Reflections on Veterans Day

Going through my e-mail this Veterans Day morning I was swamped with message after message urging me to thank a veteran, remember a veteran, or express my appreciation of and gratitude for veterans. Most of these e-mails were from progressive groups opposed to endless war, American imperialism, war crimes, and a militaristic foreign policy, not to mention the budgetary consequences of said militarism. Why is it, I asked myself, that progressives who condemn American militarism, are so grateful to those who implement and carry out these very policies and practices?

The convenient piece of ethical doggerel is that we cannot expect soldiers to be responsible for the wars in which they kill and maim. They must take orders from those society deems their superiors. This argument might even hold water when we had the draft. Even then a common protest mantra was “What if they had a war and no one came?” As conscientious objectors became objects of abuse there was flight to Canada. The point is that these days there is absolutely no excuse for serving the aggression of an imperialistic state, which launches unprovoked attacks and subjects prisoners and its own citizens to torture. Yet, we are told to honor the veterans who visited these horrors on enemy and civilian alike.

These are the self-deceptions and their brutal consequences of a mindless, hype-saturated, highly delusional society after 14 years (and counting) of continuous war.

Somebody has to break this highly destructive cycle. Progressives, with their concern for human welfare, should be the countervailing force. That they are not is testament to the power of societal brainwashing.

Even Bernie Sanders has refused to connect the dots. He is against our endless wars, yet he prides himself on his record of supporting veterans’ assistance. Even he will not publicly ask himself whether volunteering for military service to imperialism should be a cause for honor and concern.

A democracy is ultimately governed by its people. This means that citizens of a democracy have a responsibility to evaluate evidence just as those whom they elect to carry out their wishes are expected to weigh all the consequences of their decisions. Submitting ourselves to continuous conventional propaganda instead of looking at things as they are, obviously results in unacknowledged crime and violence.

I realize the above argument expects a high level of citizen responsibility, but with the future we have before us, the unprecedented threats to humanity and its continued existence require unprecedented actions on the part of humanity. The response we must undertake in dealing with these, makes child’s play of changing our attitudes regarding war and those that fight them.

Bob  Newhard