At what point does military worship become dangerous?

There are varying degrees of military worship - the Third Reich practically turned the SS into gods among men in propaganda.

Then you can go to countries like Costa Rica that do not even have an army.

We are somewhere in between the two, but at times I fear the constant military tie ins on the news is taking us in this direction.

I don't think military worship is a safe road for us to travel. To be completely honest, it is relatively new to Americans - it wasn't always so.

IT seemed like it started during WWII but never ended when the war did.

"Support the Troops" has become a litmus test for many, and any time an atrocity caused by them happens, many are stumbling over each other to point out this was "one bad apple" and certainly "there is no problem with the rest of the barrel so please stop looking over there."

And it is a form of blind faith.

I realize not every person in the military commits atrocities.

But you take men and women, at their prime physical peak years, train them to kill in the most efficient way possible - what would you expect? That they wouldn't climb over that metaphorical bridge from "killing under orders and "killing?"

Sadly, it seems every decade we become more militarized, more of a threat to the world and ourselves. Let's not kid ourselves - this is what killed the USSR. It wasn't Reagan, and it wasn't Nixon, but they killed themselves by over-militarizing and overreaching.

To the military worshippers out there, let me suggest a reading. It was written by a veteran of several wars who rose to the rank of Major General. His name was Smedly Butler, and the book he wrote was "War is a Racket."


I suggest you take a look....


http://lmgtfy.com/?q=war+is+a+racket+by+smedly+butler

I am an Anarchist. Not a "Libertarian" or a "Galtist" but an Anarchist.

That means I think we need to rid ourselves of leaders. Not laws.

Anarchism, the most misunderstood theory, argues that man does not need leaders.

They are fine with police, fire and medical.

But leaders? Fuck 'em.

All they do is bring down productivity, instill fear in their workers and act like a king.

I want a flat system, dammit

Egalitarian

All as one

Tom Clay..What The World Needs Now (Abraham,Martin and John)

What were you doing when John Lennon was killed?

I heard about it in the morning from the radio show I listened to every morning. I was a Beatle fan. And I was ten.

All my life, the Beatles were the only rock band my parents listened to - hence, it was the only rock band I listened to.

I remember dancing myself sick to "Hey Jude," hearing the melody to "Ticket to Ride" every time I took a roller coaster and thinking Pepperland, from the movie, must have been the coolest place in the world.

So when I heard that John, the smart Beatle, was gunned down senselessly on the morning of Dec 8, 1980 - I couldn't help but cry.

I ran in and told my parents. My dad was disinterested and my mom felt sad, but life goes on.

That's what I was doing.

What were you doing?

What we can learn from our Silent Generation parents...

I've been trying to decode my parents for years. I'm GenX, and they are Silent Gen. Straight out of Mad Men: Mom was a flight attendant in the 60s, before air travel was horrible, and being part of an airline held a certain status. Dad was a cop, in the sixties, in San Francisco, during all of that.

Their code, just as every generation has some code of ethics, was unique. They were able to grow up during the war and depression, thus strengthening them, and come of age in a time of plenty. As far as I can tell, the collective values seemed to be:

1 - Religion. Everybody goes to church. Even if you hate it or don't believe. You just show up and attend Sundays.

2 - Family. The Father is the head of the household. Pure Pater Familias stuff here: children and wife are a form of property. As head, the male makes the important decisions.

3 - Music. Something much more soothing than the Swing music their parents listened to: Percy Faith, Perry Como, etc. You want something to play at parties for the purpose of stimulating conversations.

4 - Parties. Parties were a big part of our parent's lives. They weren't just about drinking, although they did have a lot of that. They were about social gatherings, and pecking orders. One party could get one into the right clubs, the right organizations, etc. When choosing guests, the higher up the pecking order the better.

5 -Outward personality. It was go along to get along. You didn't speak your mind, and after speaking with someone for hours, you still couldn't tell their religion or politics.

6 - Children. Children were to be seen and not heard. You didn't teach them anything yourself, but expected them to figure it out.

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So from these values, and from our parents' experiences - what can we learn?

What mistakes can we avoid, and which ones can we utilize?

And - is there something beyond this in the reading of our parents that I am missing?

My dreams tell me I need to go South, and into my dreams...

That is, into the world that is my nighttime dreams

Which is kind of complicated

There is an established order in my dreams

There is also a DISORDER

And reality being reality, I know I cannot enter them

Rather than in dreams....

Did Anonymous set up a firewall that prevented Rove from stealing the election?

Pretty straightforward

Sixto Rodriguez - I Wonder

These Days by Glen Campbell

What should I call my debut album?

I've been working on it for almost a year now, and I'm almost finished. I'm at that point where I'm already writing songs for the next one.

So....what should I call it?