I have an idea. I know it's kind of scary to actually believe that anyone could possibly have an original idea, but I think I might have one.
What would happen if we combined the world of Star Trek and the world of Hobbits? Just imagine it: a world with the science and technology of Star Trek combined with the common sense and earthiness of Hobbits? What would a world like that look like?
I love both of those universes. With Star Trek you get all the cool hi-tech gadgets and gizmos along with an advanced civilization that has not only the world unified but has put an end to poverty, disease, war and greed. With the Hobbits you get the peace and quiet that comes from a simple life of farming as well as a the simple enjoyments of good food and drink with long time friends and family. The one thing that they both seem to have in common is the lack of greed and poverty and a desire to see their universes live in peace. What a concept.
Back in July and early August we heard much political rhetoric as to how the people of one party or the other was going to cause massive damage to our economy, if they didn't compromise on taxes or on spending. And that the middle class was going to die a nasty death, adding to the number of poor in this nation. So they came together and sang Kumbaya and fixed nothing while patting themselves on the back for doing so. Now I will grant you the Kumbaya was preferable to all the insults and nastiness, but in the long run, none of what happened is going to fix anything. They just reset the fuse that was all.
This is a question I have to ask myself, as well as you, what does happen if the government money dries up? I am a disabled vet. I depend on the pay I receive, just like many others do, so what happens when it all falls apart and who, ultimately, is responsible for the care of the poor and needy? A friend of mine answered that question one day with the answer being "you are". I agree with that sentiment, to a certain point, that if a person is able to do something to improve their situation then they should, but what do you do with those that are truly poor and destitute? Who then is really responsible for them?
In both the worlds of Star Trek and the Hobbits you see worlds where that isn't an issue. Have you ever heard of a skinny Hobbit? Or how about someone going into Star Fleet because they were too poor for college? Nope, it doesn't happen in their worlds.
Many people that I know would instantly say that the government is responsible for caring for the needy and that they should provide everything from housing to schooling all on the tax payers backs. Or better yet, we should tax the super wealthy to fund these programs and make them pay more of thier money to help the poor. Others would suggest that we could cut spending on useless programs that don't benefit anyone and use some of those funds to help pay for all the social programs that actually do help. In other words, no matter what aisle you swing from, it's the governments responsibility.
Now, I am not arguing and suggesting that there weren't some good ideas out there from both sides of the aisle, not to mention some rather creative ones I read about on various blogs, but two things have been missing from this whole debate; you and me.
I realize that we can't turn back the clock to the old days of barn raising and neighbors actually caring for each other and I realize that we don't live in either the Hobbit or Star Trek universes, but is it really that hard of an idea about going back to the notion of communities caring for their own, to give a hand up, not a hand out? Have we become so accustomed to thinking only of ourselves that we willingly give our own responsibility for our neighbors to the government? And do you really believe that the powers that be really care whether or not you get any services or benefits? If they did they would never have allowed for things to get as bad as they have. In the end they are really only interested in the next election and trying to make them selves look good.
So I see that we really have two choices, we can continue with all the political rhetoric and the singing of Kumbaya, while accomplishing nothing, or we can try to make our own world, starting with you and me, a little more Hobbit or Star Trek like and pray that it spreads to everyone else.
Beam me down Scotty I want some Long Bottom Leaf and some ale from the Shire.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
A Stargate, A Marine, And An Unhappy Civillian
Have you ever found yourself in a life and death situation where you believed that the odds were against you to survive what you were going through? Have you ever known what it like look at a camera and have only a few minutes of time to express to your loved ones just how much you miss them and love them? I have.
I was reminded of this just recently while watching "Star Gate Atlantis" with my family the other night. In this particular episode the "Wraith" ,creatures who make Vampires look down right friendly, are about to attack them with such an overwhelming force that they decide to send as much information back to Earth as they can through a compressed micro burst through the star gate. They lack enough power to go through themselves, but they could spare just enough to send messages. So during the course of the episode they showed various people recording their messages while they were waiting to become the latest feeding ground for the wraith. I did find it kind of odd at just how calm they were while they were doing it and one man actually spent his time sending a formal complaint against the leader of the expedition! For my part when my time came to do the very same thing, just before the war in Iraq started, I had all I could do not to cry, never mind complain about my commanding officer. I missed my family badly and just like our intrepid heroes I thought this would likely be the last time I got to speak to them.
