From the greatest generation to gen-x we have a habit of naming things and my vote for this decade is “Fearful Generation”. Since 9/11 politicians have won elections, passed liberty restricting laws and started wars using the fear of many Americans. They’ve exploited the dead of 9/11 to start a war in Iraq that has done nothing but make corporations rich while thousands of families mourn the loss of their loved ones and people putting their lives on the line have to worry about problems at home like losing their house or their family going hungry because while corporations like Halliburton have made billions off of the wars the people on the front line have seen their benefits cut and stagnant wages that require some to go on food stamps and fear if they get injured they won’t get the care they need.
America has faced these challenges before but this is the first time that fear has won out over hope and freedom. In 1941 Pearl Harbor was bombed sending many Americans to their death, after we did not hide under our desks or wonder how we could exploit the situation for profit we rallied behind America and yes we made some huge mistakes like rounding up Japanese Americans. Every American was asked to sacrifice, many men left their families to fight in the war and their wives took up the jobs that men usually worked. People bought war bonds to help pay for the war and everyone sacrificed something. Today sacrifice has become a taboo word in politics and god forbid we ask anyone to sacrifice anything or we become socialists.
In October 1962 we were on course for a nuclear war with the USSR to the point that they were having nuke drill in school, yes hiding under wooden desks seem silly now but at the time they were preparing for what could be the war to end all war. With the possibility of missiles being pointed at the United States President Kennedy stood his ground and instead of firing a show got the Soviets to back down pretty much ending the cold war (even though many republicans like to give Reagan credit). Could you imagine today if Iran or North Korea had a dozen nukes and wanted to put them in Cuba, would we stand tall or would we send other peoples kids to die so we could feel safe. America used to be full of patriots who sacrificed for the country and put it first even ahead of family, today it’s full of people who are only worried about the all mighty dollar. I applaud the brave men and women who put on the uniform especially in today’s America knowing they would sacrifice you at the drop of a hat if the war profiteers threatened to cut off their money unless we started another war.
When you hear people talk about a war with Iran or sending troops back to Iraq ask them if they will sacrifice anything either putting on the uniform or one of their immediate family members. Ask them if they are willing to fork over 20% of their salary to pay for the war. I’ll bet when you ask them to sacrifice they decide that war isn’t really worth it and they’re not really as afraid as they thought they were.