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Veteran's Day

Started by stromboli, November 10, 2013, 10:08:17 AM

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aileron

Quote from: "Shiranu"I don't know enough about it during the war, but the whole start of WW2 was a money/power grab by the Western powers saying that Germany had to pay exorbitant reparations that destroyed the German economy.

Your analysis is too simplistic.  There's way more to the story.  War reparations did not wreck the German economy, though they certainly didn't help.  After reissuing currency Germany could have paid the greatly reduced reparations of the Dawes plan if they had any intent to do so, but in the end they never fully paid the reduced reparations either.  In any case, other factors contributed to German pre-WWII expansionist policy much more than the outcome of WWI.  Germany after all had an Eastward expansionist ambition for centuries.

QuoteI would also argue late WW2 was a bit of a power grab by the U.S. to secure any territory that could possibly fall under communistic regimes and to expand their empire.

What's wrong with a power grab if the intent is to form an alliance of willing nations against the Stalinist Soviet Union, one of the most murderous governments the Earth has known?  The USA didn't force Western Europe into NATO or force Japan, Korea, Australia, etc. to become allies.  So in what sense other than hyperbole is it an empire?
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room! -- President Merkin Muffley

My mom was a religious fundamentalist. Plus, she didn't have a mouth. It's an unusual combination. -- Bender Bending Rodriguez

stromboli

This, from Kurt Vonnegut:

QuoteI will come to a time in my backwards trip when November eleventh, accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called Armistice Day. When I was a boy, and when Dwayne Hoover was a boy, all the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke clearly to mankind.
Armistice Day has become Veterans' Day. Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans' Day is not.
So I will throw Veterans' Day over my shoulder. Armistice Day I will keep. I don't want to throw away any sacred things.
-- Breakfast of Champions

About as powerful a statement as I can imagine.

SGOS

Rather than grieving, it might be more appropriate to grab a pitchfork on Veterans day and join a mob bent on storming the Capitol to rid Washington of the fear mongers and manipulators that caused these deaths.

AllPurposeAtheist

Quote from: "stromboli"This, from Kurt Vonnegut:

QuoteI will come to a time in my backwards trip when November eleventh, accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called Armistice Day. When I was a boy, and when Dwayne Hoover was a boy, all the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke clearly to mankind.
Armistice Day has become Veterans' Day. Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans' Day is not.
So I will throw Veterans' Day over my shoulder. Armistice Day I will keep. I don't want to throw away any sacred things.
-- Breakfast of Champions

About as powerful a statement as I can imagine.
Indeed Stromboli.. Perhaps our national 'leaders' need to read this on national if not global TV every November 11 to remind people just why there was even an Armistice day in the first place instead of pretending soldiers are just players of some perverted football game at halftime.
All hail my new signature!

Admit it. You're secretly green with envy.

stromboli

I'm old enough to remember when Armistice Day was a thing, so I can relate; that, and my father fought in WW1, so my connection is a bit closer than most. Ridding ourselves of the ideologies and underlying motives that lead to war would be the biggest advancement humanity could make.

AllPurposeAtheist

My dad's dad fought in WWI as well. He wasn't physically injured that I know of, but he did become a lifetime alcoholic and very violent. He didn't beat my grandmother, but till his death at 70 would pick pointless fights with most anyone else. I'm not sure if the war played a part, but it sure didn't prevent his behavior..
Anyway..the glorification of war and violence is disturbing and a huge, unnecessary drain on humanity.
All hail my new signature!

Admit it. You're secretly green with envy.

SvZurich

A former shipmate posted a pic of our division when we were topside in 1996.  My Veterans/Armistice Day was mostly reminiscing about the good times and trying to ignore the bad ones.  I think we were in Alaska in that pic, when one of our division re-upped (and now he's a Master Chief Petty Officer).  :)
Kimberly (HSBUH) aka Baroness Sylvia endorses the Meadow Party's Bill N' Opus for the 2024 Presidential election! Or a Sanders/Warren ticket.

ParaGoomba Slayer

I don't think people deserve special recognition for merely being soldiers. Fighting for your country is only a noble thing if your country is doing something noble. I suppose your country as a whole could be doing something bad and you could be doing something good (and vise versa).

There seems to be this idea that if you're a state sanctioned thug with a rifle that you automatically deserve respect. That's fucking stupid. I think we should give them a level of respect based on their actions and the goals they furthered, not simply if they fought for their country.

In other words, I wouldn't go up to an American ww2 veteran that dropped firebombs on civilian targets and immediately start shaking his hand, saying, "Thank you for your service", and offer him a blowjob and a free meal at Applebees. Yes, thank you for burning Japanese civilians to death, what an honorable action. :roll:

And if you're one of those people that served during peacetime and didn't actually do anything, then what's the point?

I think quite an interesting book everyone should should have a look at is War Against War! By Ernst Friedrich.



[size=150]Circumcision? HIS body, HIS decision.[/size]

[size=150]Your liberty to swing your fist ends just where my nose begins. This is very simple reasoning that is applied to everything, EXCEPT infant circumcision for some stupid fucking reason.[/size]