When the rich wage war, it ‘s the poor who die
A couple of days ago, I overheard a conversation, or one side of it. Shawn was standing in the doorway of the office of a couple of our media and usability specialists. Their office is just behind my cube, so it was not like I was straining to hear and he was not talking a hushed voice. I’ve known him for a while; Shawn came back from Iraq shortly after I started working here. He is proud of his service (he is a major in the reserves) and is a staunch supporter of both the war and President Bush. He is also proud to have taken over 157 men an brought them all home. Well, I guess that Senator Clinton made a comment that she would obliterate Iran if it were to attack Israel, or something like that. I had not heard that story yet, but it got Shawn on his soap box about how we should just “go after them all and obliterate the whole area”. Well, that got enough of my attention to stand up and ask him, over my cube wall, if he meant that, if he knew just how much would be lost and that the gains would be very minimal if at all. He just smiled and said that they deserved what they got. I asked him if he had any concern for history or for innocent life? He turned to walk back towards his cube and asked me, “show me or define innocence. I’ve been there and there is none.”
Now, he is right, I’ve not been there. I’ve lived through a war though, Vietnam for one, and the Cold War for another. I look around and I see innocence all around. I’ve lived in the military and I support our troops. They are here to defend our freedoms, our lives and our homes. There is a line in a song from Linkin Park’s “Hands Held High”. It is the title of this post. The lyrics are below, more after the break.
Turn my mike up louder I got to say something
Light weights step to the side when we come in
Feel it in your chest the syllables get pumping
People on the street they panic and start running
Words on loose leaf sheet complete coming
I jump in my mind and summon the rhyme, I'm dumping
Healing the blind I promise to let the sun in
Sick of the dark ways we march to the drum and
Jump when they tell us that they wanna see jumping
Fuck that I wanna see some fists pumping
Risk something, take back what's yours
Say something that you know they might attack you for
Cause I'm sick of being treated like I have before
Like it's stupid standing for what I'm standing for
Like this war's really just a different brand of war
Like it doesn't cater the rich and abandon poor
Like they understand you in the back of the jet
When you can't put gas in your tank
These fuckers are laughing their way to the bank and cashing the cheque
Asking you to have compassion and have some respect
For a leader so nervous in an obvious way
Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay
And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day
In their living room laughing like "what did he say?"
[Chorus:]
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
In my living room watching but I am not laughing
Cause when it gets tense I know what might happen
World is cold the bold men take action
Have to react or get blown into fractions
Ten years old it's something to see
Another kid my age drugged under a jeep
Taken and bound and found later under a tree
I wonder if he had thought the next one could be me
Do you see the soldiers they're out today
They brush the dust from bullet proof vests away
It's ironic at times like this you pray
But a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday
There's bombs in the buses, bikes, roads
Inside your market, your shops, your clothes
My dad he's got a lot of fear I know
But enough pride inside not to let that show
My brother had a book he would hold with pride
A little red cover with a broken spine
On the back, he hand-wrote a quote inside
When the rich wage war it's the poor who die
Meanwhile, the leader just talks away
Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay
And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day
both scared and angry like "what did he say?"
I heard this song a while ago and that line got me thinking. They do not say who said it, but it was Jean-Paul Sartre. He was drafted into the French army and spent 9 months in a German Stalag (POW camp). Later in life, he became a playwright, a writer, a philosopher, and he won the Nobel Prize for Literature (in 1964). This quote is from his 1951 play “The Devil and The Good Lord”, the story of a warlord who transforms himself into a saint through acts of generosity and clemency. Anyway, that is the background of the line. I saw Shawn later that day and asked him how he felt about that line. His response surprised me. He said that he supports Bush, not because he is his commander in chief, but because he feels he is doing the right thing. He said he does not feel guilty and there is nothing I can say that would change his mind. And, if Hillary really meant what she said, he would support her too. He went on to say that he is disappointed that the war is lasting as long as it has been; that President Bush could have ended it years ago. I asked him to explain and he said that any country harboring terrorists should be leveled. We are the world power and we should show it. If it takes leveling a city or two, so be it.
Well, besides having a meeting to get to, I was feeling ill. So, we parted ways. Still, I was thinking. Cities are filled with people, men and women and children who are trying to lead their lives the best they can. They are no different than you or me. The thought of the loss of life on that scale, well, I think I know what Obi-wan felt in Star Wars when Alderan was destroyed (yes, I know it was fiction, folks, it is just a point). Do I know any of them personally? Do I call them my friends? No, I call them brothers and sisters. It would be such a loss. Suppose, just for a moment, that one of those people is a doctor in the hospital. He’s been doing research and is on the verge of finding a cure for cancer, or AIDs, or even the common cold. Another is a professor and has a theory for a renewable and cheap energy source. In another part of the city is a school teacher, teaching the students the rich history of area and the birth of three major religions. None of these people have guns in their homes. None of them have bombs in their cars. Yet, some politician, somewhere else in the world just signed the order to have their city leveled.
