Every so often – more so these days—you read about heroic deeds executed by an officer. There are probably more articles written about officers. Enlisted men are uniform. They live in barracks and sometimes in trenches. Their positions are closer to the front lines. They work together and depend on each other. More enlisted men do more heroic deeds than officers do, yet fewer are recognized.
At home, they meld into communities as ordinary citizens, while officers proceed into our government jobs and offices. Not many years ago, men got drafted for war. It is interesting that by the time our second world war climaxed, more men (and women) enlisted than were drafted. The important point is, whether drafted or enlistees, men had jobs. People were friendly.
Fast forward to, Vietnam war and beyond. Bureaucracy historically favors officers and their children. They survived OK, while enlisted ranks took a pounding. Protesters rallied. Our former officers got razzed, and ordered executions. Enlisted troops quickly realized the senselessness of those orders (we are not, Chinese). Some refused orders, while others joined in the action. They were mavericks. The protesters were mavericks as well. People got involved.
Things got a bit more complex. Guys coming out of the, Vietnam era were less likely to find good jobs. More of them became street people. They were less welcome than soldiers of the second war were. People ignored them. Businesses would not hire them. The war was bad. They were bad. Ex soldiers either buried their pasts or ended up on the street. Many of them wandered while looking for work. It was difficult to find full time employment. Factories were moving south or overseas.
The exodus was in full swing by the time, Dick Cheney and George Bush declared war on Iraq, with the blessings of Congress. We had a new army of volunteers, downsized. They sent our national guard instead. Most of those soldiers had jobs before that. Those jobs were gone when they came home. Many had their homes repossessed.
The mass displacement includes women, something unheard of in our past. Years of wars have left our communities stripped of integrity. Entire neighborhoods boarded. Abandoned factory shells remind us of our past, while openly decaying. People attend schools in hopes of getting ahead, while others cannot afford school. Graduates often find diminutive jobs that share nothing with their educations, while spending years paying off student loans.
Everything in Washington seems to be on hold. Our President has a record low rating, according to pollsters. That is what they want us to believe. It is reasonable to think. There is no economy for more than half the people in our country, at a time when former officers and corporate tycoons want to end, Social Security. It has many people questioning the logic of a government administration that operates like a giant, Ponzi scheme.
Rumors that the Pentagon controls a lion share of our budget are hard to dispute. Yet, they want to cut, Social Security, end our minimum wage and health treatment for our working class and poor. They want soldiers and workers to create their own retirement plans (generally packaged into losing IRA’s).
We are running out of money. Our state is broke. The country is broke. We have, Homeland Security. Miles of tunnels, forty feet below sea level snake under landscapes. Super transit systems ferry daily passengers between, New York and Washington DC. There is more sophistication in the NYPD than in the entire FBI. Cameras are omnipresent, while computers and police monitor them. We have, Homeland Security.
They said the last earthquake did more damage than they anticipated – millions of dollars – not to mention the hurricane that sent torrential downpours up the coast. It took lives and destroyed homes. The footage covering massive mudslides, road washouts, and missing people, is a distant memory. Wall Street was spared!
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