More than just the usual "war is bad" platitudes.
I've thought of this memorial day the past two memorial days. I was going to close the shop a few hours early this memorial day and hang out with my family. A regular coustomers who is a veteran came in a few hours before close. I know the guy pretty well. I know he's a mess. He's told me many stories from his two tours in Iraq, some hilarious, others disturbingly macabre. He lost a job he loved this year over panic attacks related to his time in the service. He likes to stay until close. I stayed open. He didn't say much, which isn't like him, I didn't pry.
A year ago I went hiking. It was the Thursday before Easter, and weekdays in spring aren't known for being bush days in the woods. This day was no different. My plan (actually my backup plan, but that's another story) was to hike Nippletop and Dial mountains. As I'm gathering my gear at my car, a truck pulls in. The driver asks, "is this the trailhead for Nippletop?" We were the only two people on the mountain that day, and we happened to arrive a minute apart. He was a Marine veteran having served in Afghanistan. I told him I was former Army National Guard, quickly clarifying I never deployed. As we hiked together, he told me about messing up his knee. I forget how, but I think it was on duty. He went through rehab, and shortly after getting clearance to return to regular duty he messed it up again. Faced with a desk job or not re-enlisting, he opted to get out. He and his wife were splitting up. She was from the area. He wasn't, and he was living at the time on his in-laws' couch. He still referred to her as his wife. He said he wanted to climb all the mountains that summer. I used that as a way to open the subject of suicide. There's an organization in the area called 46 Climbs that uses mountain hiking as a fundraiser for suicide awareness and prevention. This was the first time I'd met someone where I thought he would kill himself. Not that day, but some day. He was well aware of the veteran suicide statistics, and my hope is an organization like 46 Climbs would give him an outlet as well as a safety net. He didn't have a map of the mountains, just a book on them. I gave him my extra map (I had three identical ones). We didn't exchange contact info, so I have no idea what he's up to. I think of him occasionally, and I hope he's ok.
I read a great article a couple of years ago that was talking about how traditional warrior cultures had great ways of re-integrating people into society. One of the things that helped was some kind of catharsis, usually with other vets. We're an extremely isolated culture at the best of times (and technology is certainly making this worse), and it's doubly hard to process something like wartime experiences when there's no longer any community to speak of when you get home.
Remember the Maine. And the Polish Invasion of Germany. And the Bay of Pigs. And the Liberation of Russian Crimeans. Not to mention that the US Military is now the biggest jobs program in the country. 2 million people (1.3 active, .7 reserve) work in the military. Or, the 10 months of continuous job growth that it would take just to get back to even if the military didn't employ a standing force. We have war because it's an effective way to advance political goals. That's it. There's no super moral way to look at it as the article asks for. Why does Russia hold Crimea? Why does the US have Texas? Because they took it by force. Simple. War is not complicated. It's probably the fastest way to decide who's 'right'. How long have the Israelis had to be diplomatic about their borders? Concering themselves with inches and settlement rights. But how long did it take for them to own the Sinai until they decided to be gracious and give it back. (Answer: Six Days)
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs, And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots, But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of gas-shells dropping softly behind. . Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time, But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime.— Dim through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. . In all my dreams before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. . If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,— My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.
Any guesses on how many more people need be implicated in the Russia probe before "we" decide to throw a match into the current game of Jenga on the Korean peninsula? Average Joe has apparently been duped into thinking Kim Jong Un's missiles could make it to Seattle and San Fran. Yes, yes, they sure could, if there weren't several dozen anti-ICBM networks all up and running right now. When it's convenient for re-frothing the masses, our massive military industrial complex doesn't even exist. At this point, I'm convinced that I could have more in common with the president of France than I do with most people in my country. We're ideologically fracturing on a global scale, here. Please mind your step.
A couple of things come to mind here. The ABM stuff is actually a perfect example of this. We funnel money into one group of government contractors to protect us. If it works, then we feel safer. If it doesn't, then we get to spend more money. Meanwhile, we've somehow gotten the idea that we should keep spending money on it despite the fact that it doesn't work. But there does seem to be an attempt by Trump&Co. to work us up over N. Korea. The problem is that they've pissed off everyone who would actually make this possible: the press and the intelligence community. The only question now is who's going to be bit on the ass by this first: us or him. Sorta, and I'm inclined to agree. But your phrasing it as a global split is kind of a reminder: our one country is basically the size and population of Europe with probably more cultural diversity. It's natural that things are going to be chaotic, and that's how things were set up: we're actually doing the much harder thing IMO.Korea and nukyoolar missiles.
France.
I'm suspicious of any society where patriotism is easy. Worst still if it's a commodity.