Good Morning my Brothers and Sisters.
So another Veteran's Day has come and gone. Once again it seems that even some of the most hardbitten and cynical of Liberal Progressives feels content to simply wave a flag, thank a veteran, and allow the "soldiers are heroes" meme to be bandied about unchallenged. Well I'm not going to talk here about my feelings about that meme, but I do want to make some suggestions about ways to honor those who serve that I personally think are a lot more useful and meaningful than a holiday and some sentiment.
1: This is the most immediate. We need to work to make certain that we are giving our soldiers what they were promised. From making sure that pay and benefits for those actively serving are actually enough for they and their dependents to be able to live on, to ensuring that access to healthcare and educational opportunities are available as promised to those who have returned to civilian life after serving. I make no secret that I take a very jaundiced view of the military, but I take an even more jaundiced view of gaining someone's service by making promises that you have no intention of following through on.
2: Next we need to be pushing and pushing hard to reduce the places we are deploying our soldiers. It is long past time that we were out of both Iraq and Afghanistan. Truly out, not merely out in name, but out in fact. And we need to do everything in our power to not involve ourselves in future conflicts needlessly. Military action should be a last resort, not the first thing we reach for.
3: We need to be pushing for the kind of Progressive changes needed to rebuild both the working economy and the welfare state. From an increase in the minimum wage, to an increase in taxes on the one percent with that money being used to ensure, food, shelter, and healthcare for the poor, jobless, and working classes. In addition seeing all peoples educated beyond just the highschool level needs to become a key priority again. Military service must cease to be the catchall it's become. Every person serving in the military should only be there because they truly believe in what they are doing. No one should be there because they can't get a job or an education any other way. To create a group that is filled with near conscripts is an insult to every soldier who serves willingly and to the ideals that they are supposed to uphold.
4: We need to hold all who serve from the lowest rank on up to a higher standard. Every time a story of a female soldier being sexually assaulted by a fellow male soldier, or a soldier or group of soldiers killing non combatants, is dismissed or ignored it is harmful to the image and spirit of those who serve. It sends the message that not only is the American soldier little better than a hired thug, but that we don't expect them to be capable of being any better than that. This is disgusting and shameful. For good or for ill by their very presence our military serves as an example of what the United States is. We need to expect, no demand better from them and from ourselves.
5: Finally we need to return military service from the land of myth to the land of reality. Yes many of those who serve commit heroic acts in the course of that service. But simply being a soldier does not automatically make one a "hero". It is long past time that we stop acting as if military service somehow makes a person a superior human being more worthy of respect and consideration than any other field of endeavor. Such thinking not only does a disservice to those in the military by failing to accept and deal with the dirty, boring, and dangerous realities of their job, but also does a disservice to those who serve their fellow Americans in ways that don't necessarily involve putting on a uniform and carrying a weapon.
It is only when the soldier is considered one part of the tapestry of American life, not some mythological being held apart from us can we truly begin to properly honor their service.
Keep The Faith My Brothers And Sisters.