War Children

“If we shatter the chains of egotism, and melt into the ocean of humanity, we share in its dignity. To feel that we are something apart is to set up a barrier between God and ourselves; to cease feeling that we are something is to become one with God.

“A drop in the ocean partakes of the greatness of its parent, although it is unconscious of it. But it dries up as soon as it enters an existence independent of the ocean.”
Gandhi

“Everything is the exact opposite of what it really is.”
Harry Nilsson

“True words always seem paradoxical; but no other form of teaching can take its place.”
Lao Tse (“Old Master”)


How does one be a progressive member of the democratic left in 2011? That seems a most interesting of questions. Is it enough to continue to faithfully support all members of the party, including those who are the lap dogs of the elites that gather outrageous fortune? Or to take a firm stance against the rising tide of social injustice, and by opposing what is wrong, run the risk of being called “disloyal” by others in the our party?

When we consider this mortal coil, and considers the literal connections between the sins of Watergate, Iran-Contra, and the lies that led this nation into never-ending war, and the shredding of the fabric of our Constitution; and consider the corporate welfare of the S&L Bail-Out and the Wall Street thefts, and the destruction of the domestic economy and way of life, Aye, there's the rub.

The face of this must give us pause. For what group or individual can stand up to the Machine? Nay, who can do Battle with the Beast? Oppose the oppressive Republic, the corporate machine; who dares to risk the violent brew the Tea Party dreams? With the dread that something worse may come?

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What Gandhi said was the Truth: human beings, as groups and individuals, set up identities that separate us from the entirety of life. It's not just a greedy rich person, who sees no connection between his or her life, and an underfed child living in the next neighborhood. It's also group identities, such as “Americans,” who are unaware of the connection between their way of life, and the human suffering that results from our nation's violence in foreign lands. More, we are men and women; black, brown, red, yellow, or white; heterosexual or homosexual; Catholic, Baptist, Jew, Muslim, atheist, or agnostic; capitalist, socialist, or communist; rich or poor; well-educated or uneducated; and on and on and on.

We have lost sight of the fact that we are all part of the energy force that grows from the organic source we call earth. We've become so separated from this as a result of our group/individual identity that we barely notice that we are poisoning the environment, and utterly destroying the paradise that surrounds us. Yet, despite the illusions we subscribe to, we are not sitting on a fence – where one group will survive, while others face ruin. We are all in this together, as High School Musical reminds us.

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I like the New York Yankees. In fact, I own five Yankee's shirts. But, that isn't my identity. I know that the players do not care about me, other than to the extent of wanting me to buy a ticket to their games. An announcer might introduce them as, “Your New York Yankees” (or substitute any other team's name), but they are not your's nor mine. It's a big business, where the owners do not care about the players as human beings, and will get rid of any one who fails to perform at a level that sells.

I am a member of the Democratic Party. But, that is not my identity, either. To far too large an extent, the Democratic Party's “leadership” has lost sight of the interests and values of the common man or woman who belongs to the party. And it has become far too representative of corporate interests for my liking. Yet it is important to me to be part of the democratic left, not for my own sense of identity, but because I am convinced that the democratic left holds true to the values and interests of the party. And that these values and ideas are in the best interests of the American people, and of the world's population.

Hence, it is important to me to be politically and socially active in a Peace Movement. I know, from the experiences of America during the Vietnam War, that our nation cannot afford to be involved in the expensive wars that only benefit merchants of death, and to invest in the domestic programs that strengthen life in the towns and cities across America. That won't happen. It can't happen.

As individuals, we have the responsibility to decide if we support or oppose the on-going American military aggression in Iraq, Afghanistan, and numerous other places around the world. If we are opposed to those policies, we then have the responsibility to voice that opposition. And, in doing so, we must oppose those elected officials who are either promoting such wars, or failing to actively bring them to a quick end.

As surely as the sun will come up in the East, when we give voice to our opposition, some will accuse us of being disloyal to the Democratic Party. Others will say that this is not the appropriate time, for there are going to be elections in 2012, and we risk helping to elect republicans. I will always remember that these same things were said of and to Martin Luther King, Jr., when he voiced his strong opposition to the Vietnam War in 1967. But he said that he would refuse to make a butchery of his conscience.

King connected that war's expenses to the decay in American streets. We must do the same today.

Peace,
H2O Man

I'd like to believe a 'Peace Movement' was possible.

Much appreciated.

There's madness on the television now ..... in Cairo ..... that illustrates how violence consumes a society. Very sad.

just kidding. ;)

Agree . . . it is our duty to keep pushing for peace. It just seems like I've been doing it for my whole life. Sometimes I get so tired.

Family tradition here. The highpoint of my grandfather's baseball career was playing against the Yankees once. (His brother was a professional boxer, something far more sacred in our family life than baseball.)

There are times when I find myself thinking, "Haven't we already dealt with this?" But I know that true democracy is constant struggle.

The reality of the grass-roots democratic left is so very different than that in DC.

Knock on doors and ask "Are you a Republican". They say "Yes" then I request them to send their children to finish their hero's war. ( President Bush's war ) The parents get angry.
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used to ask college audiences if they supported the Vietnam War?When many did, he asked why they were in college, rather than in Vietnam.

I've always felt being against wars isn't a political stand though.

But K & R anyway because your prose surpasses your sports pick

Thanks for the thread, H2O Man.:thumbsup:

If doing what is right is to be labeled disloyal, so be it. Injustice maintained at some point cannot be contained by labels much less the push back from its excesses.

The only way to begin fixing the problems is to first divest yourself from being an accomplice.

deftly done