It's a long and noble birthright, of invading sovereign nations, toppling governments and propping up dictators. Our very nation is founded in destruction and bloodshed, 238 years ago. And the GOP in our our Congress wants to continue it even today, in far-flung corners of the globe (mostly the Middle East).
However, as more veterans return from the battlefield scarred with wounds they may never recover from, both physical and psychic, the media is finally noting something that some of us noted some years ago: perhaps some of our veterans don't appreciate random explosions in their neighborhood.
There is something about being in a high-stress environment, and having no warning as to when a loud noise might mean the death of a friend or a companion. Or worse, the knowledge that you, yourself, might never hear the last echo dying away, as you do the same yourself.
There are many reasons to oppose fireworks, especially here in New Mexico. Hundreds and thousands of acres of land are destroyed every year, homes are destroyed and people are killed, because of wildfires here in the Southwest, many of them caused by unregulated use of fireworks. But there's another fact that the American people are finally realizing.
In honoring our nation's history, you are, perhaps inadvertently, harming our nation's veterans.
Way to support the troops, America.
I have wondered why we must keep up the rather barbaric tradition of celebrating war, death and destruction. While I enjoy the light show of a fireworks display it does disturb me that it is symbolic of "bombs bursting in air."
ReplyDeleteFor the first time, I read someone who feels the same way I do about fireworks. It's not the quasi-militaristic nature of the explosions that bother me, but rather....what it does to my body and mind. Thank you.....reblogging this.
ReplyDeleteI have a fondness for fireworks -- to the point where I like the smell of black powder smoke in the evening, but your point is, sad to say, very true. My neighborhood sounded like a battle zone until after 11:00 last night -- perhaps longer but I fell asleep to the sound of fireworks from all sides. There is a fireworks supermarket close by and they're cheap and although technically illegal, it's ignored by the law. Yes, we do have people I know who sit in their back yards shooting into the air. I stay indoors.
ReplyDeleteAs to those bombs bursting in air, I'm pretty sure it refers to the war of 1812 and not the revolution, but as the American public seems not to remember that one it's a moot point.
I suspect that the fulsome worship of "warriors" that's taken root in the public mind, has little to do with respect or for making their lives easier. I suspect it's war worship and little else.
Why would you allow your own son to go to Afghanistan? What could you possibly have been thinking?
ReplyDeleteAmong those of us who have sons and daughters in the military, it is not something we allow or disallow. My daughter, who is currently commuting between Afghanistan and Qatar right now, is a fully sentient adult who made this decision purely on her own.
DeleteHer decision to serve in the U.S, Army challenged me in many ways. As a child of the 1960s and a former peacenik, it is not a role I would have chosen for myself, nor one I would have wanted for my daughter. Yet, this is the path she chose for herself; and the challenge for me was to support her life choices and set aside my personal antipathies.
On balance, I am proud of my daughter and her accomplishments and cannot imagine myself living a different life.