11-11-11 I’m So Mad I could Spit
11-11-11. Veteran’s Day. Thank you, thank you, thank you, fellow veterans for your sacrifice, courage, and standing up for our whole country. To me, we’ll always be the best and the brightest. Unfortunately, most of our lives have and will be negatively impacted because of our mental, emotional and physical injuries, which in this country seem to trump all those aforementioned rare and positive character traits. Since 9/11, there’s been a national vow not to treat another group of vets the shabby way we treated the Vietnam Vets. Given this lip service about honoring the best, how can this be?
The unemployment rate for the returning Iraqi and Afghanistan War vets is 12% - 250,000 people—higher than the national average. And in fact, there are in this group 18 suicides a day. What a disgrace! I met a WWII veteran recently, who volunteers at the Coatesville VA. He told me that there is an entire ward filled with people accused of spousal abuse and “they’re stacked up like firewood.” And this exclude the PTSD wards and TBI wards. My fix on all this neglect and abuse is that, since WWII, there has been no clear reason for going to war at the behest of the one-percenters other than retaining their hold on power, their status, and particularly oil. And there has been no clear winners in any war since WWII so we blame the victims, not the perpetrators (leaders). Most of our leaders should have been giving this power over to the people. But of course, they will never take responsibility for failed wars and economies—because money talks, all other facts walk.
What does Penn State, the Vatican, Wall Street, and the U.S. Government have in common? They put the fear of God into anyone who has the courage to stand up and reveal the crimes witnessed in the name (brand) of these institutions. In each case, there is a climate of silence, secrecy and shame imposed on the victims and witnesses to these criminal behaviors. People are afraid to speak up for fear of losing their job, their status, their home, their lives because these hierarchies know how to play rough and tough with the whistle blowers. They can smear and make examples of anyone who has the courage to speak the truth to those powers.
I have heard (directly) and read that nurses, doctors, teachers, state policeman and fireman are afraid to speak up because of these fear and smear tactics. So my premise is that fear is the enemy of human liberation from these hierarchies. Fear prevents us from taking responsibility for our futures by discussing these issues and problems openly—so that we can address what it is that makes us continue to repeat history ad infinitum. Kudos to the courage of the Wall Street Occupiers, and the Veterans who stand up against the worthless wars, the Wall St. funders, and the bought-off politicians/political system. Kudos to the children and their parents who stand up to the perverts and criminals protected by the powers like the Catholic Church, Penn State and other hierarchical institutions—enforcing omerta.
So why am I so angry I could spit on Veteran’s Day? Because I want all these people of character to have their sacrifices honored by our democracy. I want to uncover these crimes of blame and clean house, to start working on the new world economy and society. I have been victimized personally over and over again for speaking the truth about my PTSD— a result of my service—and the abuse of my fellow vets ever since the Vietnam War started and all the bigotries put on people. And I’ve seen so many people’s lives destroyed and ended by these powers—the so-called Masters of the Universe—that I want to spit on them like they have collectively spit on all of us. It’s time to man- and woman-up on this Veteran’s Day and honor all the people who have sacrificed for the betterment of our world. So let’s start Occupying Earth.
