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Over glorify? No. But, serving in the military or being a vet does not make a person prefect or excuse them from bad acts. Same for police and firefighters. We need be publicly grateful but they aren't gods so we do not need to worship them. There is a difference and most of time we strike the right balance. During Vietnam we didn't.
Glorify? Yes. But even worse, the U.S. spends WAY too much money on "defense".
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hope of its children."
-----Dwight D. Eishenhower
Although many of the founding fathers were opposed to maintaining a standing army, a major reason the anti-federalists came up with the second amendment.
I'm very surprised at the number of yes's. I thought I'd be getting patriotic brick-bats by now for even broaching the subject.
Well you could take this thread into a whole new direction with that one, in light of current events.
It's an awkward balance but so is the Consitution.
I'm very surprised at the number of yes's. I thought I'd be getting patriotic brick-bats by now for even broaching the subject.
I'm assuming those posters are all out buying their new guns.
I think a certain amount of the glorification now is atonement for ignoring the Vietnam vets when they came home. And the general lack of patriotic rah-rah during Vietnam. Plus it's a volunteer Army now so a certain amount of selling people on the job of being a soldier is needed.
Of course we glorify the military. We are a violent culture who invades nations who pose no threat to us based on lies and deceit all while pounding our chest and declaring how patriotic we are.
Dumb Americans think that we are a global leader through military might, but the rest of the world does not admire our military. They admire our freedoms, our opportunity, our democratic institutions that are transparent and serve society, our government that provides a basic safety net for our elderly, disabled, and children, our ingenuity, and our equality.
However, as America becomes less unequal and we cater to the bankers who crashed the global economy, attack senior citizens, the disabled, the poor, as economic mobility reflects a caste system, and as our democratic institutions become corrupt and serve the few rather than society, America loses its global power. All we have left for the world to admire is a gigantic, aggressive military that wages wars on third world countries who pose no threat to us.
Who wants to emulate a nation that leads the world in selling arms and incarceration?
I don't agree that the new found praise for the military was because of some remorse to how Viet Nam vets were treated. I was in during the 80's and the military was not well liked by civililians in general. It seems after Desert Storm the pendulum swung the other way and then of course 911 took it all the way up.
I don't agree that the new found praise for the military was because of some remorse to how Viet Nam vets were treated. I was in during the 80's and the military was not well liked by civililians in general. It seems after Desert Storm the pendulum swung the other way and then of course 911 took it all the way up.
It swung the other way because Vietnam Vets made a conscious and coordinated effect to make sure the military coming home from Desert Storm got treated better than they were. And, yes, a lot of people---especially those of us who lived through those times---did jump on the band wagon out of guilt. As a society we grew up and came to a better understanding of that war with all its complications and repercussions.
Last edited by Wayland Woman; 12-29-2012 at 03:37 PM..
We didn't always act this way. A lot of it comes from this nonsensical guilt trip that we mistreated Vietnam Vets (which isn't true), so now we have to overcompensate by saying that every damn thing about the military is good. WW2 vets didn't come home to a picnic either after all they'd seen in Europe and Asia.
As a vet, i can tell you that it's a load of bull. There are some good things about the military and veterans. But definitely not everything.
The very same far left lefties who spat upon our returning Vietnam Veterans now deny that it happened. Anyone remember hanoi jane fonda, or john kerry? Many, many lefties called our proud troops baby killers and yes, they were spat upon when they came home.
The Vietnam Veterans were also mistreated by the VFW when they came home. That's why you now have the Vietnam Veterans of America, and the VFW is dying off.
I don't think you can ever over glorify our service personnel who actually saw combat.
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