Many moderate Muslims believe that much of Britain is decadent. They are right. Mr Blair says that the fanatics who want to blow us up despise us, but he wonât admit that their decent co-religionists â who are the best hope of undermining the extremists at source â despair of us. They despair of the moral decline and the ugly brutishness that characterise much of urban Britain. They despair of the metropolitan mix of gay rights and lager louts. And they despair of the liberal establishmentâs unwillingness to face the facts and fight the battle for manners and morals.
They are not alone. The Windrush generation of Caribbeans came to Britain with the most traditional of values â proud Christians with dignity and a sense of duty â the kind of people so steeped in our history that they gave their children names like Winston, Milton and Gladstone. As vice-chairman of the British Caribbean Association, I recently had the chance to ask such people why so many young British blacks had got into trouble with the law. They unequivocally blamed the licence they encountered almost as soon as they arrived here, which made it so hard to inculcate their standards in the next generation.
The alienation felt by young blacks and Asians is not a result of any intolerance shown towards them, but of the endless tolerance of those who would allow everything and stand up for nothing. It is the excesses permitted by a culture spawned by the liberal Left that have produced a generation that feels rootless and hopeless. The young crave noble purposes as children need discipline; neither get much of them in modern Britain and the void is filled by disrespect, fecklessness, mindless nihilism or, worse, wicked militancy.
It is unreasonable to expect Muslim leaders to put right whatâs wrong in their communities if we are not going to be honest about whatâs wrong with ours.
Some of rural Britain (including the area in which I live and represent) still has strong communities. There, many of the old-fashioned values lost elsewhere prevail. Beyond these heartlands, much else is ailing. A sickening decadence has taken hold. Peopleâs sense of identity has been eroded as our traditions and the institutions that safeguard them have been derided for years. Peopleâs sense of history has been weakened by an education system that too often emphasises the themes in history rather than its chronology, and which indoctrinates a guilt-ridden interpretation of Britainâs contribution to the world. Peopleâs sense of responsibility has been undermined by a commercial and media preoccupation with the immediate gratification of material needs, regardless of consequences â we want everything and we want it now, so we spend and borrow, cheat and hurt. Peopleâs self-regard has diminished as, robbed of any sense of worth beyond their capacity to consume and fornicate, they feel purposeless. We have forgotten that pleasure is a mere proxy for the true happiness which flows from commitment and the gentle acceptance that it is what we give, not what we take, that really matters.
The vulnerable are the chief victims of decadence. Children suffer when families break down. The old suffer as their needs are seen as inconvenient and their wisdom is no longer valued. For the rich, decadence is either a lifestyle choice or something you can buy your way out of. But for the less well off â stripped of the dignities which stem from a shared sense of belonging and pride â the horror of a greedy society in which they canât compete is stark. The civilised urban life that was available to my working-class parents is now the preserve of those whose wealth shields them from lawlessness and frees them from the inadequate public services that their less fortunate contemporaries are forced to endure.
Safely gated, the liberal elite do not merely turn a blind eye â though that would be bad enough. They voyeuristically feed the masses with Big Brother and legislate to allow 24-hour drunkenness. In answer to the desperate call for much-needed restraint, we hear from those with power only the shrill cry for ever more unbridled liberty.
Politicians who should know better fear debates about values, preferring to retreat to morally neutral, utilitarian politics, as uninspiring as it is unimaginative. It is the kind of discourse which leaves those who aspire to govern reduced â in the heat of a general election campaign â to debating how efficiently their respective parties can disinfect hospitals. Most Church leaders have also given up the fight. Many have convinced themselves that to be fashionable is to be relevant and that being relevant is more important than being right. Is it any wonder that the family-minded, morally upright moderate Muslims despair?
So, with little understanding of the past, little thought for the future, little respect for others and virtually no guidance from those appointed or elected to give it, many modern Britons â each with their wonderful, unique God-given potential â are condemned to be selfish, lonely creatures in a soulless society where little is worshipped beyond money and sex.
