Many people have taken to Instagram and in righteous indignation chastised a country for treating what should be a somber holiday and turning into an extravaganza of drunken gluttony. Their apparent goal is to remind the rest of us this holiday exists to honor the countless American military servicemen and women who died for something greater than themselves.
Ok, fair enough. Selfless acts and people do deserve some recognition, but what many fail to realize is this day is a celebration of war the very thing that killed the people we're supposed to be mourning.
We cannot ask the dead about their experience in war. We cannot ask them if in their last moments they thought what they were supposedly fighting for was still worthwhile. This holiday exacerbates the symptoms of the disease of nationalism. It is a sickness that has claimed untold millions of lives.
The dead cannot speak, but those who survived war can still teach us quite a bit, and the way many veterans communicate the dark wisdom gained in war are communicating is through art.
The National Veterans Art Museum in portage park is a gallery made up of works created by war vets. The art was mostly produced in art therapy sessions. Art therapy is a way for veterans to articulate the internal torment the experience of war leaves with the people it destroys.
Pain awoke something in them, and they were able to find a new sense of purpose showing us the truth about war. Their art is inspired by their scars; it is an expression of their pain.
The fractured lives and shattered minds that made this art lift the veil of our denial. Viewers are forced to confront reality, and it is far different than the sanitized ego stroking romantic illusions of battle put forward in our culture.
The iconography of Death is heavily utilized in most of the pieces. War after all, is humanity's most death oriented endeavor. The hollowed eyes of skulls are painful reminders of extinguished human life.
There are a number of mediums on display, and there is not one that doesn't invoke a discomfort from the truth it forces on the eyes. Eyes that often have often never seen the human cost of war.
Each display tells of that cost; it is part of the artists story, it is a product of their struggle. Most importantly though it reminds us why it is important that we do not let this national holiday serve as a campaign to celebrate war.
We can really honor those who have fallen by learning from their deaths the ugly truth about war. War can only destroy. That is what it does.
If we want to claim we care about veterans and those currently serving than the best thing we could do for them is not buy a yellow ribbon, hang a flag, or watch Saving Private Ryan. The best we could do is make sure no more lives are wasted on war.
http://www.nvam.org/#
Monday, May 25, 2015
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Word of the Day!
PLEBISCITE
: a vote by which the people of an entire country or district express an opinion for or against a proposal especially on a choice of government or ruler
This is a word I never once heard mentioned in any history or political science class I took at my wonderful accredited university, but it is still a word I think maybe worth knowing. Why is it worth knowing? Well, if you ask just about anyone at just about any point on the political spectrum in this country if they are happy with the way this little geopolitical entity is being managed chances are they would say no.
The strange consensus seems to be "It's extremely flawed, but it's the best there is." This is what you'll hear the further right you go and remarkably enough is often the same justification used by those who stuck in abusive relationships.
Ok, so presumably people believe of all the current ways countries are being run the one in the United States produces the best results. Well, this is just patently untrue and can be proven so by just about every metric, so there's no need to bother really with this silly assumption. Something you often hear from people on the left is "People need to be governed by an elite because they don't know what is good for them." They will often tell you the most educated, i.e., the people who went to the most expensive schools should probably be making the decisions. It is about this time you will notice their degree from Columbia University.
Ok so let's work off the premise people need rulers to guide them and this system of rule while far from perfect is preferable to any alternative. When decided whether or not something was successful it is important to look at the results. How do you think we're doing? Well without getting into exact figures surrounding issues like education, crime, etc. let's just look at a few decisions are oligarchic rulers have made over the years and think is this what we would have chosen?
Since the end of the second world war, another thing we can thank our oh so wise leaders for the United States and a handful of other countries have produced thousands of nuclear weapons. It may be worth noting the US, the self-proclaimed leader of the free world has produced, deployed, and used more of these weapons than any other nation that has acquired them to date. Is this something you and your family would have voted for, a doomsday arsenal? If you lived in the galactic empire, say on Tatooine would you have voted on the construction of the death star? No of course not because galactic empires don't make decisions based on popular consensus and neither does the US. Currently, about a trillion dollars worth of upgrades are scheduled for this arsenal. If Mr. Obama or Mr. Bush had asked you if this was a good idea, do you think you would have said yes?
