Is everyone who wears a military uniform a hero? Or just the ones born on the same piece of dirt that we were? How about Canadians? Brits? Are they heroes? How about Germans? They are allies and in the EU....heroes also? How about Germans 70 years ago? It sounds really great and patriotic to wave the flag simply because of which piece of dirt someone was born on... but sometimes patriotism can cross the line to blind nationalism. When we say that our guys are heroes we are really saying is that our piece of dirt special. We are saying that anyone who wears a military uniform for the state is uniquely heroic and that everyone else, even if born just miles from our borders, is worth less than our guys are worth and less heroic, special or deserving of praise...and maybe thats true, but it should depend on the mission and specific policies of the nation should it not? So why is this? Because our system is believed by most of us to be the best system and our politicians giving orders to fight and kill are deemed by many of our citizens to be more valid than the next guy. [This is kind of ironic because most people dont like or trust or respect politicians much anyway, so its surprising they defend their choices with such vigor.] But guess what? The Brits, the Mexicans, the Canadians, Malaysians, Russians, Chinese the Afghans and yes, the Germans of both today and 70 years ago all ALSO think that their guys are the real heroes and their system and politicians are better. This is the nature of nationalism and its greatest beneficiary is also its greatest promoter: the state itself. If people started thinking of themselves more has humans and less by what piece of dirt they align with then they might start questioning more about the actual policies and action of their politicians and the orders given to the troops. If we did this, all of us worldwide, the politicians would not be happy, theyd lose a bit of power....but wed have a whole lot less death in the world. Its fine to say your guys are the best ....just have a real and substantive answer when someone asks why?.
Posted on: Thu, 22 May 2014 11:55:54 +0000
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