nameless soldier: The Morale of the Nation

http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=8DB63295AEC2C110AE2F2E99DA6ED77E?diaryId=199

Morale of the Nation
by: nameless soldier
Tue Dec 04, 2007 at 16:32:39 PM EST

(From the diaries - promoted by VetVoice)

Cross-posted at dailykos

snip//


All of this is causing a morale problem in America. Poll after poll shows that the vast majority of Americans disapprove of the job being done be politicians in DC. More and more Americans see their country moving in dangerous ways. At the same time, fewer and fewer Americans view government as a place where they can make an impact. National morale is different from military morale like that. While those of us in the military can't simply stop participating because we don't like what's going on, the average citizen can.

Before I say anything else, I want to make one thing exceedingly clear. I am not trying to say that we are losing the war in Iraq because of a lack of support from home. That accusation wasn't true in Vietnam, and it's not true now. We are losing in Iraq because the war's aftermath wasn't planned correctly. We are losing in Iraq because we don't have sufficient understanding of the culture in the area. We are losing in Iraq because no one seems capable of defining what not losing means. If anything, the opposite is true. Our nation's untenable position in Iraq is only encouraging the malaise and disenchantment of people back home.

There are of course certain individuals who, when faced with a seemingly unworkable situation choose not to stop caring. Those are the men and women who throughout history have solved the seemingly unsolvable problems. But the question is whether or not there are enough of those people. If there are not enough of them, The United States will continue down its current path until the path leads us off of a cliff. If those individuals don't occur in high enough numbers, it won't really matter what they do. I like to think that I am one of those people. I don't have the answers, but I'm committed to looking for them. I hope and believe that you all feel the same.

I do believe that one person can make a difference. The problem now is that there are a lot of differences that need to be made right now. We're going to need a lot of people. And so I believe that our number one goal right now should be recruiting more allies. Throughout history it has been true that when the people speak, the leadership is forced to listen.

There are a lot of things that need doing. An end needs to be found for our involvement in Iraq. The conflict in Afghanistan needs to be remembered. The security issues caused by our dependence on mid-east oil need to recognized and addressed. And those are just a few of the things that come to my mind. Work needs to be done on all of those fronts, and now. But we can't let those problems cause us to forget that they will all be solved quicker with more people both stepping up to lead and agreeing to watch our backs. But numbers like that can be hard to find, especially in a climate as discouraging as the one we are currently living in.

That is why we need to fight the low morale of our country. And the way to raise a nation's morale is not through blind, nationalistic cheerleading. We are a republican democracy, and the best way for us to encourage involvement is to remind people that involvement is an option that can work.