Such a complicated holiday. How to ignore the thousands (if not more) lives taken in the name of Freedom when we know, for a fact, that most often U.S. foreign interventions have been profit-driven? How to ignore that participation in the U.S. military is how many, many families of color came out of poverty, that many, many people were forced to join, or that many entered truly believing they were doing so for a greater good? How to ignore that many, many veterans now live or have died abandoned by the very country that, for a day, claims to celebrate them yet could not be bothered to rise up and demand homes, health care, a living wage for the many Veterans who are homeless, standing on street corners with their hands extended while we drive on by in our Veterans Day Sale-purchased vehicles. How does one reconcile the great contradictions of a day that at once encompasses the decimation of lives around the globe, attempts to honor the lives of those who serve(d), and ignores the gross conditions Veterans are relegated to in the name of patriotism? I do not have answers, only questions. And the hope that one day militarism will become obsolete. Blessings to the individuals and families who have taken part in the U.S. military and blessings to the individuals and families who have suffered at the hands of U.S. foreign policy.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 18:29:41 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015