The reason I bring this up is because of an article that I read a few days ago, written by a Laurence M. Vance on the Alex Jones web site. Normally I don't write about others articles though I may comment from time to time and generally I get a lot of good information from the Alex Jones page, but this particular article kind of rubbed me the wrong way.
The title of the article was entitled "Thank you for your service?" and was really an article doing little more then showing his arrogance and his real ignorance about what it is to serve in the military. His overall opinion is that he doesn't believe that any of us should thank our military for their service because everything that they are doing, in his enlightened opinion of course, is patently wrong and is not worthy of any kind of praise.
As I have clearly stated before, I don't think that we should be in Iraq or Afghanistan or any other place that we are currently involved in, but I only came to this conclusion after actually serving in the military and going to Iraq. I spent probably 3 or 4 years after my return, reading everything that I could find about all that was going on behind the scenes, before I was finally convinced that this was wrong and we had all been lied to.
Where Mr. Vance shows his ignorance and his arrogance in the way he speaks of your average troops. His opinion would suggest that all of us that were in were nothing but murderous war mongers who really enjoy the idea of killing people, and who were essentially too stupid to stand up and say no to all this madness and none of us are worthy of thanking.
Let me make this very clear to anyone who agrees with him , you have that right and I would fight to defend your right to your opinion, in fact he can have his opinion and I will respect that opinion, though I disagree with him, because this is a part of our rights and freedoms, but let me, as respectfully as I know how, speak of where I disagree.
When you enlist in the military you essentially sign away all your rights. You swear to defend the Constitution and obey orders from those that are above you and that is about where your freedom ends. Everything that you do from the moment you enter boot camp until the day you are discharged is regulated by military life and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Even the lives of your spouse and children are controlled, to a lesser degree, and you do not have the luxury of disobeying orders, unless they are in clear violation of the UCMJ or are morally wrong. I agree that you can't just go out and shoot civilians or rape and pillage villages just for the sheer fun of it and I also understand that there are some morons out there who do those things regardless, but you can't blame all that on your average soldier or Marine. Most are honorable men and women who believe that they are doing the right thing by serving their country, where ever they are sent.
You should go to a military base and watch as a unit is about to be deployed to see if you can figure out what is going on in the minds of those that are leaving, and their families. No one is thinking about blowing up a city or contemplating that your going to have to kill someone or that you might be killed, though that is always in the back of your mind, no, your thought and emotions are focused on those that you are leaving behind, will they be OK? Will you ever see them again? You aren't thinking about the politics behind the war, because you have no say, you are focused on your family. The day that I left was one of the hardest things that I ever had to do, I held on to my wife as long as I could and then sat on the bus watching my two children play on the loading docks completely oblivious of what was going on around them. I had grown men, tell me later that my kids brought tears to their eyes because it reminded them of just what we were leaving behind.
One other thing you must understand, all of us , at that time, believed what we had been told. Most Americans did and still do. When I made my recording, I had just come back from a patrol up near the Iraq border and I was tired. I had been sick from a 2 week case of dysentery and I had just recently been informed that I was going to be with one of the first units going in when it started. Yes I knew the potential of going to war when I signed, but the reality of it didn't really hit me until that moment and, as I stated earlier, I had all I could do to control myself long enough to get a clear message to my wife and children. Until you have been in this position you don't have the right to pass judgement on me or anyone else who has had to do the same. Your against the war? Great you have that right, and I agree with you. You don't want to thank me for my service, that too is your right and it is one I will defend, but you do not have the right to make judgement calls and insult us just because you disagree with the governments wars.
Just like the folks from Star gate Atlantis we had a mission to accomplish and just like them we were in a real life, life and death struggle. We are not a bunch of "heroes" we are simply people just like you that have dreams and that missed their families and wanted nothing more then to be with them. So before you pass judgement on me or anyone else, put yourself in our place and then decide with clearer eyes what kind of people we are. Military personnel shouldn't be your target, those that decide what to do with them should be.
