Wisdoms from the Journey - Vol VIII (Jan thru Oct 2014)

Scum & Villainy …
(08/24/2014)
Well, it looks like our "leaders" are trying to start another futile &
counterproductive war in the Middle East. God bless our politicians; for they
know not what they do -- literally.
"If we really saw war, if we really saw what war does to young minds and
bodies, it would be impossible to embrace the myth of war. If we had to stand over
the mangled corpses of schoolchildren killed in Afghanistan and listen to the wails
of their parents, we would not be able to repeat the hollow and misleading clichés
we use to justify war. And this is why our wars are so carefully sanitized. This is
why we are shown war's perverse and dark thrills but are spared from seeing
war's true & utter consequences ... The mythic visions of war keep it heroic and
entertaining -- while the wounded, the crippled, and the dead are, in this great &
shameless charade, swiftly carted offstage. For they are war's refuse ... We do not
see them. We do not hear them. They are doomed, like wandering spirits, to float
around the hazy edges of our consciousness -- ignored, and sometimes even
reviled. For the truth-filled message they tell us is simply too painful for us to
hear: that war is a sham; that war is a fallacy; that war is organized murder; that
war only creates more war. So we sit back and celebrate ourselves & our nation
instead -- by imbibing the myths of glory, and honor, and patriotism, and heroism
... words that in combat become empty and meaningless ... words that encourage
callousness & violence & cruelty ... words that are therefore the essence of evil."
~ inspired by Chris Hedges
69