SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Memorial Day and the Full Narrative of War
I am not a big fan of patriotism or the holidays that glorify it (although admittedly I'm a sucker for marching band music). I've never quite understood the sense of arbitrary national boundaries, which then seem to need to be defended just because they are there. Neither am I a fan of wars fought in the name of those boundaries, because when you strip away the rhetoric, they essentially boil down to exercises in asserting dominion and power over a perceived adversary that cost a lot of money, do a lot of damage, and ruin a lot of lives.
May 26, 2014
I am not a big fan of patriotism or the holidays that glorify it (although admittedly I'm a sucker for marching band music). I've never quite understood the sense of arbitrary national boundaries, which then seem to need to be defended just because they are there. Neither am I a fan of wars fought in the name of those boundaries, because when you strip away the rhetoric, they essentially boil down to exercises in asserting dominion and power over a perceived adversary that cost a lot of money, do a lot of damage, and ruin a lot of lives.
Yet we insist on glorifying war and honoring those who fight while at the same time doing everything we can to minimize the carnage of those battles in our histories and memories.
A few months ago, I started taking a Tai Chi class which is taught by a nice woman named Nancy, who is both older and a lot more agile than I am. For those of you not familiar with Tai Chi, it involves moving through a series of poses in a very prescribed manner. It is both an exercise and a meditation. Nancy tells us during class that if we practice enough, we will develop what she calls muscle memory--that the time will come when we will not need to be told how to move through the poses, at some point, we will just remember.
Unfortunately, the same can be said for war-we've gone there so many times that it has become politically reflexive. When it comes to peace, however, we've had far too little practice.
In my Tai Chi class, we are learning what is called 12 form Tai Chi, which means that there are 12 exercises to learn. There are other versions of Tai Chi that have more than 100 exercises. Obviously it takes a great deal longer to learn and develop the muscle memory of the longer form.
When it comes to talking about war, our politicians and media are quite adept at simplifying the talking points they want us to remember. They would never think of pitching 100 talking points, we would never learn that. But their simplified narrative is all too easy to remember and accept. Unlike Tai Chi however, where a simplified version of the practice can be done without sacrificing the benefit, when we talk about war and leave out a significant part of the story, it is very damaging. And if we are ever to practice peace, we need to tell the full narrative of war.
Memorial Day
In memory,
not of the soldiers of war
who bear the false flag of patriotism,
the defenders of empire's entitlement,
but of the ones
our narrative wants to forget,
the collateral damage of battle
for whom there is no holiday,
no brass band,
no wreaths solemnly laid,
these are the ones we must remember.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Lucinda Marshall
Lucinda Marshall is and artist, activist and writer. She is the author of Reclaiming Medusa.
I am not a big fan of patriotism or the holidays that glorify it (although admittedly I'm a sucker for marching band music). I've never quite understood the sense of arbitrary national boundaries, which then seem to need to be defended just because they are there. Neither am I a fan of wars fought in the name of those boundaries, because when you strip away the rhetoric, they essentially boil down to exercises in asserting dominion and power over a perceived adversary that cost a lot of money, do a lot of damage, and ruin a lot of lives.
Yet we insist on glorifying war and honoring those who fight while at the same time doing everything we can to minimize the carnage of those battles in our histories and memories.
A few months ago, I started taking a Tai Chi class which is taught by a nice woman named Nancy, who is both older and a lot more agile than I am. For those of you not familiar with Tai Chi, it involves moving through a series of poses in a very prescribed manner. It is both an exercise and a meditation. Nancy tells us during class that if we practice enough, we will develop what she calls muscle memory--that the time will come when we will not need to be told how to move through the poses, at some point, we will just remember.
Unfortunately, the same can be said for war-we've gone there so many times that it has become politically reflexive. When it comes to peace, however, we've had far too little practice.
In my Tai Chi class, we are learning what is called 12 form Tai Chi, which means that there are 12 exercises to learn. There are other versions of Tai Chi that have more than 100 exercises. Obviously it takes a great deal longer to learn and develop the muscle memory of the longer form.
When it comes to talking about war, our politicians and media are quite adept at simplifying the talking points they want us to remember. They would never think of pitching 100 talking points, we would never learn that. But their simplified narrative is all too easy to remember and accept. Unlike Tai Chi however, where a simplified version of the practice can be done without sacrificing the benefit, when we talk about war and leave out a significant part of the story, it is very damaging. And if we are ever to practice peace, we need to tell the full narrative of war.
Memorial Day
In memory,
not of the soldiers of war
who bear the false flag of patriotism,
the defenders of empire's entitlement,
but of the ones
our narrative wants to forget,
the collateral damage of battle
for whom there is no holiday,
no brass band,
no wreaths solemnly laid,
these are the ones we must remember.
Lucinda Marshall
Lucinda Marshall is and artist, activist and writer. She is the author of Reclaiming Medusa.
I am not a big fan of patriotism or the holidays that glorify it (although admittedly I'm a sucker for marching band music). I've never quite understood the sense of arbitrary national boundaries, which then seem to need to be defended just because they are there. Neither am I a fan of wars fought in the name of those boundaries, because when you strip away the rhetoric, they essentially boil down to exercises in asserting dominion and power over a perceived adversary that cost a lot of money, do a lot of damage, and ruin a lot of lives.
Yet we insist on glorifying war and honoring those who fight while at the same time doing everything we can to minimize the carnage of those battles in our histories and memories.
A few months ago, I started taking a Tai Chi class which is taught by a nice woman named Nancy, who is both older and a lot more agile than I am. For those of you not familiar with Tai Chi, it involves moving through a series of poses in a very prescribed manner. It is both an exercise and a meditation. Nancy tells us during class that if we practice enough, we will develop what she calls muscle memory--that the time will come when we will not need to be told how to move through the poses, at some point, we will just remember.
Unfortunately, the same can be said for war-we've gone there so many times that it has become politically reflexive. When it comes to peace, however, we've had far too little practice.
In my Tai Chi class, we are learning what is called 12 form Tai Chi, which means that there are 12 exercises to learn. There are other versions of Tai Chi that have more than 100 exercises. Obviously it takes a great deal longer to learn and develop the muscle memory of the longer form.
When it comes to talking about war, our politicians and media are quite adept at simplifying the talking points they want us to remember. They would never think of pitching 100 talking points, we would never learn that. But their simplified narrative is all too easy to remember and accept. Unlike Tai Chi however, where a simplified version of the practice can be done without sacrificing the benefit, when we talk about war and leave out a significant part of the story, it is very damaging. And if we are ever to practice peace, we need to tell the full narrative of war.
Memorial Day
In memory,
not of the soldiers of war
who bear the false flag of patriotism,
the defenders of empire's entitlement,
but of the ones
our narrative wants to forget,
the collateral damage of battle
for whom there is no holiday,
no brass band,
no wreaths solemnly laid,
these are the ones we must remember.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.