2008 Memorial Day

Of my three score and ten I have seen many Memorial Day celebrations to honor the brave, and, to honor even those who were not so brave, but who made the ultimate sacrifice. Actually, most of them did not sacrifice their lives. Their lives were taken from them violently. They may have volunteered to fight, but they assessed the risk, and hoped they would return safely. They hoped to receive honors, emoluments and girls.

Since 1971 Memorial Day has been on the last Monday of May to create a three day weekend for the travel industry. http://www.usmemorialday.org/ This has led to many barbecues, parties, and promotional events that have little to do with honoring the military people who fought in wars. This has not detracted from the need for the cable companies and the other media to fill time in a 24 hour media day.

Memorial Day used to be celebrated locally. Now it is celebrated nationally with hours of videos of wars and hours of interviews with veterans. No matter how many I watch, I see the glorification and promotion of war in almost all of these. One must listen carefully to see any discussion of the causes of war. The promoters of war, the military/industrial/congressional complex, say Memorial Day is a time to honor the dead, not a time for a political discussion on the causes of war. War gives the state purpose. These war lovers never want to discuss the causes of war. They just love war. They do not need a reason for war, they just need an excuse. The more veterans we create the more veterans and dependents there are who demand a national day of gratitude to them.

These war lovers use Memorial Day as a means to recruit young men by exploiting the feelings of young men who are drifting in a life without meaning. Memorial Day reminds these young men of a place where they can become important, even in death.

Every country has their day to remember those who "sacrificed" for the homeland, the king, god, etc. Could both sides in the war between Germans and Russians be right in honoring those who fought to defend Hitler and Stalin?

Throughout history every tribal chief and witch doctor has told their tribe that an aggressive tribe over the hill in the next valley is planning on a raid and will capture our women and children so---we must strike first, in the name of freedom! They tell the young warriors to fight for freedom. If they die they will be honored, and if they live, they will get the girls, and the GI Bill.

U.S. leaders pontificate each Memorial Day about how our veterans fought for freedom in Korea, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Grenada, Bosnia, and Iraq. The North Koreans had no ability to invade the United States and take away our freedoms. Neither did the North Vietnamese, or Saddam Hussein. No Tyrant will invade the United States and take away our freedoms. We will give them away, meekly and slowly, one election at a time.

Thirty eight thousand U. S. service men were killed in Korea to preserve our freedoms. Despite a draw, in the fifty years since, no North Koreans have come to the U. S. and been elected to any political position to take away our freedoms.

Fifty eight thousand men lost their lives in Vietnam fighting to preserve our freedoms. A Million Vietnamese were killed. The North Vietnamese won the war but they did not invade the United States and take away our freedoms. So what was all the suffering for? Nothing.

When the southern states seceded from the union, the northern states used force and aggression to "unite" the states. After World War Two the United States used force and aggression to "divide" Korea and Vietnam! When those two countries wanted to be united again, the United States used force and aggression to keep them divided! Untold horrors happened in these wars because men's egos got in the way of their reasoning power.

Lydia Sicher once said: "Wars are inevitable... as long as we believe that wars are inevitable. The moment we don't believe it anymore it is not inevitable."

Throughout human history males have fought for the right to breed. This basic animal behavior can still be seen in a troop of Baboons. Modern 'civilized' humans mask this natural trait with words such as; valor, bravery, sacrifice, duty, honor, etc, but, the basic cause for war, not the excuses, is the male's desire to mate.

This desire to mate exacerbates the need for war in countries that practice polygamy and in countries who abort female fetuses. The disproportionate number or males to females in these countries is a time bomb for war. If there were four females for each male there would be fewer wars. This natural trait of the young males is exploited by the war industry, the defense industry, labor unions, and the religious missionaries. No matter how often philosophers remind the young males of the horrors of war, the young males cannot help themselves. They drape themselves in a flag, any flag of any nation, play the bugle, and charge, knowing they will be "honored" on Memorial Day.

We made dueling illegal. We made slavery illegal. Now it is time we made war illegal.

Here is a salute to those young men who tried to do the right thing. To those young men who trusted older men, please forgive us.

Bilbo Baggins, a veteran

"A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it." ~ Oscar Wilde