Veterans Day/ Thank You and OP/ED

[The Grand Nudger]

Emotional strength, lol. It's not that hard Brian, you point the business end at the other guy - you could totally do it.  Thx tho, anyway.

[I_am_not_mafia]

Great suggestion Thumpalumpacus. Yeah, everybody get up on that soapbox and exercise your freedom of speech. That's what its all about. That ought to be a Veteran's Day tradition. Get loud and obnoxious - even if what you have to say is anti-veterans. Some people will get pissed but the people who did military service for the right reasons will understand.

I hate war and I especially hate the glorification of it. But I also hate how war veterans are badly treated, especially by the British government. Or for example the animosity towards Vietnam vets because it reminded the public that their country had lost a war.

I like the idea of getting on a soapbox and exercising the freedom of speech, but not for just one day of the year but for all days of the year. That way other countries may avoid having to send off their own men to die to stop your own country from being tyrannical.

What makes me nervous though is how remembrance day / veterans day can become highly politicised. It's a small step from honouring the soldiers that sacrificed themselves to glorifying the armed services so that politicians can attract another batch of young lives to secure resources and influence around the world so that the politicians can enjoy their jobs that little bit more. Because ultimately, that's always what war comes down to. The egos of some leaders and securing / grabbing resources. Unfortunately, since Tony Blair, we have crossed that line in the UK.

[Minimalist]

War is a game which were their subjects wise, kings would not play at. ~William Cowper

“A prince must not have any other object nor any other thought… but war, its institutions, and its discipline; because that is the only art befitting one who commands.”

― Niccolò Machiavelli

Machiavelli seems to be winning.

[abaris]

What makes me nervous though is how remembrance day / veterans day can become highly politicised.

That's how I feel about it too. It's propaganda at it's purest. Even more so, if you look at how they treat the actual veterans. A feelgood event to push a political agenda. Void of any actual meaning.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Indeed, Mathilda, when I say thank us by exercising your rights (general you, I know you're in the UK), I mean every day.

[AFTT47]

Great suggestion Thumpalumpacus. Yeah, everybody get up on that soapbox and exercise your freedom of speech. That's what its all about. That ought to be a Veteran's Day tradition. Get loud and obnoxious - even if what you have to say is anti-veterans. Some people will get pissed but the people who did military service for the right reasons will understand.

I like the idea of getting on a soapbox and exercising the freedom of speech, but not for just one day of the year but for all days of the year. That way other countries may avoid having to send off their own men to die to stop your own country from being tyrannical.

What makes me nervous though is how remembrance day / veterans day can become highly politicised. It's a small step from honouring the soldiers that sacrificed themselves to glorifying the armed services so that politicians can attract another batch of young lives to secure resources and influence around the world so that the politicians can enjoy their jobs that little bit more.

I guess that could happen. I don't recall politicians here using Veteran's Day in that manner although there was a call for "supporting the troops" during Bush Lite's Iraq war that was politicized in that way. It comes down to voters calling the politicians out on it.

[Cato]

Just to clarify my previous post, my rant is aimed at the politicians who send good people off to die for the sake of political cock waving.

Invasion of Poland = political cock waving. Got it.

I agree with the sentiment, but consider your example poor.

[Brian37]

The sentiments are appreciated, Brian, thanks.

If you want to thank a veteran, the best thing you can do is vigorously exercise your rights.

DON'T YOU TELL ME WHAT TO DO!...........Note to self, did I think that, or type it? 

Absolutely! Why do you think I have that avatar?

[Brian37]

If we had no military we'd be speaking German right now.

It was the Britain and France that declared war on Germany, not the other way round. Hitler had no interest in going west, he was looking east. We chose to fight with one dictator (Stalin) against another dictator (Hitler). We should have just left Germany and Russia to fight it out. Stalin was responsible for a greater number of deaths than Hitler when the allies declared war.

Besides, Germany is now economically strong because it hasn't been burdened with a military for so long after the second world war. One reason why it's so important for me to learn the German language right now.

So? How about considering they did that because they saw the writing on the wall and that Hitler was a fucking dick.  What would have prevented his rise is if the Allies hadn't left Germany to rot after the first world war. Hitler is still ultimately to blame for WW2. 

But this is also the same failure our species has in understanding that the best tactic is to think ahead so that conditions don"t lead humans to get to the point of desperation. On a global business scale Bill Gates along with climate change scientists know that if we don't slow down and reverse this pollution, it will continue to affect global resources to the point of a global nuclear war. If we manage to survive as a species, the aftermath will leave us in the stone age even more tribal than we are now.

[Brian37]

There are two key things that that are the biggest key humans need to do to avoid ending the ride before nature does it on it's own. We need to stop the global hording of wealth and drastically reduce pollution. The sooner the better. It is my hope that more global businesses, instead of looking at it as doom and gloom, look at it as an opportunity to problem solve.