We owe these men and women. We owe them.On Sunday, the nation will observe Veterans Day. There will be sincere expressions of gratitude for those who risked and lost limbs and lives when duty called. That is good, but a nation’s gratitude shouldn’t be expressed primarily through “Support the Troops” bumper stickers and the ritualized “thanks” traditionally tendered when the guns fell silent - the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
Supporting the troops would mean not sending them to war on the basis of a pretext and with a plan amounting to wishful thinking. Supporting the troops would mean asking the nation to make the sacrifices to pay for that war, rather than saddling yet-unborn children with the cost. Supporting the troops would mean remembering that one of war’s many horrendous costs is the damage to the soldiers’ psyches.
The nation should provide adequate care, treatment and assistance for those who stand and serve. On the streets, it is clear, that bill is coming due.
"In the post-meditative experience become a child of illusion" is a slogan from the Tibetan mind training tradition. We engage the world as we experience it all the while realizing that reality is not as it seems to be.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Let's REALLY support the troops - Part 2
By now I hope it has come to your attention that one out of every in four homeless persons is a veteran. And many of the newly homeless are veterans of Afghanistan and the most recent Iraq war. Take a look at this conclusion from an article called "Support The Troops? Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is":
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