The roots of this brutal hedonism are in soulless liberalism. Against all the evidence, the liberal elite â who run much of Britainâs politically correct new establishment â continue to preach their creed of freedom without duty, and rights without obligations. Pope John Paul II â perhaps the greatest figure of our age â said âonly the freedom which submits to the truth leads the human person to his true goodâ. Freedom without purpose is the seed corn of social decay. It is through the constraints on self-interest and the restraint that good Muslims revere that we can rebuild civil society. The most fitting response to the terrorist outrages would be the kind of moral and cultural renaissance that would make Britons of all backgrounds feel more proud of their country.
John Hayes is Conservative MP for South Holland and The Deepings.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/05/2005 00:00 ||
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Sigh. Though much of this rocks, his decadence argument as reason (and subtle justification) of jihadism is specious. Believing Britain to be decadent is a reason to leave, perhaps, but not to kill innocent people (the "fanatics") or despair (the "co-religionists") and either do nothing or play the resource pool part of the jihadi scenario.
If you want to undo some of the ultra-liberal stupidity, that would be a welcome thing, please do. If you want to blame the ills of your society on this "moral decline" and "ugly brutishness", go for it, knock yourself out.
BUT, just as a thug or thief or murderer is responsible for his or her own actions, social inanity notwithstanding, so are jihadis and splodeydopes responsible for their actions... as are those who help them in any way - they are accessories to a crime without any means or hope of redemption.
Deal with your football hooligans if you must, but deal with the hate-spewing imams and their followers, who send toolfools off to become trained jihadis and create support networks of "neutral" Muzzies to facilitate them, NOW.
#2
Didn't someone say the same thing about the US just after 9/11? I didn't hear the No.2 Al Qaeda guy mention anything about decadence in his recent DVD release. Is this what Mr Hayes is talking about?
Posted by: Rafael ||
08/05/2005 2:26 Comments ||
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It is the Spectator, after all. I'm surprised the writer didn't slip in something about how all this decadence is somehow America's fault.
#4
Or Dubya's fault, TW. I'm like .com on this one. The one area I agree with Muslims is the decadence and unbridled debauchary that takes place in the U.S. As a Christian, I stand with them (Muslims) any time they want to fight against abortion, gay "rights/marriage", the worship of the almighty dollar, heck, even stem cell research! BUT, we must do it within the confines of "the system" and with common sense. Going out and killing as many infidels as possible will not solve any of these issues.
Posted by: BA ||
08/05/2005 8:49 Comments ||
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jeese, BA, when I go to church I can only hope I hear more about faith, hope, charity, forgiveness and why it is important for me to take the high road. Somehow I don't recall Christ screeching about the evils of gays, stem cell research and abortion.
IMHO, that's the problem with Christianity today - the abuse of the pupit to achieve political, not spiritual goals.
#6
BA, one difference is that Christians opposed to those things won't be out at the nudie bars the night before their "protest".
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/05/2005 9:12 Comments ||
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'Tis true, RC. And, I somewhat agree with you 2b. We should follow the example of Christ. However, that doesn't mean we shouldn't speak out against issues that His Holy Word speaks to as sin. So many people are looking for the mythical 100% "loving" God, that they fail to see that His judgement will one day come a knockin'. It's the whole "love the sinner/hate the sin" issue. Yes, Christ was very compassionate/loving to the person who was sinning, but would also rebuke them firmly to "go and sin no more."
Posted by: BA ||
08/05/2005 9:18 Comments ||
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I don't think our moral decadence is the cause of these attacks (if that is the case then are not jihadis employing an uber-tough-love "this bomb hurts me more than it hurts you" discipline to call us to our senses?), but it is surely our greatest impediment in mustering the courage to deal with them.
Posted by: Kent Mccord ||
08/05/2005 14:44 Comments ||
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I don't think, .com, that you are reading the article right: The moderate muslim, if he/she exists, would be mainly concerned with the Moral, rather than the political, aspects of Islam. The muslims this guy is talking about may not believe in militant Islam enough to physically attack the patently decadent society around him, but doesn't see any point in coming to the defense of a society today that yesterday derided, ridiculed, and cursed them for being religious bigots and busybodies, and worked to undermine the morals they were trying to instill in their youth the day before that. This guy is NOT justifying Jihadist behavior, which is inherently unjustifiable: he is explaining moderate Muslim inaction to help a system that they view works against them in the moral arena.
