I was talking to my wife about our High School experiences. She went to a small school and actually knew, personally, everyone she graduated with. My graduating class was over 500 and I didn't know more than 60 of them. She was a cheerleader, had lots of friends and was popular because she was and is so kind. I was NEVER popular. I was like anti-popular. That was ok. I had a constant friend that is still my friend. I'm writing about popularity because what I am going to write is MY truth and all too often the truth is very unpopular.
I'm thinking on this veterans day and I wonder if I run the risk of glorifying war by posting anything veterans related on my page? There runs the chance of being jingoistic and then there is a chance of a plain old "fuck the troops and the government they serve" type of postings I've seen today. The more trash I see and read online in social media and the news the more I think I just may be the real extremist.
If sharing ideas, embracing peace, encouraging alternative thinking and refusing to celebrate violence, coercion and death makes me "radical" or an "extremist" then so be it. If I focus on things that can benefit the Original People of Turtle Island rather than falling for this false hero worship that is all too often demanded within my own community and that makes me an outsider at least I can remain true to what is in my heart and how I see things.
Maybe it is time to re-evaluate and take time to think about America's veterans. Being Indian I have veterans coming out of the wazoo that have served in every single war and or "police action" since WW2. I love my Uncles and Aunties and brothers and sisters very much. On a personal level. As I have been blessed to hold many a deep and heartfelt conversation with them all I discovered that part of being in service to America and her whims and wars means you have to disassociate yourself from humanity just enough to harm and kill another in order to protect "freedom" when in reality you're just protecting America's moneyed interests. While you are sweating and or freezing in ill equipped armor or lodging the top 1% records record profits. Haliburton made over a TRILLION dollars on the war in Iraq.
The hero worship that is forced upon us requires that we not bring to mind that twenty-two veterans kill themselves everyday.
22 VETS COMMIT SUICIDE EVERY DAY IN AMERICA.
The hero worship requires us to ignore the 130,000 - 200,000 homeless vets on the streets of the nation they went to "protect". Ignore the overwhelming amount of PTSD that rages through our society unchecked because Veterans affairs is a fucking joke. Ignore the time and distance our loved ones are forced to endure because, like George Bush said, " They tired to kill my daddy". Ignore that there were no weapons of mass destruction but we get to sit here at home while our loved one is stomping around the desert praying just as hard as we are that they don't get killed. Ignore that our loved ones are forced to perpetuate violence against others and then have to live with that.
I'm not impressed enough to slap a magnet on my car or get a flag pin.
What kind of freedom is it exactly our veterans are fighting for when America has 4% of the worlds population yet we incarcerate 25% of the world's population? I'm thinking the best way to support our troops is firstly by NOT cutting their benefit like the Republicans often do, Maybe ensuring that they have proper armor and equipment and..........now this is RADICAL. How about NOT putting them in harms way in the first place so that the top 1% can collect 90% of the 1 trillion dollars that went into the Iraq war? How about not giving them shitty uniforms and exploiting and sacraficing them some fat sloppy wasicu can collect more profits?
Most don't think about it but terrorists are not born they are created and when I see more and more "collateral damage" , which is a bullshit way to say innocent person/people, on my television I can see where the person left who has witnessed this in the name of "freedom" has their heart grow black and cold it makes me think of them AND the next veteran that has to deal with them.
22 veterans kill themselves everyday. I want to support our troops by not making more. I don't have all the answers, shit I don't think I have any but I do have love and compassion for those that have served and are serving.
Got that off my chest and now I feel no better.............at least I tried!
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