Young Marine is the better man
Steve Lopez, writing for the L.A. Times (free registration required), cries a river about how his nephew enlisted in the Marines and now (gasp!) just might have to go fight for his country.
Don’t become a pawn, I told my nephew, for a president who misled us from the beginning and who will keep sacrificing lives in a vain and futile attempt to save face. The war in Iraq had been a reckless idea, I argued, and that was becoming clear even to many who once supported it.
The nephew, on the other hand, had this to say:
“What I want for my life is to stand above the majority,” he wrote. “I believe in honor, discipline and courage…. I wish to be bigger than myself, to be a part of something more — something important and significant…. I hope that you will understand my reasons for this decision and will continue to support me.”
Now, why would he say such noble, idealistic things? Well, because he was coerced into it…
…as for soldiers as young as my nephew, I don’t see enlistment as a well-informed choice but as a product of manipulation. I’m thinking about the seductive recruiting posters I saw in the office at Hemet High School…
Stupid young man, getting manipulated like that!
One of my favorite quotes is by John Stuart Mill, and it seems to apply to this situation:
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
Right now, I’m thinking that Mr. Lopez’s nephew is the better man.
Category :
Tags :
Similar Posts:
- Silky Pony out and I can finally bad-mouth him
- The best of Ann Coulter
- In defense of Dad
- Why aren’t we arming the people who watch over our kids?
- Yes, some conservative politicians have seen their children go off to war
- Iran-UK hostage situation continues
- Sanchez speaks, I groan
- Obama ready “take power and begin to rule”
- Protesting the war in a video game
- Stupid army tricks
I think his nephew also knows he is the better man. God Bless him.