From: Just Americans Making Ethical Statements Weblog
15 July 2009
This is written by a young soldier serving his third tour of duty in Iraq . Thought you might find his take on the Michael Jackson news interesting and he’s right.
Okay, I need to rant.
I was just watching the news, and I caught part of a report on Michael Jackson. As we all know,
Jackson died the other day. He was an entertainer who performed for decades. He made millions, he spent millions, and he did a lot of things that make him a villain to many people.
I understand that his death would affect a lot of people, and I respect those people who mourn his death, but that isn’t the point of my rant.
Why is it that when ONE man dies, the whole of America loses their minds with grief.
When a man dies whose only contribution to the country was to ENTERTAIN people,the American people find the need to flock to a memorial in Hollywood , and even Congress sees the need to hold a “moment of silence” for his passing?
Am I missing something here? ONE man dies, and all of a sudden he’s a freaking martyr because he entertained us for a few decades?
What about all those SOLDIERS who have died to give us freedom ? All those Soldiers who, knowing that they would be asked to fight in a war, still raised their hands and swore to defend the Constitution and the United States of America .
Where is their moment of silence? Where are the people flocking to their graves or memorials and mourning over them because they made the ultimate sacrifice?
Why is it when a Soldier dies, there are more people saying “good riddance,” and “thank God for IEDs?” When did this country become so calloused to the sacrifice of GOOD MEN and WOMEN, that they can arbitrarily blow off their deaths, and instead, throw themselves into mourning for a “Pop Icon?”
I think that if they are going to hold a moment of silence IN CONGRESS for Michael Jackson, they need to hold a moment of silence for every service member killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
They need to PUBLICLY recognize every life that has been lost so that the American can live their callous people little lives in the luxury and freedom that WE, those that are living and those that have gone on, have provided for them.
But, wait, that would take too much time, because there have been so many willing to make that sacrifice. After all, we will never make millions of dollars. We will never star in movies, or write hit songs that the world will listen too. We only shed our blood, sweat and tears so that people can enjoy what they have.
Sorry if I have offended, but I needed to say it. Remember these five words the next time you think of someone who is serving in the military;
“So that others may live…” Isaac
5 comments:
I awfully empathize with this soldier, knowing that he sacrifices family and personal preferences for a noble cause --- love of freedom and country!
When I was the commander of the 505th Air Search and Rescue Squadron of the Phil. Air Force, we had the same creed, "That Others May Live". Sad to say, many do not realize that soldiers put their lives on the line fighting the enemies to preserve the freedom that we all enjoy. I wonder if our life would be as free and enjoyable had we lost the war against the Japanese during WWII, or we lose to the Muslims in Mindanao, or somewhere else.
This lends credit to the saying, "Sleep tight, your Army is awake!"
Indeed, dead soldiers specially those who died in line of duty, deserve a much more fitting memorial than what Americans gave to MJ.
Note the differences:
1. MJ is known all over the world and liked even by the enemies of America. An ordinary soldier is known only to his family, friends and his unit.
2. MJ has done something out of the ordinary. He has produced beautiful music even at a young age. A soldier is doing ordinary works --- obey orders, and fight the enemy. Everyone would say a soldier is paid to do just that!
3. MJ is worth 9 figures in US dollars, maybe more. A soldier is worth 5 figures a year. (A Filipino soldier is worth a deplorable measly income!)
Money can buy a pompous memorial.
In Canada, dead soldiers from the battlefield are given adequate honors. Their names are published in the papers and broadcast several times in the TV, a fitting memorial is given, and a decent burial is accorded each one of them. Even our major highway was renamed "Highway of Heroes" in memory of the fallen soldiers.
I guess the problem lies on how the Americans pay tribute to a fallen soldier vis-a-vis a renowned dead popstar.
If it is leadership, Collin Powell said, “The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.”
You would, of all of us your batchmates, understand and feel for this soldier.
But relatively untouched as most of us have so far been by the horrors of armed conflict, it should still be obvious to us that the value system of the so-called free world has become disturbingly snafu, upside down, confused.
What value is MJ to the free world? Amusement mainly. The object of adulation and derision in equal measure. The epitome of weirdness that can never ever visit our superior selves. What true values did he ever engender in the lives of many? What is his true legacy? Well, his surviving relatives and friends and associates are now about to get embroiled in psychological and legal warfare over his financial carcass as the ghoulish press dig up more dirt on him. And of course, there is his music. Have his fans ever really considered some of the messages his songs convey?
In stark contrast, a true soldier: Not a tune many will even hum, not a piece of gossip that will sell tabloid magazines, not a piece of memorabilia such as as nail clippings and used paper masks. His legacy: nothing much. Just freedom and all the benefits we all take for granted.
So what? What does it matter? The soldiers have got their troubles, we have ours.
Meanwhile we can all go our merry way. Let's have some fun and moonwalk as we clutch our crotches. Life is too short to care about some unknown soldiers. A stone monument here and there should suffice. After all, soldiers are a dollar a dozen. There is only one MJ.
Hello, world. What has become of you?
Ha..ha..ha..!
I took great delight about your comment, and almost fell out of my chair laughing especially the part that we moonwalk as we clutch our crotches!
Very funny!
Sadly, the use of literary tools, in this case, irony and even sarcasm, didn't work. My apologies.
I just wish it were a defect in the chair that nearly tipped you out of it and not my comment.
Nevertheless please get that chair checked and fixed before you occupy it again. We have no wish to see you in crutches (pun unintended) come reunion time.
No apologies, Ms Orion JRI, your eloquence and literary genius did work. You have a very lucid way of presenting your views, even the irony and the sarcasm that go with them.
I checked my chair and did find some loose screws like the guy who is trying to wreck it.
I was just imagining myself ala MJ moonwalking and clutching my crotches!!!
Don't you think it is funny!
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