> From: Chris Barker <sgbt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> Sorry to hear that, Jan.
Thanks for the gentle response, Chris.
As I was writing that, I was acutely aware that several here whom I
might call friends might take offence. It was simply my perception,
not meant as a judgement to those who have chosen different paths.
> I have my misgivings now, but I have trusted that it was all for a
> legitimate purpose, the national insurance policy that each state
> chose to pay for.
I note that what "each state chose to pay for" is not exactly the same
as what it's people would have individually chosen.
Increasingly, it seems to be big business and arms merchants doing the
choosing, with the state and its constituents merely secondary and
tertiary concerns to be aligned through fear and propaganda. Reading
books like Naomi Klein's "Shock Doctrine" make it seem pretty clear
that the military is more often abused than righteously used with due
discretion.
But hey, I did it too. Although I didn't share the joy of flying, and
I convinced myself that what I was doing at the time was solely
defensive, I got paid real good (which has enabled my later choices to
the contrary) and got to see a lot of the world. Great fun at the time.
But I can't help wondering what it would be like if everyone borrowed
a line from Nancy Reagan, and Just Said No to weapons. Or having
imagined that ideal, at least tried to get closer to it rather than to
continue building up this tinderbox of weapons the world is now
sitting on.
We've got some hard times coming. People will be at each other's
throats for food. Having a gun or a tactical nuke won't make these
coming conflicts less painful. But it may make us less human, as those
with guns and tacnukes simply take what they want from those who have
not.
Requisite OM info: I once took a photo of the cockpit of an SR-71 with
an OM-2 and Zuiko 24/2.8, but the base commander found out and made me
give up the film.
> On 13 Mar 2009, at 20:44, Jan Steinman wrote:
>
>>>>
>>>> That's the sound of freedom.
>>> Right. If you believe what the billboard says at the entrance to the
>>> base.
>>
>> I let it flow off my back the last time, but having lived in numerous
>> GI towns, I was thinking, "That's the sound of intimidation and the
>> Big BX promise of an unsustainable life."
>>
>> Such sounds do not produce a happy nor proud association for me.
:::: Insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting
different results. ::::
:::: Jan Steinman <http://www.Bytesmiths.com> ::::
--
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