Obligatory Memorial Day Post About "Thanking the Heroes"

"Freedom isn't free."    

"He died for your freedom, son."

"They're fighting them over there, so they don't have to fight them here."


How often we hear these things... how often we take them for granted.

Don't. 

I have a couple of questions for you, dear reader.

What prevents the terrorists from coming over here, while the military's fighting in Afghanistan/Iraq/Iran/Pakistan/Yemen/etc?

How has your freedom improved since the Global War on Terror began?

The answers? Nothing, and it hasn't.

Our freedom in this country has declined dramatically since the GWOT began. The PATRIOT ACT, the TSA, the Department of Homeland Security, civilian drones, armored vehicles in use by police departments, warrantless wiretapping, indefinite detentions... I'm waiting for this mythical freedom the soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen are over there fighting for me to keep.

I've lost friends to OEF/OIF (Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom). Still other friends are going there or are there now. I appreciate their position, and am saddened when I lose a brother or sister in arms.

That said, are they 'fighting for my freedom'? No. They're fighting for the country's interests - and that may be enough to justify it morally. Maybe.

When was the last time the military fought for this country to preserve its freedom and way of life?

Let's think about the wars in recent memory...

Hitler was gunning to take over the world. That was an actual threat to the freedom and way of life to the citizens of the United States (especially the Jewish and gay citizens).

So at least WWII, right?

...I could make a decent argument that the threat of Communism was very real, and that would've ended in disastrous human rights abuses and a destruction of our freedom here in the States... but most of that work was carried out through selective arms transfers, and covert intelligence operations (that didn't always work). So operatives from that era - not just military - sure, I'll thank them.

After that (and some operations during that same time period that didn't address Communism)? Yeah, I got nothing. 

So how about this Memorial Day, we don't thank people just because they chose the military as a profession. How about we acknowledge that they are, by a matter of course, no more or less worthy of respect than the police officers patrolling your neighborhood or the firemen responding to emergency calls?

Let's thank the people that actually protect us and our way of life.

Thank a cop. Thank a fireman. Thank a constitutional lawyer.

But if you're going to thank a member of the military, make sure you thank everyone that works as a cog in the machine we call America.

Thank a postal worker. Thank a construction worker. Thank a garbageman.

Heck, thank every citizen that's working together to make this country great.

Thank you.

Personal rights versus group rights

I had a long day at work today, but I didn't die of boredom because an Army friend of mine kept texting me (don't worry, today was basically about compiling a list of... Eh, no one cares... point is, I still earned my paycheck despite being distracted by him).

W, we'll call him, wanted to chat with me about politics. A little about him - he's a Mormon, but a self-described liberal. He was very keen on Obama, but is voting for Romney this go'round.

He confuses me, but I? I perpetually mystify him. As a gay, atheist, libertarian Republican, I befuddle his 'common sense.' This is not a new experience for me, so I have fun with the conversations that follow.

He made clear to me, during the course of our conversations, that he is 'more libertarian than most people [he] knows,' but he has some objections.

W's stated beliefs:

"If you are going to take money from me, I insist in 5 things. And only 5.

-Civil upkeep (plumbing, roads, electricity etc)
-foreign relations/protections (whether it be DoS or DoD)
-public education
-public health
-I forget the word (cops, firemen, ambulances etc)

And outside of that. Defend the constitution an ensure the freedoms this country was founded on."

This, naturally, both aroused my curiosity and made me crazy.

Naturally, I argued with him over the 'necessity' of infrastructure spending, and more naturally, he went to every libertarian's favorite hyperbolic straw man, "I guess no one will build the roads!"

It's not very liberal of him to say that he only wants government for those five things.... But it's more than that.

How can you say you want to "Defend the constitution an ensure the freedoms this country was founded on," while advocating for extreme government control?

Healthcare - and he means stronger than Obamacare. Public schools, and just those, which are turning out failing students for a record amount of money (teachers' unions, cough cough). And when he says 'protections,' he's not talking about the military protecting our shores. He wants to keep his job.

Now, I get that, but even when I did my short time in the Army, if they had told me they had to fire me because of Defense cuts, I would've walked away happy. It's the best idea for the country.

I'm getting way off track, and that's wholly because I'm making this post on my phone.

I remember what this was supposed to be about!

Prop 8.

I was talking about how you vote with your dollar, and how I don't shop at businesses that supported Prop 8, and he said, "Oh, but I supported Prop 8."

I firmly believe that (a) a company SHOULD accept business from anyone and everyone, but shouldn't be FORCED TO by law, and (b) your right to vote for the right to self-determine until doing so violates someone else's rights to do the same.

This came up. He said, "Oh, people were sued because they didn't want to have gay customers. Doctors lost their licenses. Charities lost their charters."

Ah, well, those people are MORONS. I equate not serving gay people with not serving black people or Jewish people. That said, they should be allowed to be morons - but that's got NOTHING to do with Prop 8, which simply defined marriage as between a man and a woman.

"But it does. Calling it 'marriage' for straight people but not gays protects us from lawsuits like that."

I'm somewhat sympathetic. You shouldn't be sued over not wanting to host gay couples - you should be boycotted until your business forecloses and you have to live on the street, but not sued.

At the same time, you're promoting inequality in the name of personal freedom, which is totally messed up.

I want you to have the host of individual freedoms. I want you to have the freedom to self-determine... Until you interfere with someone else's right to do the same.

That's what the support of Prop 8 does. It says "My right to discriminate is more righteous than your right to marriage equality."

*sigh* I wish we weren't still talking about this. I wish it was common sense.