When did they take the romance out of war? Serve your country. Stand by the flag. Send your sons and daughters off to war. Two opposing coalitions meeting in battle where generals and soldiers become heroes and legends. Soldiers come home to jubilant wives and families. Schools are named after the fallen.
As Americans, we knew where we stood. We may not have agreed on it. We could see the battles on TV, we could tell who the enemies were. We could tell when we were winning, and when we were losing. Thats all gone now, I think.
Now small groups of militants can engage entire regions of the world in armed combat. Their techniques have taken on a medieval tone. There are no longer any rules of war. In WW2 if children were killed in a bombing raid it was because the technology didnt exist to isolate targets. Now the killing of children is a calculated effort to send your enemy into dissention. Its a whole new era in killing. I will miss Pattons war.
As Americans, we knew where we stood. We may not have agreed on it. We could see the battles on TV, we could tell who the enemies were. We could tell when we were winning, and when we were losing. Thats all gone now, I think.
Now small groups of militants can engage entire regions of the world in armed combat. Their techniques have taken on a medieval tone. There are no longer any rules of war. In WW2 if children were killed in a bombing raid it was because the technology didnt exist to isolate targets. Now the killing of children is a calculated effort to send your enemy into dissention. Its a whole new era in killing. I will miss Pattons war.
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1. while i see what you're getting to with the ceo metaphor, the job (while i am not sure how much the president actually does...or at least how much this one does) is fairly taxing for one person. i'd attribute most of that to being the figurehead everyone attacks...plus i have a problem with life-long judicial positions. if the president had a lifelong term, he'd/she'd be a dictator. imo there has to be a happy medium between replacing the pres every year and keeping him in for good. maybe 4 isn't it...
2. i agree that it seems like local politics actually affects our lives more. however, as i see it the national government does effect our lives quite a bit...it's just not as obvious. the lack of state moneys for public education and healthcare are having a real effect in california right now...a major trauma center in los angeles is being shut down not for lack of crime. compared with my home state, ca's public school system is pitiful. these things can't really be fixed by local politics because what is needed is $$ mobilization and that comes from the giant-hand-that-feeds-us. maybe what you are hinting at, though, is that we can AFFECT local politics seemingly much more easily than national politics, which are fairly (and discouragingly so) less accessible.