2008 Woodie Awards
SemAntics: How does fighting make us free?
Katie Rose Guest
Issue date: 10/17/06 Section: Opinions
My friend keeps sending around these email forwards that are supposed to be thought provoking. They're always about the same topic, sort of a flank attack on American citizens who don't support current American warmongering policies, trying to guilt us into changing our minds.
Here's how the latest email started: "Only 6% of Americans under the age of 65 have or will serve in the U.S. Military. Unlike Switzerland, Germany, Israel, we do not have a draft. We do not require public service of any kind. Freedom is not Free-Freedom brought to you by 6% of Americans who serve."
There are so many things wrong with these assertions. But sometimes they're hard to articulate because these arguments have taken on the weight of fact in the current cultural moment. Few people question the highly questionable statement that our military invaded Afghanistan (remember Afghanistan?) and Iraq to protect our "freedom" here in America. Few people have asked: How does fighting really make us free?
The email says we do not have a draft, we don't require "public service of any kind." How does requiring people to spend years of their lives in the military-that is, instating a draft-become a metaphor for freedom? Isn't forced military service the opposite of freedom? For every single one of my close friends, being forced into the military would be worse than prison. At least in prison, we wouldn't be forced to kill. Killing doesn't equal "public service."
We invaded Afghanistan hoping to stop Al Qaeda, a terrorist network. That we ousted the Taliban was a public relations coup for Bush, since we failed in our initial goal. But does Al Qaeda really threaten our "freedom" here in the United States? Is our democracy in danger? Not from Al Qaeda.
America is "free" because we have a stable government supported by a stable economy which is currently being destabilized by our warmongering. This is a bait-and-switch that the Bush administration is hoping you won't notice. Have you noticed?
Do you know what Halliburton is and what it does? That Dick Cheney was the company's former CEO? Why is Halliburton rebuilding Iraq and post-Katrina New Orleans? Go look it up.
Our currency used to be the "gold standard" of the world economy, but the dollar has been stripped of its power since Bush came into his. When Bush runs out of money, he just prints more. The amount of money our government prints used to be public information. Then, the Federal Reserve announced that as of March 20, 2006, they would no longer publish "M3" Data, the amount of cash the government prints to put into circulation. Bush is the first president to stop public availability of M3 Data. What does he have to hide? Only that he's destroying the dollar, our economy, our freedom.
You know who told me this? An investment banker for one of the largest firms in the world. His job requires him to count on the dollar. He's a Republican. And he's pissed that our current administration is ruining our economy-and his own living. No one will invest in a dying economy and a dying dollar.
I'd like to think that freedom is brought to me by you and me, every time we exercise our freedoms. When you vote, for example, you exercise your freedom to vote. When I write this column, I exercise my freedom to dissent. When you write a letter to the editor disagreeing with me, you exercise yours. We are pressing against the ever-closing walls of tyranny, pushing those walls out again, always pushing and pressing outwards. That's freedom.
Read more from Katie at her blog:
http://southernsemantics.blogspot.com
Here's how the latest email started: "Only 6% of Americans under the age of 65 have or will serve in the U.S. Military. Unlike Switzerland, Germany, Israel, we do not have a draft. We do not require public service of any kind. Freedom is not Free-Freedom brought to you by 6% of Americans who serve."
There are so many things wrong with these assertions. But sometimes they're hard to articulate because these arguments have taken on the weight of fact in the current cultural moment. Few people question the highly questionable statement that our military invaded Afghanistan (remember Afghanistan?) and Iraq to protect our "freedom" here in America. Few people have asked: How does fighting really make us free?
The email says we do not have a draft, we don't require "public service of any kind." How does requiring people to spend years of their lives in the military-that is, instating a draft-become a metaphor for freedom? Isn't forced military service the opposite of freedom? For every single one of my close friends, being forced into the military would be worse than prison. At least in prison, we wouldn't be forced to kill. Killing doesn't equal "public service."
We invaded Afghanistan hoping to stop Al Qaeda, a terrorist network. That we ousted the Taliban was a public relations coup for Bush, since we failed in our initial goal. But does Al Qaeda really threaten our "freedom" here in the United States? Is our democracy in danger? Not from Al Qaeda.
America is "free" because we have a stable government supported by a stable economy which is currently being destabilized by our warmongering. This is a bait-and-switch that the Bush administration is hoping you won't notice. Have you noticed?
Do you know what Halliburton is and what it does? That Dick Cheney was the company's former CEO? Why is Halliburton rebuilding Iraq and post-Katrina New Orleans? Go look it up.
Our currency used to be the "gold standard" of the world economy, but the dollar has been stripped of its power since Bush came into his. When Bush runs out of money, he just prints more. The amount of money our government prints used to be public information. Then, the Federal Reserve announced that as of March 20, 2006, they would no longer publish "M3" Data, the amount of cash the government prints to put into circulation. Bush is the first president to stop public availability of M3 Data. What does he have to hide? Only that he's destroying the dollar, our economy, our freedom.
You know who told me this? An investment banker for one of the largest firms in the world. His job requires him to count on the dollar. He's a Republican. And he's pissed that our current administration is ruining our economy-and his own living. No one will invest in a dying economy and a dying dollar.
I'd like to think that freedom is brought to me by you and me, every time we exercise our freedoms. When you vote, for example, you exercise your freedom to vote. When I write this column, I exercise my freedom to dissent. When you write a letter to the editor disagreeing with me, you exercise yours. We are pressing against the ever-closing walls of tyranny, pushing those walls out again, always pushing and pressing outwards. That's freedom.
Read more from Katie at her blog:
http://southernsemantics.blogspot.com
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