We do seem to fetishise the military in this country not as bad as in other nations such as the US which is just dangerously daft. We haven't had too many high profile members of the military tendency since Paddy Ashdown and he never had too much credibility as he was a Lib Dem and will be better remembered as Paddy Pantsdown rather than as a successful UN governor for Bosnia. Yet the idea that highly trained killers can sort out civil problems, and education seems well, to me anyway, worrying. Much of this I guess comes from our WW2 stories of yore and the effective consciousness raising of Help for Heroes making up where the government failed and also conveniently the lies that got those soldiers flown back to Wooton Bassett which in turn became a form of theatre itself detracting from the lies and dissembling that got them sent out and returning in a box.
Now is it right of me to feel a little awkward and uncomfortable as I did this morning at seeing young boys proudly in camouflage standing in the local soulless mall raising money selling poppies harking back to another time of senseless slaughter when we should really be questioning conflict as well as respecting the lives sacrificed and squandered...or is that just me?
Now is it right of me to feel a little awkward and uncomfortable as I did this morning at seeing young boys proudly in camouflage standing in the local soulless mall raising money selling poppies harking back to another time of senseless slaughter when we should really be questioning conflict as well as respecting the lives sacrificed and squandered...or is that just me?
No comments:
Post a Comment