I was reminded of this just recently while watching "Star Gate Atlantis" with my family the other night. In this particular episode the "Wraith" ,creatures who make Vampires look down right friendly, are about to attack them with such an overwhelming force that they decide to send as much information back to Earth as they can through a compressed micro burst through the star gate. They lack enough power to go through themselves, but they could spare just enough to send messages. So during the course of the episode they showed various people recording their messages while they were waiting to become the latest feeding ground for the wraith. I did find it kind of odd at just how calm they were while they were doing it and one man actually spent his time sending a formal complaint against the leader of the expedition! For my part when my time came to do the very same thing, just before the war in Iraq started, I had all I could do not to cry, never mind complain about my commanding officer. I missed my family badly and just like our intrepid heroes I thought this would likely be the last time I got to speak to them.
The reason I bring this up is because of an article that I read a few days ago, written by a Laurence M. Vance on the Alex Jones web site. Normally I don't write about others articles though I may comment from time to time and generally I get a lot of good information from the Alex Jones page, but this particular article kind of rubbed me the wrong way.
The title of the article was entitled "Thank you for your service?" and was really an article doing little more then showing his arrogance and his real ignorance about what it is to serve in the military. His overall opinion is that he doesn't believe that any of us should thank our military for their service because everything that they are doing, in his enlightened opinion of course, is patently wrong and is not worthy of any kind of praise.
As I have clearly stated before, I don't think that we should be in Iraq or Afghanistan or any other place that we are currently involved in, but I only came to this conclusion after actually serving in the military and going to Iraq. I spent probably 3 or 4 years after my return, reading everything that I could find about all that was going on behind the scenes, before I was finally convinced that this was wrong and we had all been lied to.
Where Mr. Vance shows his ignorance and his arrogance in the way he speaks of your average troops. His opinion would suggest that all of us that were in were nothing but murderous war mongers who really enjoy the idea of killing people, and who were essentially too stupid to stand up and say no to all this madness and none of us are worthy of thanking.
Let me make this very clear to anyone who agrees with him , you have that right and I would fight to defend your right to your opinion, in fact he can have his opinion and I will respect that opinion, though I disagree with him, because this is a part of our rights and freedoms, but let me, as respectfully as I know how, speak of where I disagree.
When you enlist in the military you essentially sign away all your rights. You swear to defend the Constitution and obey orders from those that are above you and that is about where your freedom ends. Everything that you do from the moment you enter boot camp until the day you are discharged is regulated by military life and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Even the lives of your spouse and children are controlled, to a lesser degree, and you do not have the luxury of disobeying orders, unless they are in clear violation of the UCMJ or are morally wrong. I agree that you can't just go out and shoot civilians or rape and pillage villages just for the sheer fun of it and I also understand that there are some morons out there who do those things regardless, but you can't blame all that on your average soldier or Marine. Most are honorable men and women who believe that they are doing the right thing by serving their country, where ever they are sent.
You should go to a military base and watch as a unit is about to be deployed to see if you can figure out what is going on in the minds of those that are leaving, and their families. No one is thinking about blowing up a city or contemplating that your going to have to kill someone or that you might be killed, though that is always in the back of your mind, no, your thought and emotions are focused on those that you are leaving behind, will they be OK? Will you ever see them again? You aren't thinking about the politics behind the war, because you have no say, you are focused on your family. The day that I left was one of the hardest things that I ever had to do, I held on to my wife as long as I could and then sat on the bus watching my two children play on the loading docks completely oblivious of what was going on around them. I had grown men, tell me later that my kids brought tears to their eyes because it reminded them of just what we were leaving behind.
One other thing you must understand, all of us , at that time, believed what we had been told. Most Americans did and still do. When I made my recording, I had just come back from a patrol up near the Iraq border and I was tired. I had been sick from a 2 week case of dysentery and I had just recently been informed that I was going to be with one of the first units going in when it started. Yes I knew the potential of going to war when I signed, but the reality of it didn't really hit me until that moment and, as I stated earlier, I had all I could do to control myself long enough to get a clear message to my wife and children. Until you have been in this position you don't have the right to pass judgement on me or anyone else who has had to do the same. Your against the war? Great you have that right, and I agree with you. You don't want to thank me for my service, that too is your right and it is one I will defend, but you do not have the right to make judgement calls and insult us just because you disagree with the governments wars.
Just like the folks from Star gate Atlantis we had a mission to accomplish and just like them we were in a real life, life and death struggle. We are not a bunch of "heroes" we are simply people just like you that have dreams and that missed their families and wanted nothing more then to be with them. So before you pass judgement on me or anyone else, put yourself in our place and then decide with clearer eyes what kind of people we are. Military personnel shouldn't be your target, those that decide what to do with them should be.
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