Thursday, May 24, 2012

Political, Military and Corporate psychopathy: War. a dedication to my Father.




              I dedicate this chapter to the memory of my father and Grandfather.

              Dad, you taught me the ways of the peaceful warrior. I have never forgotten the things you taught me though many times I cannot do as you did. You, as Grandpa did, told me how the country you both fought for would become obsessed with greed. How we may have won a battle in WWII, but the Japanese would win the war. I learned what you both meant over time, when America would begin to make nothing and other countries car, technological and products manufacturing power would become greater than our own.

I thank you both so very much and remember every single word on the future you said would come to be after your passing’s.

When Zenith was the last maker of TV’s in US decided to move to Mexico, around 1985: my father said: “I don’t envy your future, Mark. This country isn’t making anything anymore except debt. It's selling it self off."

My father and grandpa,

I hope my words make you proud.

Ps. Dad, when I pass, I cannot wait to bowl with you again!

-Mark

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      Let’s chat about bullets, planes and Howitzers, OH MY! And those that choose to fire, drop bombs, crank out artillery and build the toys that kill. And for most, it is not their fault that they become killers. They just did what they were told.

           How we as a society embrace, fund and train psychopaths, both the violent and nonviolent alike.

            It is very easy to understand how killers can be made. They call it Basic Training for a reason. I have personally never gone through Basic Training, but I do know plenty that have. My own father went through basic at Paris Island during WWII. Even when I was an adult with children of my own he would not share with me what he was taught. I thought that most odd until I talked to those that did similar training in many branches of our Armed Forces.

      My father was the gentlest of men I have ever known. Looking back, and it’s been 19 years since his passing, I cannot think of another soul as gentle, trusting and kind as him. His sense of conscience was beyond most.

        Frankly, I think the reason he never shared his Paris Island experiences with me was because he felt embarrassed by both what he learned and the things he’d have to do had he hit the grounds of Germany or Japan. He dropped out of high school to enlist in the Marine Corp. He must’ve wanted to go to war and why not? He felt he needed to do his part and so forth.

       Yet what caused him to never talk about the things he’d learned in Basic? What caused a pride in country and self to build a wall so thick he could not share this?

        I was about 14 when I happened on his footlocker in the attic. Of course I opened it. I went through is certifications, loves letters from mom and such. Then I found The Book. I don’t clearly remember the name of it, but it was something like: 200 ways to kill your enemy with your bare hands. I read it, fascinated by it’s content which showed graphic displays of various options to dispatch those that would kill you if you did not learn them and master them.

        This book had evil looking Germans, most with Hitler ‘staches and Japanese soldiers with overly slanted eyes and super thick glasses. It described the ‘two fingered death method’, how to kill with a simple Newspaper, and numerous ways to blind your advisory with common chemicals and fingers.

     Back when, I thought it was amazing.

     I asked him about the book and he went pale.

     I wanted to know what his Marine stuff was like.

    All he would say was this: It was horrible and I am not going to tell you anything.

    It was then we went to Bosaks dairy and got milk. He always knew I liked rides in the car with him and soon forgot what I wanted to know.

     At some point, I saw the 1970 movie Tribes, with Jan Michael Vincent. It was about Marine Basic training during the Vietnam (police action). It was fairly ghastly. It showed many ways to kill or get killed. It showed the breaking down process ordinary men would have to go through to become Unnaturally Born Killers. The forgetting of important conducts that mothers, fathers and members of religious faiths had so instilled in them in regards to respect, humanity and being unconditionally loving to all. A total and complete reversal of all most had known prior to joining up.

      Imagine, in the mere space of weeks, being trained, albeit, reprogrammed to believe just the opposite of those you love and trust had filled your head, your heart with since birth. How does one cast off those years worth of teachings? How can you so easily blow away the stern, yet gentle things your mother taught you? How do you forget the teachings of Jesus, <and many other faiths> about the importance of turning the other cheek? How do you go from the squeamish kid in Biology class at the thought of dissecting a frog to a justifiable killer of humans by shooting, bombing or gutting them?

     How?

     Is it from sense of threat to country, loved ones or life as we know that it crosses mental barriers, mental lines in the heads of those being trained? A new awakening of defense, building and expanding on shores where killing is not only right, but admirable and honorable?

      Granted, WWII was somewhat different. We were attacked by Japan. We were warned of the planes heading toward Pearl and so easily, perhaps by arrogance, disregarded those radar sightings as folly? Didn’t Roosevelt have us already helping Britain via the Lend-Lease Act way before any declarations of war happened to the USA? Didn’t he, and the powers that were back-when, know the importance it would give us as a people to join WWII? America, it’s people, wanted nothing to do with either the conflicts in Japan and China or the Germans and Britain. The subject of war most sincerely bothered Americans then. They saw the fallout of the men that came back and wanted no part of the thought of it.

        Politically speaking, praising war was a major buzz kill to any group with an agenda.

