A ribbon for us reality dwellers
Here is a link to a Boston Phoenix article revealing an antidote to the legion of yellow ribbons being displayed on SUVs and pick-up trucks from coast to coast.
I doubt these new magnetic decals will smack very many people out of their uninformed groupthink slumber, but these annoying yellow ribbons need to be exposed as the empty, falsely patriotic symbols that they are. I'm pretty sure that everyone, save a few hate filled radical leftie anarcho-frauds, supports the troops. However, supporting the troops does not mean blindly supporting corrupt politicians and their wars, and it does not require waving the flag and slapping a yellow ribbon decal on your car. Considering the fact that our troops shouldn't even be in the Middle East and that their lives are constantly at risk over there, wouldn't true compassionate support involve demanding for their safe and immediate return home?
I doubt these new magnetic decals will smack very many people out of their uninformed groupthink slumber, but these annoying yellow ribbons need to be exposed as the empty, falsely patriotic symbols that they are. I'm pretty sure that everyone, save a few hate filled radical leftie anarcho-frauds, supports the troops. However, supporting the troops does not mean blindly supporting corrupt politicians and their wars, and it does not require waving the flag and slapping a yellow ribbon decal on your car. Considering the fact that our troops shouldn't even be in the Middle East and that their lives are constantly at risk over there, wouldn't true compassionate support involve demanding for their safe and immediate return home?
posted by freeman at 12/20/2004 01:51:00 AM
4 Comments:
If you can tell me what it means to "support the troops" I'll tell you if I do or don't. What does support mean?
I'm not hate-filled, not lefty let alone radical lefty, and I don't know what an anarcho-fraud is, but I don't think I am one. And yet, if you ask me if I support the troops, I'd say No!
My support goes to very few people, certainly not people I don't know -- unless they are actively representing a principle I do stand for. The "troops" don't count.
In fact, the troops count less than most: if there's anything that unites them as individuals, it's their willingness to relinquish the responsibilities of free will to the glorification of the State in the name of patriotism. I don't see how any decent person could support such nonsense.
A willingness to kill under orders is not a virtue. Neither is "following orders" an excuse for violating anyone's rights.
Unless supporting X means only that I do not actively wish harm upon X -- in which case it is an almost useless concept -- then I do not support "our" troops.
Thanks for bringing this up BK. The phrase "support our troops" is certainly a problematic one that can be taken different ways.
I mentioned a couple of things in my post that I wish were not attached to the phrase (supporting the war and it's enablers, blindly waving the flag and slapping yellow ribbon stickers onto cars), but I guess I wasn't clear enough in terms of what I mean when I say that I support the troops.
When I refer to my support for the troops, it's essentially nothing more than what you mentioned about not actively wishing harm upon them. I don't want them in harm's way in another part of the world, I want them here at home. While I certainly look down upon their willingness to obey noxious orders, such as to kill or do anything else that violates their own individual principles (if they have any), I cherish their life and don't want to see them blown to bits.
I'd love nothing more than to see the phrase die off completely, but I'm afraid that it's not going anywhere. In that case, I feel that it's better to provide my own definition of what "support the troops" is and then answer "yes" to anyone's inquiries rather than to assume the common definition and say "no".
Oh, and my reference to "anarcho-frauds" applies to those "anarchists" who reject private property, promote and engage in destruction of property and violence, consider "capitalists" and anyone who isn't just like them to be bourgeois scum, and would love to FORCIBLY impose their communistic anarchism onto everyone. Most of these people also wish harm upon troops, showing both a lack of respect for human life and a capacity to embrace violence.
Given that definition, wouldn't you agree that their description of themselves as "anarchists" is at least somewhat fraudulent?
Just so you know, you made my day with that picture. It is so true. Ribbons to signify false sympathy for tragedy--GRRR.
Peace
I'd put one on my car, but living where I do -- that would probably be seen as a declaration of war.
Nice find.
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