Patch
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Patch Thinks on War
Well 40 years ago this summer, I was in Southeast Asia (Vietnam and Thailand) from
March thru most of Sept. 1965.
Ever since then I tried defining why we go to war. What makes us volunteer, what reasons? Romanticism, watching John Wayne movies? I think most young guys go for the fun of it, adventure, knowing going into the armed service will be like no other experience one is ever likely to have in life.
But what do we fight for? Two things always come up.
1. Freedom
2. The American Way of Life.
Freedom; I thought was easy. Freedom to me is the Constitution in general and the Bill of Rights in particular. The Bill of Rights defines American freedom to my mind. We keep these rights and we the people remain free. That’s why the Patriot Act and other laws being passed to fight terrorism is so scary, they all attack these rights. Without these rights are we free? There is a lot of things in the Patriot Act that attack these rights but the worse is that the act is being made permanent. Pass laws that lets your government operate in secret and you no longer have freedom, just letting our government operate in secret as we are now doing and freedom disappears, laws or no laws. We should allow no law defeat the Bill of Rights and limit the amount of secrets that we allow the government to operate in.
American Way of Life; Now this one is a tough one, I haven’t been able to defined it to myself in 40 years of trying. (The first 21 years I was too busy getting the American Way of Life to wonder exactly what it was.)
Just what is the American Way of Life and why is it worth fighting and dying over? Like it’s been said, I can’t define it but I know when I see it, is about as close as I can come. I guess the best way is to look at any war we are being ask to fight and ask two questions, one, will this preserve American Freedom, and two, will it preserve the American Way of Life. If the answer to both questions is yes, then one should support/fight the war, if the answer is no, then one should resist/not fight.
What I see that we Americans are doing in this fight against terrorism is trading one for the other, Freedom as represented in the Bill of Rights, for the American Way of Life. We need to wakeup and realize that we can’t have one without the other. Surly we Americans can defeat terrorism without giving up either one or the other.
Comments are welcome.
Patch
March thru most of Sept. 1965.
Ever since then I tried defining why we go to war. What makes us volunteer, what reasons? Romanticism, watching John Wayne movies? I think most young guys go for the fun of it, adventure, knowing going into the armed service will be like no other experience one is ever likely to have in life.
But what do we fight for? Two things always come up.
1. Freedom
2. The American Way of Life.
Freedom; I thought was easy. Freedom to me is the Constitution in general and the Bill of Rights in particular. The Bill of Rights defines American freedom to my mind. We keep these rights and we the people remain free. That’s why the Patriot Act and other laws being passed to fight terrorism is so scary, they all attack these rights. Without these rights are we free? There is a lot of things in the Patriot Act that attack these rights but the worse is that the act is being made permanent. Pass laws that lets your government operate in secret and you no longer have freedom, just letting our government operate in secret as we are now doing and freedom disappears, laws or no laws. We should allow no law defeat the Bill of Rights and limit the amount of secrets that we allow the government to operate in.
American Way of Life; Now this one is a tough one, I haven’t been able to defined it to myself in 40 years of trying. (The first 21 years I was too busy getting the American Way of Life to wonder exactly what it was.)
Just what is the American Way of Life and why is it worth fighting and dying over? Like it’s been said, I can’t define it but I know when I see it, is about as close as I can come. I guess the best way is to look at any war we are being ask to fight and ask two questions, one, will this preserve American Freedom, and two, will it preserve the American Way of Life. If the answer to both questions is yes, then one should support/fight the war, if the answer is no, then one should resist/not fight.
What I see that we Americans are doing in this fight against terrorism is trading one for the other, Freedom as represented in the Bill of Rights, for the American Way of Life. We need to wakeup and realize that we can’t have one without the other. Surly we Americans can defeat terrorism without giving up either one or the other.
Comments are welcome.
Patch
Comments:
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Patches, I served because of my love and sense of obligation to this great country ! I think the American way is the best way!!!However, I wouldn't lift a finger to help out with what's going on now!!!This is not American !!! Pre-emptive war is NOT American!!Being held without charges indefinitely is NOT American!!!Invading and occupying other countries without REAL justification is NOT American !!!Spying on it's own citizens is NOT American!!!!Being silenced because one doesn't support these things is NOT American!!!This America is the America I so proudly served, but this administration is NOT American, and I offer NO support !!
Yes the greastest threat to American freedom comes from it's own government not terrorist. terrorist can only terrorize American reaction to terrorist is the key to winning or losing a war with them. How can we win a war against freedom by giving up freedom? Example; spying on library patrons, with everyone in the world with access to the internet, our government is worried about what books we read in libraries .
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