Whoopee! Re-joice! DANCE in the streets! Do you remember those under-used words "What if they gave a war and nobody came?" Imagine what it would be like if everyone around the world had Watada's integrity and courage, and chose to heed them. It would not be peace. It would be warlessness. Which would give peace a chance, a chance to actually happen. All of the money that goes into war related activities would be re-routed into everything else in need of attention...including balancing the buget.
If the figures I have heard are true, there would be an excess of "actual" money available for all of the things needing attention, requiring no stimulus financed by yet-to-be-born tax payers. TEA BAGGERS would have to STFU. How GOOD would it be to have THAT mostly White noise SILENCED? War monger profiteering corporations would find it more profitable to re-tool...(drum roll)...in shades of GREEN. All of the existing ammunition could be converted into Roman Candle fireworks to light up the first annual celebration of warlessness. Jobs, tax revenue, society secure, health care, housing for all, debts gone, on and on.
It was a long haul for Lt. Ehran Watada getting to this point, I'm sure. But the time has come! His time has come! If my google search is to be believed, his resignation was accepted, and six hours ago Lt. Watada was given a discharge under other than honorable conditions. I say: Hey! A discharge is a discharge. Honor, like art, is in the eye of the beholder. I am sure Watada is not complaining.
Okay. I've taken a few deep breaths.
I just know how I felt in '68 when my Undesireable Discharge came through for refusing to fight the riots. Getting stripped of my Sgt. rank, an E-5, to the equivalent of an inductee, an E-1, in no way bummed me out. It was like the atmosphere going from low pressure, with grey-skied, socked-in rain, to high pressure, with clear blue sky sun shine. The rank difference was a joke to me that I could laugh about, and laugh with. I still can and do. The thick mucky glom of the military's ownership of my body while in the service evaporated in one second, less than a second. Suddenly my future laid ahead of me as mine. It still is. It felt so fine. It still does.
I can only be happy for Ehran Watada. May all he involves himself in be swept clear of obstacles Ganesh-like, and may he be successful with all he does.
This is short, I know, with no statistics, graphs, or citations. If that irks you, get over it. It is BIG in emotion, and I had to emote this somewhere. I ask you, what better place than this excellent community of people working toward harmony?