What about fracking. Sure a modern society runs on energy and now seeing as how we seem to be scrapping the bottom of the barrel those in charge saw fracking as a good way to go. The problem for everyone else is it turned out this process poisons water supplies and causes otherwise rare cancers to develop in nearby residents. Of course none of the people who made this decision live anywhere nearby. Is this something you would have voted for? What about the economy. I know it's a mysterious interlocking web of forces no peasant can understand, but let's just use one example say the bailout. Hundreds of billions or perhaps even trillions of dollars was handed over to people who destroyed the retirement savings of millions of peoples, wiped out the college funds of just as many, and are now curiously holding cities all across the countries hostage by way of debt bonds. How about that is that something you your friends and family wold have decided is best? So those are the results of this social experiment thus far. Our wise leaders, those apparently who are the only ones fit to lead have set us up for nuclear Armageddon, environmental collapse and have bankrupted us while doing it. So again plebiscite maybe a word worth knowing, but then again probably not as my opinion doesn't matter and neither do of any of yours.
: a vote by which the people of an entire country or district express an opinion for or against a proposal especially on a choice of government or ruler
This is a word I never once heard mentioned in any history or political science class I took at my wonderful accredited university, but it is still a word I think maybe worth knowing. Why is it worth knowing? Well, if you ask just about anyone at just about any point on the political spectrum in this country if they are happy with the way this little geopolitical entity is being managed chances are they would say no.
The strange consensus seems to be "It's extremely flawed, but it's the best there is." This is what you'll hear the further right you go and remarkably enough is often the same justification used by those who stuck in abusive relationships.
Ok, so presumably people believe of all the current ways countries are being run the one in the United States produces the best results. Well, this is just patently untrue and can be proven so by just about every metric, so there's no need to bother really with this silly assumption. Something you often hear from people on the left is "People need to be governed by an elite because they don't know what is good for them." They will often tell you the most educated, i.e., the people who went to the most expensive schools should probably be making the decisions. It is about this time you will notice their degree from Columbia University.
Ok so let's work off the premise people need rulers to guide them and this system of rule while far from perfect is preferable to any alternative. When decided whether or not something was successful it is important to look at the results. How do you think we're doing? Well without getting into exact figures surrounding issues like education, crime, etc. let's just look at a few decisions are oligarchic rulers have made over the years and think is this what we would have chosen?
Since the end of the second world war, another thing we can thank our oh so wise leaders for the United States and a handful of other countries have produced thousands of nuclear weapons. It may be worth noting the US, the self-proclaimed leader of the free world has produced, deployed, and used more of these weapons than any other nation that has acquired them to date. Is this something you and your family would have voted for, a doomsday arsenal? If you lived in the galactic empire, say on Tatooine would you have voted on the construction of the death star? No of course not because galactic empires don't make decisions based on popular consensus and neither does the US. Currently, about a trillion dollars worth of upgrades are scheduled for this arsenal. If Mr. Obama or Mr. Bush had asked you if this was a good idea, do you think you would have said yes?
What about fracking. Sure a modern society runs on energy and now seeing as how we seem to be scrapping the bottom of the barrel those in charge saw fracking as a good way to go. The problem for everyone else is it turned out this process poisons water supplies and causes otherwise rare cancers to develop in nearby residents. Of course none of the people who made this decision live anywhere nearby. Is this something you would have voted for? What about the economy. I know it's a mysterious interlocking web of forces no peasant can understand, but let's just use one example say the bailout. Hundreds of billions or perhaps even trillions of dollars was handed over to people who destroyed the retirement savings of millions of peoples, wiped out the college funds of just as many, and are now curiously holding cities all across the countries hostage by way of debt bonds. How about that is that something you your friends and family wold have decided is best? So those are the results of this social experiment thus far. Our wise leaders, those apparently who are the only ones fit to lead have set us up for nuclear Armageddon, environmental collapse and have bankrupted us while doing it. So again plebiscite maybe a word worth knowing, but then again probably not as my opinion doesn't matter and neither do of any of yours.
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