On Veteran's/Remembrance Day
Nov. 11th, 2012 12:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lupagreenwolfCopypasta of a comment I made elsewhere that's relevant to today, it being Veteran's/Remembrance Day. There are the usual grumblings about "Let's not glorify war, let's focus on peace!" and using that as an excuse to try to turn the meaning of today completely away from its original purpose. So, my original comment:
It's easy to sit and say "They shouldn't have enlisted, they should have been brave enough for pacifism" when you were able to make other choices they didn't get to have. Here in the US, at least, many of the soldiers, especially those who AREN'T officers, went into the military because it was the only option that paid them better than minimum wage with good health care and guaranteed housing. A lot of them come from low income households, didn't have the privilege of a college education, and some are supporting the families that raised them with money they got from enlisting. And in this economy, the bad job market has made enlisting a more appealing option for more people, because in their minds at least it's better than nothing. If you have had choices other than dead-end jobs or the military, count yourself fortunate. For some people this was the only way out of starving on a McDonald's wage or getting health care for a spouse with a chronic medical condition (remember how utterly screwed up the American health "care" system is?)
Anyway, Veterans/Remembrance Day isn't about war. It's about remembering those who died in the line of duty. It's a day to honor the fact that there are millions of people who, just since WWI, have been permanently removed from this world fighting in wars they didn't start, and often didn't expect to be involved in. War sucks and I don't agree with it, but today is not a day to focus on war. It's a day to honor the dead, a military-specific Samhain if you will. People enlisted and fought for all sorts of reasons, and I feel it's disrespectful to those who fell to say "Oh, I'm just going to focus on the peacemakers instead". How many of those who died wished they could have been peacemakers instead, but had to go to war to feed their families? Mile in their combat boots and all that.
And lest we forget, here in the U.S. it's ALSO a day to honor those veterans who still *live*. Given that so many have wounds--many invisible--from their experiences, to focus on pacifism as a deliberate snub is even more of a slap in the face. Yes, pacifism, but not at the expense of those who had to make choices you may never have to face in your life.
It's easy to sit and say "They shouldn't have enlisted, they should have been brave enough for pacifism" when you were able to make other choices they didn't get to have. Here in the US, at least, many of the soldiers, especially those who AREN'T officers, went into the military because it was the only option that paid them better than minimum wage with good health care and guaranteed housing. A lot of them come from low income households, didn't have the privilege of a college education, and some are supporting the families that raised them with money they got from enlisting. And in this economy, the bad job market has made enlisting a more appealing option for more people, because in their minds at least it's better than nothing. If you have had choices other than dead-end jobs or the military, count yourself fortunate. For some people this was the only way out of starving on a McDonald's wage or getting health care for a spouse with a chronic medical condition (remember how utterly screwed up the American health "care" system is?)
Anyway, Veterans/Remembrance Day isn't about war. It's about remembering those who died in the line of duty. It's a day to honor the fact that there are millions of people who, just since WWI, have been permanently removed from this world fighting in wars they didn't start, and often didn't expect to be involved in. War sucks and I don't agree with it, but today is not a day to focus on war. It's a day to honor the dead, a military-specific Samhain if you will. People enlisted and fought for all sorts of reasons, and I feel it's disrespectful to those who fell to say "Oh, I'm just going to focus on the peacemakers instead". How many of those who died wished they could have been peacemakers instead, but had to go to war to feed their families? Mile in their combat boots and all that.
And lest we forget, here in the U.S. it's ALSO a day to honor those veterans who still *live*. Given that so many have wounds--many invisible--from their experiences, to focus on pacifism as a deliberate snub is even more of a slap in the face. Yes, pacifism, but not at the expense of those who had to make choices you may never have to face in your life.
no subject
on 2012-11-15 11:43 pm (UTC)1. It feels like it's been almost kidnapped from the veterans themselves. The vets are out there, on the streets, trying to marry people the same gender, and dealing with bad PTSD. It feels like those downsides are being treated as a guilt-trip, and we're seeing the same "oh yeah military HOOAH!" attitudes from mainstream America that we're used to hearing.
2. Very specifically, the rhetoric that these people are all heros and should be regarded as such makes me feel pressured to say/believe all the usual militaristic rhetoric - instead of remembering that these are just people who did a not-always-easy, sometimes-impossible job.
3. Similarly, the societal stuff about how we need to respect our heros seems to be dismissive of the holiday's origin in Armistice Day - especially bitter. The people who came out of WWI sincerely hoped this was going to be the last time, that nearly nobody would have to deal with the aftermath of that ever again.