, including the ones he slapped.
No, honoring soldiers is not good. Memorial day should be for remembering all those killed in wars, especially what we now call collateral damage.
Happy Memorial Day
N Korea 'conducts nuclear test'
South Korean news agency quotes government sources as saying test took place on Monday morning.
Heckuva job, Dickie Cheney, are we 'safer' now?
I was flipping channels this morning to get to my daughter's favorite cartoons. I briefly paused on one channel (didn't see which one it was), and heard this snippet "......to honor those who died in Iraq to protect our country". My first feeling was outrage, of course. We all know that Iraq was no threat to us, and I was shocked to hear these lies becoming part of our collective conciousness as a nation.
Tying this to Thomas More's comment, I expanded my pondering to include thoughts on the meanings of patriotism and also "Memorial Day". The dictionary.com definition states that patriotism is "... actuated by love of one's country; zealously and unselfishly devoted to the service of one's country..." and I wondered if this precludes one's love of fellow beings. To me, the love for fellow beings, and in particular human beings, comes before all else. If that means I cannot be "patriotic" then so be it, and perhaps that is an answer to Thomas's question. We cannot allow our patriotism to include false assumptions of our collective history. (See previously posted news comment for example).
Human beings are constantly dividing themselves into opposing forces. I see it even here day after day left against right, liberal against conservative, patriots and non-patriots, those who honor soldiers those who don't. We need to stop drawing lines and question ourselves, and each other. Soldiers go to war for both the love of country and the love of fellow humans, but some also go to war because of their love of power or the fact that they have bought into pre-packaged narratives. How can ideas like "honor" be big enough to cover all the scenarios ?
We are merely human beings, and we have been cursed among all other beings to be able to think enough to make us really confused. But it's those who are not confused or overwhelmed that scare me most. These are the ones who break us up into groups to stop us from having to think or constantly question why we do what we do to each other.
OK, so I've rambled on enough, but my thoughts end with what I can celebrate about Memorial Day. So I honor those who have ever died in battles to make things better for other human beings, right or wrong, they held that thought foremost in their hearts and minds. Going forward this is what we must teach our children: to think and to question every action, every thought, every motivation, especially those that divide us. And we must teach them to love, not because it is dictated by patriotism or even national holidays, but because it's all we have.
Is there a word like "patriotism" for those who are "zealously and unselfishly devoted to the service of..." their fellow beings ? If I am not a "patriot" that's why, the word just isn't big enough.
Ha !!
Small minded "patriots" = 0
Big minded "non-patriots" = 1
It never ends.
Think.
S C H E I B E R,
Please clarify : " It never ends. "
Is the "It", that part of humankind that continually focuses upon petty, selfish and egotistical justifications, to always appear to be right ?
I believe that that those aspects of the negative human condition are culpable and responsible for much of our collective and continued strife and suffering.
I do not believe that these ways of thinking are intrinsically human in the larger sense, although in previous times they did offer survival value that is no longer really needed.
The selfish egotist that brags about 'the wing fell off on your side of the plane', is in for a big fall.
We are ALL in this together ( as we've always been ),
and we need to really consider about
putting any childish toys and ways of thinking.
Namaste
patriotism |-ˌtizəm| noun
ORIGIN late 16th cent.(in the late Latin sense): from French "patriote", from late Latin "patriota" ‘fellow countryman,’ from Greek "patriōtēs", from "patrios" ‘of one's fathers,’ from "patris" ‘fatherland.’
in short - misogyny.
T R O L L __ w /
Can I take this response of yours to mean that you see absolutely no vestment in any form of societal morality in :
- In-group loyalty -.People should be true to their group and be wary of threats from the outside. Allegiance, loyalty and patriotism are virtues; betrayal is bad.
- Authority/respect -. People should respect social hierarchy; social order is necessary for human life.
If that is so, then I think that you would likely not be a very "good" neighbor ( watching my paint dry, when I was away ).
Sadly, your attitude and perspective is representative of the moral scarcity, paucity, and emptiness -- that threatens our collective survival, although quite common ( as meant in the word vulgar ) these days.
Do you somehow view yourself as an island,
independent of everyone else on this planet ?
