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about war...
Sep. 8th, 2012 10:22 amI grew up during the Korean War, it made the news and even as a kid I was aware that men were dying in Korea. It was half a world away but I remember my dad taling to my mom about it at dinner. My dad was a veteran of WWII and did not like war, he considered it evil. He once told me that after Pearl Harbor there was a strong patriotic feeling and people lined up to enlist.He said he was caught up in that same feeling but he said after a year or two in the Army he hated every day. They had a drat and he figured he would get drafted if he didn't enlist.
I grew up with the Vietnam War. I became draft eligible at 18, in 1965. I was still in high school and didn't have to worry till I graduated in 1966. By that time the war was on the news every night. We also were starting to see fellow classmates names being added to the list of the war dead. I went on to college and because I was partying too much my GPA dropped below the threshold of 3.0 and I lost my student deferment. I knew my days were numbered, so I gave a lot of thought to heading to Canada. A few of my friends did. I gave up on that after seeing the ridicule and scorn their families suffered and looked at other ways to stay as far as possible from Vietnam. I enlisted in the Air Force as a way to keep from being a foot soldier. I was fortunate as my specialty that I was trained for was only assigned to europe, where I served till 1972.
In the days after 9/11 I recall how we all came together as a country. It was a very patriotic time. However there were those who saw this as an opportunity for war. This war was different than any war before. We did not have a draft, we had 'embedded journalist', thus the impact of the conflict on the public was kept to a minimum. This wasn't by accident but by design. The people in power and particularly the Pentagon has studied the Vietnam War and why they had been so soundly defeated and devised a plan. They did not want it to be part of the budget process, that would open the war to political debate. They didn't have a draft t deal with, so the impact on families would be limited to a lot less people. That minimized the local discussion and kept the dissent at a lower level. No person was forced to serve, they all volunteered. They had a big advantage with embedded journalists, they could control the news, thus the horrors of war were not on the six o'clock news.
Thus we are in a new era, where war is an industry that corporations run. In WWII industry geared up for the war as a patriotic move. American innovation saved the day. We had industry and manpower (and many women entered the workforce for the first time) to make the weapons to win. During Vietnam a new corporate entity came to the forefront, the defense contrator. Vietnam saw the rise of air power, with planes and bombs, helicopters and missiles developed to pound an enemy into submission. However there was a new anti war movement that was able to reach a majority of the citizens and after years of protest, draft resistance, and the targeting of these corporations public opinion was changed and the war ended with the defeat of the United States. Now the people and power understand that a people united can bring their agenda to a halt. Now they have kept the media in check, except for what has been released by Wikileaks, very little of what really happens has made it into the public arena. War has become a profit making enterprise and the average soldier has a better chance of survival through advances in battlefield medicine developed from the Vietnam War. Dissent is now becoming a criminal offense, and the police have become militarized to keep any dissent in check. Corporations now own the government, people are just there to work and sacrifice to provide profit. Wars are now for resources, not causes or political agendas, and the media has been tasked to mask the truth and convince people that we must fear... always fear those that are not like us. The media paints the picture and the public swallows the pill.
In conclusion...I don't know how we are going to shake out of this cycle. The average american is apathetic, and being played by both sides who share the same masters and values. You have a choice of a red or blue pill but the result is the same. Realty is that it will have to get a lot worse before it gets better. In some ways the climate crisis may be the catalyst for change, as this is seen as a threat to humanity as a whole, however it will be twisted more than once into an 'us vs. them' battle before people wake up and move to a better planet.
I grew up with the Vietnam War. I became draft eligible at 18, in 1965. I was still in high school and didn't have to worry till I graduated in 1966. By that time the war was on the news every night. We also were starting to see fellow classmates names being added to the list of the war dead. I went on to college and because I was partying too much my GPA dropped below the threshold of 3.0 and I lost my student deferment. I knew my days were numbered, so I gave a lot of thought to heading to Canada. A few of my friends did. I gave up on that after seeing the ridicule and scorn their families suffered and looked at other ways to stay as far as possible from Vietnam. I enlisted in the Air Force as a way to keep from being a foot soldier. I was fortunate as my specialty that I was trained for was only assigned to europe, where I served till 1972.
In the days after 9/11 I recall how we all came together as a country. It was a very patriotic time. However there were those who saw this as an opportunity for war. This war was different than any war before. We did not have a draft, we had 'embedded journalist', thus the impact of the conflict on the public was kept to a minimum. This wasn't by accident but by design. The people in power and particularly the Pentagon has studied the Vietnam War and why they had been so soundly defeated and devised a plan. They did not want it to be part of the budget process, that would open the war to political debate. They didn't have a draft t deal with, so the impact on families would be limited to a lot less people. That minimized the local discussion and kept the dissent at a lower level. No person was forced to serve, they all volunteered. They had a big advantage with embedded journalists, they could control the news, thus the horrors of war were not on the six o'clock news.
Thus we are in a new era, where war is an industry that corporations run. In WWII industry geared up for the war as a patriotic move. American innovation saved the day. We had industry and manpower (and many women entered the workforce for the first time) to make the weapons to win. During Vietnam a new corporate entity came to the forefront, the defense contrator. Vietnam saw the rise of air power, with planes and bombs, helicopters and missiles developed to pound an enemy into submission. However there was a new anti war movement that was able to reach a majority of the citizens and after years of protest, draft resistance, and the targeting of these corporations public opinion was changed and the war ended with the defeat of the United States. Now the people and power understand that a people united can bring their agenda to a halt. Now they have kept the media in check, except for what has been released by Wikileaks, very little of what really happens has made it into the public arena. War has become a profit making enterprise and the average soldier has a better chance of survival through advances in battlefield medicine developed from the Vietnam War. Dissent is now becoming a criminal offense, and the police have become militarized to keep any dissent in check. Corporations now own the government, people are just there to work and sacrifice to provide profit. Wars are now for resources, not causes or political agendas, and the media has been tasked to mask the truth and convince people that we must fear... always fear those that are not like us. The media paints the picture and the public swallows the pill.
In conclusion...I don't know how we are going to shake out of this cycle. The average american is apathetic, and being played by both sides who share the same masters and values. You have a choice of a red or blue pill but the result is the same. Realty is that it will have to get a lot worse before it gets better. In some ways the climate crisis may be the catalyst for change, as this is seen as a threat to humanity as a whole, however it will be twisted more than once into an 'us vs. them' battle before people wake up and move to a better planet.
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