       And so, with radar sightings confirmed, we get attacked on American soil.

      Within 48 hours of this attack, Germany declared war against the USA. This is a hotly debated event. This debate comes from many sides going so far to say: Did Germany really make such a declaration and why? I will not go into this further. I will leave that for another time entirely.

      It is my belief we had to let ourselves be attacked in order to justify us going to war in the eyes of the America it was then.

      Why did the Japanese bomb Pearl? Well, we had blockades between them and China. They felt squelched and struck back.

      Enough with WWII, shall we continue?

      The Cold War between the USA and USSR:

      Patton did not trust the Russians one bit. The Allied Military damn near castrated him for his beliefs on this. Was there not a scramble to get Germanys best rocket scientists and bomb makers between both and the USSR? Was there a sense of urgency to gather them up before Russia did? Absolutely there was. So by that, why was Patton looked down on when he so clearly saw the future?

      He knew one simple truth: Kill them before they kill you.

     Sadly, what Patton didn’t see was this: There is much more profit in belief that war ‘could’ strike out at any moment than simply acting on it and stopping it before further actions are needed.

     And so a Profit-Sense-Mind is formed in the United States of America by those in power. War can make a country rich, so what would a threat be worth? How can we prevent us from being invaded again and turn bullets into gold in the process?

<<Keep this in mind: there was only one ground occupation of US soil during WWII, and that was around Dutch Harbor, Alaska. The Japanese split way before US troops responded realizing the US would waste time and material to thwart it. It was a nice diversion on their part and it worked.>>

       We do this by creating a belief in our society that there is evil in other lands and we best protect ourselves against them before they best us.

      Why did the USA get into Vietnam?

      Why did, and continuously still do, get involved in wars in the Middle East? Did we not learn the futility of such affairs from our inclusions/intrusions in both Korea and Vietnam? How many Americans know of the First Indochina War and how the French had been fighting from roughly 1946 to 1960’s? How many know we initially backed the French as a way to fight communism? We had sent troops there for over 5 years to aid them: the Cold War was alive and well and geared for profit in some circles. The first official US combat units were deployed in 1965.

      The JFK time: source: The John F. Kennedy archives. Presidential Library



       American foreign policy after World War II was based on the goal of containing Communism and the assumptions of the so-called "domino theory"—if one country fell to Communism, the surrounding countries would fall, like dominoes. In response to that threat, the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) was formed in 1955 to prevent Communist expansion, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent some 700 military personnel as well as military and economic aid to the government of South Vietnam. The effort was foundering when John F. Kennedy became president.

        Corruption, religious differences, and mounting successes by the Vietcong guerrillas weakened the South Vietnamese government of Ngo Dinh Diem. Diem was Catholic, and public protests over the repression of Buddhists threatened the stability of his regime. Kennedy accelerated the flow of American aid and gradually increased U.S. military advisers to more than 16,000. At the same time, he pressed the Diem government to clean house and institute long-overdue political and economic reforms.

      The situation did not improve. In September of 1963, President Kennedy declared in an interview, "In the final analysis, it is their war. They are the ones who have to win it or lose it. We can help them, we can give them equipment, we can send our men out there as advisers, but they have to win it, the people of Vietnam, against the Communists. . . . But I don't agree with those who say we should withdraw. That would be a great mistake. . . . [The United States] made this effort to defend Europe. Now Europe is quite secure. We also have to participate—we may not like it—in the defense of Asia.

     On 11/22/1963 JFK gets assassinated.

     United States military aid to Vietnam increased during 1964. By 1965, President Johnson authorized U.S. troops to begin military offensives and started the systematic bombing of North Vietnam. By 1968, the number of U.S. forces surpassed 500,000. During that year's presidential campaign, Americans were deeply divided by the deteriorating military and political situation in Vietnam.

     In May 1968, President Johnson announced that formal peace talks would soon begin in Paris. The talks stalled during the last eight months of Johnson's presidency, and the deadlock continued during the early years of Richard Nixon's administration. Finally, in January 1973, an agreement was reached, and President Nixon ordered an end to all U.S. offensive actions against North Vietnam.

      In January 1975, North Vietnam began massive invasions of South Vietnam. A few months later, the North Vietnamese captured the capital city of Saigon, and the last Americans were evacuated from the U.S. embassy. The American war in Vietnam was over. More than 3 million Vietnamese and 58,000 Americans had lost their lives.

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        After WWII:

     Was the threat of communism that great or was it simply what people of my fathers generation were simply fed to keep up a fear level?

      Was it to keep the war machine thriving in the wake of its economic downturn that would occur immediately after WWII ended? Granted, the steel and auto industry boomed immediately after WWII and why not? The war had annihilated both Germanys and Japans industrial complex to they point they could no longer produce simple toys, watches or clothing. Small wonder we most quickly became to major producer of virtually anything any country could want. Keep in mind, most industrial producing countries in Europe were either wasted by the Nazi’s or bombed by the US and Britain during their occupation of them.

