War, what is it good for? A generation ago, our Vietnam era parents decided "Absolutely nothing!" with the help of plenty of irresponsible sex and blatant drug abuse. And this simplistic, albeit catchy mantra, seems to be the assertion of many of today's budding American adults.
But go back a few more years...to a Depression era America which embraced its morals..and take a look at the greatest war our nation (and the modern world) has ever faced. What was IT good for?
In looking back, the patriots that make up what many refer to as America's greatest generation, claim that World War II and the experiences that it imposed upon them are to thank for making them what they are today. They thank the struggles it forced our nation to undergo for strengtheing and unifying them. They claim that the hardships suffered in relationships forged a bond that is to thank for their marraiges lasting for lifetimes. They believe that the imposed frugality of war-time has made them effective savers and investors, and that the discipline of a generation who virtually all knew military experience made them the driving force which launched the American economic machine into the stratosphere and beyond.
And with absolutely all due respect, I think they are just a little bit confused.
World War II is not to thank for imparting these traits on our granparents and great-grandparents any more than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are to blame for the traits that our generation are currently displaying.
War didn't give the greatest generation its character - war showed it.
War, my friend, IS good for something. It shows a person (or a nation) who he really is. Organizations - from assembly line teams, to corporate office executives, to military special forces units -test their people under the most stressful situations possible to gain a glimpse of their true character. War is the ultimate test of character, for an individual or for a nation.
So what is this war showing about us? To put it lightly, we have become weak, spoiled and arrogant. We are a nation who has lost its collective character over the past 70 years, and this war is showing it.
The generation that entered into World War II held self-indulgence in contempt and held character and integrity in the highest regard. They knew commitment - to their families, to their nation - far before the first shots were fired. By comparison, we should be utterly embarassed.
We, as a fast-food generation that has grown completely accustomed to immediate gratification, display our weakness in the demands we place on a war in order for it to be socailly acceptable. We demand a qucik and easy victory, with no loss or sacrafice on our part. "Why should we be willing to sacrifice for these primitive people off in the desert?" we ask, our arrogance overflowing. We seek easy victory as a means of self-affirmation. Struggle we have no time for.
We know nothing of commitment. To a generation whose standard of living the world has never known, sacrifice seems an entirely foreign word. We tally the number of lives lost on the evening news, as if waiting until the number reaches a certain point at which we will pack up and come home. Please do NOT mistake my aim here - my absolute highest respect is saved for every one of those individuals who has given their life in defense of our nation. A tribute should be paid on every individual's behalf. But tallying fatalities, in front of a nation eating dinner, between the weather report and a used car commercial, only attempts to cheapen the price that our soldiers paid.
The greatest generation would be baffled by our limitations on commitment. We shudder at the number of men and women who have died in the war on terrorism, but by comparison to the sacrifice paid during WWII, our burden seems to barely exist.
As a society, we all love to play the part of the victim. One man's mom didn't love him enough. Another doesn't feel accpeted at work or school. Attractive women aren't taken seriously because they are too attractive, while homley women are oppressed becuase they don't look like cover models. We all love to pass the buck of responsibility - just look at the war.
Following Spetember 11, 2001 we were briefly united as victims. As our nation proudly reached out to right the wrongs of that fateful day, we stood united as victims with a cause. But the war waged on, and the burden became too much for many, then it came time to pass the buck. No longer could we conveniently view ourselves as victims from an external threat, so we turned to our easiest target - our elected officials.
I won't even begin to address this aspect of our generation's tendency to blame our leaders for the challenges we face, showing all of the maturity of a three year old who blames his parents for the fact that it rained on his trip to Disney World. Perhaps I'll get into that another day.
At this point, I'll close. This is getting long, and I know I probably lost most readers from my A.D.D. generation somehwere back around the second paragraph. So, for them, my counterparts, whose only knowldge of Shakespeare is from Cliff's notes and Claire Daines - my point in brief:
We as a nation are weak and spoiled, and the war has shown that. We know nothing of commitment in our marraiges and refuse any semblance of commitment in our cause. An easy, sheltered lifestyle - centered around our own entertainment and immediate gratification has left us ignorant to the meaning of sacrifice. As such, we are unable to see the value in giving any part of our lives to something bigger than ourselves. We are a nation of quick fixes. We pop a pill to wake up, calm down, sleep better, get thin, get stronger, get an erection or just to feel better about ourselves. We've given up solving our probelms for the much simpler act of camoflaging our symptoms. We'd like a world rid of terrorists, but seem to be asking for one in which we simply don't see terror on the evening news.
The war on terror is presently being fought by the remnant of our generation who has somehow not fallen victim to the ease of the American lifestyle. They are men and women who still embody the kind of character that made this nation what it was, and refuse to fall victim to the spoiled society that increasingly defines what Americans are becoming. To them we owe our greatest admiration, for they may represent our generation's only redeeming value.
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