Thanx for this post, Jan. As one who chose a different path, I
appreciate and respect it. I even agree with the sentiment, and am
reminded of Joni Mitchell's famous line about dreaming she saw bombers
turning into butterflies above the nation.
--Bob Whitmire
www.bwp33.com
On Mar 16, 2009, at 7:52 PM, Jan Steinman wrote:
>> 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.
--
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