War is kind.
War is hell.
War is good for the economy.
And nothing raises a new president’s low ratings—as well as the prospects of poverty, death, genocide, destruction of several economies and environments for as many nations as will participate—as a “good” war.
America is currently in the middle of more than five bombing campaigns in the Middle East, and both at odds as well as in solidarity with several of the same allies and enemies—including Syria, Yemen, China, Russia, Iran, ISIS, and Al-Qaeda.
Soon they will come for your children to fight because it’s always a children’s crusade, either by or against.
And will you trust the same—or new and/or borrowed—suits who drone bombed, ground fought, invaded, occupied, and sold a bill of goods on one campaign while secretly waging another and another?
At what point will the people say no to megalomaniacal leaders?
At what point will our nuclear toys render us useless to till the soil or breathe the air?
At what point will we have to fight with sticks and rocks because there is nothing left to destroy and no working machinery to use?
War Is Kind by Stephen Crane
Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind,
Because your lover threw wild hands toward the sky
And the affrighted steed ran on alone,
Do not weep.
War is kind.Hoarse, booming drums of the regiment,
Little souls who thirst for fight,
These men were born to drill and die.
The unexplained glory flies above them.
Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom—
A field where a thousand corpses lie.Do not weep, babe, for war is kind.
Because your father tumbles in the yellow trenches,
Raged at his breast, gulped and died,
Do not weep.
War is kind.Swift blazing flag of the regiment,
Eagle with crest of red and gold,
These men were born to drill and die.
Point for them the virtue of slaughter,
Make plain to them the excellence of killing
And a field where a thousand corpses lie.Don’t like ads? Become a supporter and enjoy The Good Men Project ad freeMother whose heart hung humble as a button
On the bright splendid shroud of your son,
Do not weep.
War is kind!
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Photo by Jordy Meow on Unsplash
Sometimes, just sometimes, there are things that can’t be defended with only our eloquent words or logic or reason or rhetoric or pleas or piety or our moral superiority alone. The author asks “At what point will the people say no to megalomaniacal leaders?” I don’t know- because saying “no” usually means more than just saying the word “no”: It also requires doing things that take risk and responsibility and vulnerability and sacrifice and pain and suffering and resilience. It’s not that we should be reckless or nonchalant or trivial with what we value- We should be that much more… Read more »
Actually, the next war is necessary. It will be a war beginning from extremism, those in North Korea have nothing, those in South are relatively free. Look at the world photos at night. then you have a middle eastern culture that hasn’t produced a darn thing in a thousand years, won’t take vaccines. And they are bound and determined to obliterate the west. On top of that you have a basically centrist governmental philosophy that believes planting corn or wheat under 8 inches of snow will feed their population, just because may 1st has generally been the start of a… Read more »