And why is "tribalism" such a negative thing,
especially when it's written larger to the collective tribe of humankind ?
Or do you harbor ill will toward other humans for some reason,
as not being worthy of your collaboration and mutual support ?
Namaste
] ] ] ] P. S . [ [ [ [
¿ Don't you think that it is a trifle pathetic to over generalize, that - In-group loyalty - is badALL - In-group loyalty - is small minded - In-group loyalty - prevents other morality from being expressed- In-group loyalty -requires fawning over leaders as if they were Gods
Perhaps we do have some common ground, as I care manifestly about humankind, regardless of national borders -- which artificially create division, divisiveness, and ugliness -- where there is none.
If I have offended you by attempting to flesh out your rationalizations, I am sorry, as that wasn't my intent.
Have you any time to consider what types of morality actually sustain your conceptualized "… own community and the greater world" ?
If anarchy is your choice, I can see why anything else is both "tedious and boring to you".
BTW, if comes down to a comparison of one having any morals, to one who trivializes "Patriotism … [as] the hallmark of small minds", I am pleased to stand with our founding fathers -- regardless if that makes me appear "sanctimonious … [and] self-righteous".
It appears that you might have been gladly a "small minded" Tory, in the times of the original Declaration of Independence, so be it -- as the study of finding one's place in the greater societal arc can be so dull and uninspiring ( particularly for the selfish and unperceptive ).
There is little point in discussing more, other than clarifying and commenting on your approach of :
personal attacks being the hallmark of small minds
Please do enjoy the sunshine today.
Namaste
When I was young I learned about war, wars of the past. I did not read about them in quite the same way as my brothers, but but I did read and learn, because these wars were everywhere. They were in my families' history, in my country's history, world history. They were in poetry and literature and very much in the songs I learned growing up. I did not really learn about Vietnam until it was nearly over, yet I watched the rolls of the dead and I saw coverage on TV. I was just distant enough due to immaturity not to fully realize how close a thing it really was to me and my family and my friends. Afterwards, I began to learn more about the war through books, magazines, news reports and oral testimonies. And then I became more aware of the current wars of the day going on all around us. It is a fact that since I was born, wars have raged all over the world. Since realizing this, I live each day knowing that these wars are going on, and some have nothing to do with us, while others have connections to our own foreign policy. But I never look back at the seventies without thinking of that terrible realization that "there but for fortune go you or I" . What that nearness and sudden connection between war and my own life meant for me is that I can never really be separate from the suffering, the slaughter and the consequences. I am often angry and bitter about the progress of the people of the world to change our permanent state of war. And I am really hard on people who believe war is inevitable, and they don't like me and my kind at all.
Someday if we survive I am sure we will become better at living together on this planet, and we will add a new day of remembrance for the victims of war, all wars. It will be a day for people all over the world to contemplate, and pray, and the histories and stories of the wars that were fought will be acknowledged and studied, so that the suffering is not forgotten.
As for the origin and purpose of this Memorial day, I think we are free to use the day to think on the fighting and the death and destruction each in our own way. I can't separate the killing from the dying, the sacrifice from the waste, the courage from the degradation, the right from the wrong, they are all connected together too much. I remember that those who fought and died are gone now and cannot speak to us in any other way but with their deaths and their experiences. They were once our great-great grandparents, lost cousins from long ago, uncles and fathers who never came home, brothers and sisters and friends who's absence leaves a hole in the world that can't be filled, & now again our own sons and daughters. However we think of it, this day we can spare a thought just for them, that we mourn, we remember, we promise we will do better for their children, and ours.
amen
How different today's Memorial Day is from that of 1868! Then it was to honor the soldier who died alone on the battlefield never to return home to his family and friends. Now it is aimed at living veterans who, news commentators like Brian Williams say, "paid the bill for our freedom." "Freedom isn't free," he says.
Ibsen spoke of "vital lies," those myths that cover up a painful truth that lies beneath. Isn't that what this "freedom isn't free" statement is all about? Soldiers commit inhumane acts and feel a need to justify them--even display them before their community. Are they covering up the truth of the brutality they perpetrated? Or are they finding something noble in their commonplace lives? The vet license plates, the waving flags, the soliloquies of media personalities hold up the image of the valorous, self-sacrificing soldier even if he created little of value during his life, while the war resister, the pacifist, and the stay-at-home are ignored by society generally even if they built the foundations upon which the community rests.
