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< Home, hearth, and family are key.
This was a great read. I've read a couple of your posts now, including the recent one from 11-11, and I really appreciate you being here and sharing your thoughts.
But I don't want to talk about soldiers. Not really. I've known too many, and they're so good even when they're rough and broken. The kind of people you wish could run the world. The kind you wish you could grab onto and never let go--some author said that, but not about soldiers. They're not all good, but I don't meet the bad ones. Maybe God knows not to put them near me, or maybe they don't actually exist.
I have read a lot about the Pacific War, and it is my sentiment that when a man faces the horrors of war, they will either come out empowered in the goodness of his fellow man, or he will be destroyed by terror and grief. Too many have become victims to the latter, and largely because there is no support. The VA is a joke, or it's actively evil, or it's being systematically destroyed by the Rs and Ds, whoever is in power at the time. Local institutions are underfunded and homeless vets wander the streets, rejected by the society they scarred themselves defending.
Define freedom, peace, justice, home, hearth, and family, if you can. Are they the same as what our ancestors fought over? What does a better world look like? Who decides?
Fuck me, I don't think I could define any of those. I think I was that Humanist you berate here in my teenage years: the smug atheist, the knows-better apathetic who held religiosity in contempt, and viewed the pious as rubes. It took a number of years to recondition my worldview and through all of my changes, I have not gained any sense of religiosity myself. I have a partner I love dearly, a young boy I would kill and be killed for, a family network that is supportive, a good job. Is this the American dream? I don't have enough money for a home, but I have a home here with the ones I love. Is this the goal, that which wars should be fought over? I have no idea.
Causes. Do you have any? I hope they have some substance. Do you want me to have the same ones? We have to, if we're to live in the same society together.
I want to empower my family and make it strong, successful, and happy. I want my son to enjoy a bountiful life and grow to be an honorable man. I want my community to be healthy and beautiful, and to support my neighbor in his time of need. I want to preserve our forests and wetlands, and promote green politic. I hope you support these goals, too.