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Patriotic Sentiment

By Bruce R.

Here's my raw reaction to this video: http://www.youtube.com/v/ervaMPt4Ha0&autoplay=1 I'm sure my reaction was not the intent of the creator. (If the video is no longer available, it showed scenes of soldiers, alive away from home, and coming home alive or in coffins. Captions point out these are someone's: husband, wife, son, boyfriend, girlfriend, father, etc.)

It was a well done video. It showed that the soldiers are human. But that is beside the point.

I'm angry that that their humanness is used against us. The implication is that their humanness, makes the cause just. But that is beside the point! People do what they have to, for their "job". Some can see "the big picture" and move to other jobs. Some see that that it wouldn't matter--others would just take their place. They can still be loving humans, even if they torture, kill, or terrorize others.

Even the most evil people can be caring and loving. One of Saddam Husain's hobbies was writing romance novels. But that is beside the point.

The message in the video was transparent to me, because it was one sided. It shows the humanness of the soldiers, but what of the civilians around them. Where was their humanness shown? I do not like to be manipulated.

My dad joined the Navy during Vietnam when I was in the 6'th grade. He was gone for 9 months, back for 3, then gone for 9 more months. I think I wrote 3 letters to him. I felt guilty, but I cried and hung onto him tightly when he came home each time. (Have you ever seen a ship come home with a thousand men on it? Families cling to each other for many long minutes, not the bits you see in movies or the news.) But that's beside the point. I didn't even know there was a war going on until the 7'th grade. It didn't change how I felt about my dad being gone. It was beside the point!

Put the attention where it is needed the most; our humanness is a given. It should not be used to divide us more. It is our collective inhuman organizations that need attention. Do not ever love or trust organizations. The larger the group the more inhuman. The individuals in organizations are beside the point!

The only modern structure that has controlled large organizations: the rule of law and balancing the power of organizations, so that their inhuman traits will not dominate humans.

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