Yellow Ribbons
November 27, 2007
Think about honor, and what it means to be honorable. A simple definition of honor is 'honesty, fairness, or integrity in ones beliefs and actions.' In spite of the fact that we all intrinsically understand these principles, that is, honesty, fairness and integrity, I'm going to continue in this vein for a moment. All three of these principles rely on each other for meaning. In the common definition of each of these words at least one of the other two, (or a derivative thereof), is used to clarify and support meaning . Integrity, or to have integrity, is defined as 'adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty'. Is it then possible, to be an honorable person while failing to adhere to your personal moral and ethical principles, or failing to embody integrity in your beliefs and actions? It doesn't seem so; in fact it is quite contrary to the very definitions of the words. It is then reasonable to suppose that an honorable, integral individual acts more or less in alignment with their personal convictions. Let me show you where I'm going with this. It is common today to "Support Our Troops" whether or not you support the war effort. Let me first point out that the United States Military, much like any other organization, at its core is made up entirely of sentient individuals capable of making decisions. As I'm sure we are all aware, certain decisions in life, particularly those made while in the service of a military organization, can produce dire consequences. At this point I'm certain that my point is clear; any individual who is fighting the war in Iraq and elsewhere is either morally and ethically convicted to do so, or is acting dishonorably and without integrity because of the fear of consequences, or is acting dishonorably and without integrity for other reasons. Now, if you both support the war and support our troops, the things that I have to say to you are not covered in this particular argument. If, however, you do not support the war, but do support the troops, this can mean one of a few things about you: a) You support individuals who willingly perform acts that they consider immoral, b) You support individuals who honorably perform acts that you yourself consider immoral (or at least do not support), c) You support individuals who perform acts out of fear and coercion. If you do not fall under any of those three categories, it is likely that you merely feel bad for the troops, rather than support them, (I'll spare you the definition of support). Claiming that you support things that you in reality, do not, sends mixed signals to our troops and empowers our government. If you do not support the war, please, do not "Support Our Troops".
Tags for this piece: army opinion war
Yordan says:
November 28, 2007
Good point Eric, but you have to remember we are all just following the herd, eating any shit they'll feed us. Everything is just to make money, I am going to start making ribbons that say "Support Whores"
Eric says:
November 29, 2007
One reason that Americans allow such ridiculous money grubbing wars to continue is that many of us intentionally, whether consciously or not, convolute the responsibility with the most complicated and vague entity possible - the political machine. It's easy to say it's the governments fault, to shirk responsibility first from your own shoulders and then from the soldiers shoulders. As if voting is your ticket to ignorance. Uncle Sam is only the people that make him up, and they can be held responsible, one by one.
Your Name says:
December 04, 2007
Interesting. Just curious here: what about the typical lower-middle-class 18 yr old who has done nothing useful with his life. Long hair. Substance till his mind is gone in the morning till say, 12 pm or 1 pm or never. Wakes up one day and wants to be a part of something more. Something that puts shape on his bones and dignity and if nothing else gets him laid and gets him knocking somebody piss and shit -less and proves he is good at things. Then this guy is in Iraq. Or maybe not. Or maybe his friend's guts are all over something... like his shirt. Not saying I buy the war bullshit at all. Just curious. Is it fair for this guy's mother and aunt and grandpa to say I support the troops? They probably don't know shit anyway. It's a very interesting point but I think it may be picking the wrong fight with the wrong asshole.
Eric says:
December 06, 2007
Good point. First of all, adults are accountable for their decisions. It's debatable, depending on mental stability and maturity and whatnot whether an eighteen year old is capable of making decisions in their life - true. However, it is one of the recruiters responsibilities to assess the individual in question and assure they are capable of taking responsibility for their decisions, that they are in essence, an adult. We'll assume here that they actually do this effectively. I still do not feel that it's fair for anyones mother, aunt, or grandpa to say that they support the troops unless they actually do, and understand what that implicates - either support for the war, for their sons / nephews / grandsons poor decision, or for loyalty to immoral obligations due to coercion. It's fair to say that you support your son / nephew / grandson coming home, but not our "troops". I think that the hypothetical (or maybe not?) individual you describe in the above situation has victimized himself through poor decisions, and a will power too weak to exercise in the face of the facade that is military authority. My fight is with the individual(s) who point their weapons at people and pull the trigger with only the vaguest and most politically manufactured idea of U.S. motives. I think that's the right asshole.
David says:
December 07, 2007
I really wish you would use paragraphs in your writing, its really hard to read text so dense.
Eric says:
December 09, 2007
I hate dialogue in paragraphs. It's so broken up. I'll try to throw some paragraphs in some future stuff though.
Boo says:
January 12, 2008
Your comments rock my world.