I prefer the Memorial Day conceived after the Civil War to this one of advertised virtue and sacrifice.
What does that say about you, to conflate :
bu$h!t$ and Franklin,
nixon and Washington,
clinton and Jefferson ?
Whatever it does, you might want to be sure to scrap it off of your shoes, before going indoors.
As if all of the FFs were standing together on anything ( ever ) with this last few decades of neoCONer scum.
Also as contrasted by Franklin, who was clearly interested in hanging together, so that assuredly they didn't hang separately.
Namaste
The last Memorial Day (in November here) I thought for a few minutes about the natives who died trying to defend their families and tribes. I thought about the workers who died on the picket lines. I thought about some of the politicians who met unfortunate and unexpected ends. I thought of the defenders of Stalingrad and of the child solders defending German soil in the final days of the 3rd Reich. Victims of the firebombing of Tokyo, of Dresdan. Captives who switched sides, sometimes more than once to survive. And so on. None did I honour.
Near where I live is a memorial to an unknown soldier. He is laying face down on a slope, his head is about a foot lower than his feet. There is nothing glorious about the soldier or his death. I look at it and see the emptiness and senselessness of the death. Possibly that is what the artist wanted me to see.
"I care about humankind, the species, the planet infinitely more than I care about "my fellow Americans" with whom I share little more than a violent, murderous government and a sack of lies passed off as our national history."
It's sad that you write people off so easily, IMO. It's just another categorization which keeps us steeped in ignorance of each other. Yes we have evil in our past (and present) but we also have beauty. Nurturing that beauty causes it to grow, neglecting it- because it isn't already perfect causes it to wither.
And sorry I didn't answer right away, I was out enjoying the beautiful sunshine with my fellow American neighbors, who after meeting our family only yesterday, taught my 8 y/o autistic daughter to fish. She caught one on her first try !!
S C H E I B E R,
What a wonderful blessing to have such a bountiful connection to your "new" neighbors, and the joyous experience of your daughter -- who must have been all smiles! Thank you for sharing those lovely moments with us here at CD.
I know what PDD hurdles there are, and wish you the very best with upcoming IEPs and needed services, and hope that immersion and higher functioning work the miracles that I've seen -- for you and yours.
I regret being hard on TROLL w/, as I forgot ( again ) that whatever he's feeling is perfectly appropriate for where he is ( at ), as none other than he can create in his own perceptions. I failed to find some groundwork and/or expression that might nudge him off of his position, and only succeeded ( sadly so ) in making it more adamant.
Acceptance and unconditionality ( removal of the traps of "categorization") works wonders on children and adults, especially those who too easily get caught up in their thinking. What I've loved the about my wife, is her skills to completely shift, re-frame, and adapt in an instant, to viscerally pull attention away from errant stuckiness toward experience and presence - a skill that my own predilections tend to miss.
The choice of being kind and patient vs. always futile attempts to be right ( while also undercutting and invalidating the other ) -- is sometimes too many leagues away to easily reach ( w/o a helpful partner and friends ).
Blessings to you
Namaste
an anarchist would never resort to throwing bombs as this would be forcing his will on others.
T R O L L _ w /,
I hold no animosity toward you, but would offer the suggestion to re-read your quote from Chomsky.
No where does he equate gov't and our country, he merely suggests that some people do equate it thus.
Namaste
Thanks Nan, blessings to you and your wife also.
Someone here used to have a signature line that I wholeheartedly agreed with. It went something like this:
"We see the world as we are"
I don't remember who the quote was authored by. It is a great place to start, we need to challenge our own assumptions of the world and it's inhabitants. Of course, that just the way I see it.....
Anaïs Nin
was the author of that quote, and very a perceptive and creative person.
You're very welcome
Namaste
"Or maybe more precisely, this quote shows the impact that changing the way we define ourselves can have on the world."
I can define myself as a carrot if I so desire, but the world remains as it always was. I think the way we see the world tells us much more about ourselves.
I do get your point Troll, it just seems like you've traded one prism for another. JMO.