War is not the answer; it will never lead to peace. Only love of one another will overcome hatred and prejudice. I’ve been reading another book called “God is not Great” by Christopher Hitchens. While I do not agree with all his atheistic views, his theme that every war ever fought was started over one thing, religion is not too far off. I thought I could find one that was not, but so far, he has shown that even when history (and the media) tries to sugar coat it, the cause is still rooted in the beliefs of one group versus another.
We need to find peace.
Bear
Now, he is right, I’ve not been there. I’ve lived through a war though, Vietnam for one, and the Cold War for another. I look around and I see innocence all around. I’ve lived in the military and I support our troops. They are here to defend our freedoms, our lives and our homes. There is a line in a song from Linkin Park’s “Hands Held High”. It is the title of this post. The lyrics are below, more after the break.
Turn my mike up louder I got to say something
Light weights step to the side when we come in
Feel it in your chest the syllables get pumping
People on the street they panic and start running
Words on loose leaf sheet complete coming
I jump in my mind and summon the rhyme, I'm dumping
Healing the blind I promise to let the sun in
Sick of the dark ways we march to the drum and
Jump when they tell us that they wanna see jumping
Fuck that I wanna see some fists pumping
Risk something, take back what's yours
Say something that you know they might attack you for
Cause I'm sick of being treated like I have before
Like it's stupid standing for what I'm standing for
Like this war's really just a different brand of war
Like it doesn't cater the rich and abandon poor
Like they understand you in the back of the jet
When you can't put gas in your tank
These fuckers are laughing their way to the bank and cashing the cheque
Asking you to have compassion and have some respect
For a leader so nervous in an obvious way
Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay
And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day
In their living room laughing like "what did he say?"
[Chorus:]
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
Amen
In my living room watching but I am not laughing
Cause when it gets tense I know what might happen
World is cold the bold men take action
Have to react or get blown into fractions
Ten years old it's something to see
Another kid my age drugged under a jeep
Taken and bound and found later under a tree
I wonder if he had thought the next one could be me
Do you see the soldiers they're out today
They brush the dust from bullet proof vests away
It's ironic at times like this you pray
But a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday
There's bombs in the buses, bikes, roads
Inside your market, your shops, your clothes
My dad he's got a lot of fear I know
But enough pride inside not to let that show
My brother had a book he would hold with pride
A little red cover with a broken spine
On the back, he hand-wrote a quote inside
When the rich wage war it's the poor who die
Meanwhile, the leader just talks away
Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay
And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day
both scared and angry like "what did he say?"
I heard this song a while ago and that line got me thinking. They do not say who said it, but it was Jean-Paul Sartre. He was drafted into the French army and spent 9 months in a German Stalag (POW camp). Later in life, he became a playwright, a writer, a philosopher, and he won the Nobel Prize for Literature (in 1964). This quote is from his 1951 play “The Devil and The Good Lord”, the story of a warlord who transforms himself into a saint through acts of generosity and clemency. Anyway, that is the background of the line. I saw Shawn later that day and asked him how he felt about that line. His response surprised me. He said that he supports Bush, not because he is his commander in chief, but because he feels he is doing the right thing. He said he does not feel guilty and there is nothing I can say that would change his mind. And, if Hillary really meant what she said, he would support her too. He went on to say that he is disappointed that the war is lasting as long as it has been; that President Bush could have ended it years ago. I asked him to explain and he said that any country harboring terrorists should be leveled. We are the world power and we should show it. If it takes leveling a city or two, so be it.
Well, besides having a meeting to get to, I was feeling ill. So, we parted ways. Still, I was thinking. Cities are filled with people, men and women and children who are trying to lead their lives the best they can. They are no different than you or me. The thought of the loss of life on that scale, well, I think I know what Obi-wan felt in Star Wars when Alderan was destroyed (yes, I know it was fiction, folks, it is just a point). Do I know any of them personally? Do I call them my friends? No, I call them brothers and sisters. It would be such a loss. Suppose, just for a moment, that one of those people is a doctor in the hospital. He’s been doing research and is on the verge of finding a cure for cancer, or AIDs, or even the common cold. Another is a professor and has a theory for a renewable and cheap energy source. In another part of the city is a school teacher, teaching the students the rich history of area and the birth of three major religions. None of these people have guns in their homes. None of them have bombs in their cars. Yet, some politician, somewhere else in the world just signed the order to have their city leveled.
War is not the answer; it will never lead to peace. Only love of one another will overcome hatred and prejudice. I’ve been reading another book called “God is not Great” by Christopher Hitchens. While I do not agree with all his atheistic views, his theme that every war ever fought was started over one thing, religion is not too far off. I thought I could find one that was not, but so far, he has shown that even when history (and the media) tries to sugar coat it, the cause is still rooted in the beliefs of one group versus another.
We need to find peace.
Bear