      Did the United States rebuild Japan? Was this out of guilt for bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki and killing some estimated 400,000 people, military personnel, but mostly civilians? Was this an attempt to win the hearts and minds of a country we’d blown to bits? Of course, they did attack Pearl first, killing 2,402 and wounding some 1,282 Americans.

     Frankly, We The People, The United States Military and Congressional powers seemed to think this way: If you got a lot of knives and forks, you have to cut something. So having a new toy, we played with it, thus showing the world who their daddy truly is.

      Sure, we could’ve nuked Germany and why not? Look at the holocaust and all the exterminations that caused. We could have justified that, right? Yet we didn’t nuke them.

     And while I am at it: Why didn’t we throw German Americans into internment camps when Hitler <supposedly> declared war on the Untied States as we did the Japanese not long after Pearl? That would make sense, wouldn’t it? Why didn’t we take their US homes, businesses and strip their lives of dignity and disregard them even though they were just as much US citizens as the Japanese Americans?

      It is my sincere belief we did not do this because Germans are White people. Wouldn’t that have totally infuriated Europe as a whole?

     Racism was very much alive and well in the United States at that time. Weren’t the Blacks, Chinese and Hispanics still looked at as Second Class citizens and still to this day in many circles? Wasn’t segregation very much apparent here and more the normal than the abnormal way of life then?

     When Italy sided with the Germans, did we put Italian Americans into internment camps?

    Think about it.

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     The United States in the Middle East.



      Bottom line: Through war, there is a huge profit to be made by some. Hell, imagine what the US economy would be right now if we weren’t in the Middle East? If there was no war, could we possibly justify having a military the size we have? Could we possibly afford weapons production, research and development? Defense of the homeland? We would only think this way as our economy spirals further downward because we let US based companies move jobs abroad to benefit shareholders.

     Think about the ripple effect that would occur right here and now if we stopped it all and brought our troops home. What could we possibly pay these brave women and men for if they have no clear job at hand? There are no jobs here for them to sustain themselves and their families alive.

     And what of the companies that get government contracts to feed, entertain <satelite TV, video games, music or the tax write-offs they get as a result> ? The ones that control these companies have lots of funding money to seed future political campaigns with and keep this going on.

     I would love to say the products sent to the troops are American made, but even I could not believe such rubbish. Even I with my vast imagination could not crank a spin on it to make it remotely believable to anyone.

     Then again…

      I recently saw a billboard, laughed and said to one I was with: “Jesus Christ, I really do need to consider a future in advertising”: it said something to the effect of “buy this and will we send x-number of things to our troops. Support our troops, we will’. And this FUCKING company hasn’t had anything produced in the United States in over fifteen years! So whom are we supporting? Our troops, some country that makes the items that their people get 2, maybe 3 bucks an hour, or some huge conglomerate that makes megabucks in their quest for undying greed. Their desire to live Capitalism to its fullest to one day have their future go south at some point and have out tax dollars bail them out.

    And sadly, we will let this happen. Won’t we?



     Think about this for a moment:

     What would you call someone/company that profits from death and destruction and their ability and resources to rebuild those things destroyed for a profit? Both ends against the middle?

      Is this not Psychopathic behavior, both the violent in reference to those that do the actual killing and destroying for pay and those nonviolent psychopaths that sit back and make billions as the result and give the trained, justified killers a meager hand out? Hey, we gave you an Z-Pod! Didn’t we send your wife a case of diapers for you? Why are you grateful? Look what we’ve done for your family?



      Is this not like the days before Unions changed things. <and I do personally not like Unions>

       When an employee would work long hours for little pay and were so cowed they’d be happy to get a smile and an attaboy from the owner and maybe a turkey each thanksgiving. When said employee was killed or injured it was just too bad, his mistake, fuck your family. You lose.

      In American history, weren’t the unions the only thing that protected the individual and their families after decades of abuses?

     Didn’t corporate America (nonviolent psychopaths and their disregard for others , their lack of remorse, feelings and empathy to appease shareholders as themselves) along with the power politicians control create the mess we as a people are in right now? Those same justify it by saying: “It’s what’s best for the company/country.” The company is king and you silly workers that believe in more are fools and can easily be replaced. And the worse the economy gets, we can get two or three for the price of you. It’s nothing personal, it’s for the best of the company.

    We keep sucking it down like some beginner porn actor.



     In conclusion:

     Did we, the People of the United States, have any say or vote on the events I have written this morning?

     When was the last time we as a people ever voted for war? When did we allow our jobs to be outsourced to other countries or have any say in this matter? Why do we still believe in politicians when we know the outcomes no matter what happens?

    Is it hope?

    Is it faith in your higher powers purpose?

    Why do we as a country fail to learn from our own past?



      We, The People of the United States, from a historical stance, have not been around that long.

    Rome Fell….

1 comment:

  1. Amazing writing, Mark.

    Gracefully yours,
    -Irina Spektor

    ReplyDelete