I would never attack a liberal or an ACLU lawyer, but I wouldn't feel obligated to cross the street to lend a hand if I saw them getting mugged by the guys they sprang from jail or blown to shreds by terrorists that they sprung from Gitmo. While I would not hurt any man, there are some people I would refuse to help because they would use that help to get into a position to destroy what I hold dear: Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, warned against throwing your pearls before swine who would respond by attacking you despite your generosity.
In early 1957, when the only thing he commanded was a half-starved band of a dozen "rebels" in Cuba's Sierra Maestra mountains, Fidel Castro was approached by some of his rebel group's wealthy urban backers. "What can we do?" They asked. "How can we help the glorious rebellion? We can write you some checks. We can buy you some arms. We can recruit more men. Tell us, Fidel, what can we do to help?" "For now," answered Castro, "get me a New York Times reporter up here."
Bingo! The rest is history. They quickly complied and The New York Times' ranking Latin American expert, Herbert Matthews, was escorted to the rebel camp with his notepad, tape recorder and cameras. Within weeks Castro was being hailed as the Robin Hood of latin America on the front page of the world's most prestigious papers. Within two years he was dictator of Cuba, executing hundreds of political prisoners per week, jailing thousands more -- all the while being hailed as "the George Washington of Cuba!" by everyone from Jack Paar to Walter Lippmann to Ed Sullivan to Harry Truman.
One prominent American who wasn't snookered was Vice President Richard Nixon, and one American publication that bucked the "Castro-as-democratic hero," tide was Human Events, who had already outed him as a Communist-terrorist--and at the very peak of his heraldry by The New York Times a year earlier. Alas, these were voices in the wilderness.
This April in front of "the Union of Young Communist Leaders, the Officers the Revolutionary Armed Forces and Relatives and Surviving Victims of the Empireâs Terrorist Attacks on our Country," Castro gave one of his famous "speeches." This one blasted John Bolton's nomination as U.N. ambassador. "The longer John Boltonâs Senate hearing for the post of United Nations representative went on," Castro raved to the suffering crowd, "the more outrageous it seemed that President Bush could have nominated this man!" Much applause erupted here (his honored guests knew they were being watched. They wanted their starvation rations that week.) "Mr. Bolton tried to have an intelligence analyst punished for stopping him from making false claims about a weapons program in another nation, notably Cuba! He's a kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy" (unlike Castro, I suppose) and this intimidation had a lasting effect on his department!"
Castro was simply reading from a (translated) New York Times article dated April 13th titled "Questioning Mr Bolton." Castro spent three-fourths of his time at the lectern reading from the article verbatim, spicing it up with exclamation marks and a few quips of his own. "See what kind of man this Mr Bolton is?" He asked while poking his finger skyward and arching his eyebrows. "This is one of those people who can walk on his long tongue, (much laughter here, for the same reason I mentioned above) Theyâd better watch him! This Mr Bolton is a Liar! A Cynic!--a Gangster!" The rest of Castro's speech came mostly from Newsweek and the Washington Post. And who could blame him? Why put Cuba's propaganda ministers to work fashioning anti-Yankee diatribes and puff pieces on himself when he can simply pick up America's Mainstream media? For almost half a century now they've served him handily. During the Elian circus, in particular, they merited honors. Much better to put my captive propagandists to cutting sugar cane, rather than duplicating the work of the Yankee media, he reasons.
No one--not even his bitterest critics--calls Castro dumb.
Last year he laid off The New York Times and Newsweek a bit. For a few weeks he relied mostly on "that outstanding American!" (as Castro hails him,) Michael Moore. For weeks Castro showed Fahrenheit 9-11 in every theater in Cuba for free, then on Cuba's state TV. In fact, exactly one day after it opened in U.S. theaters, bootleg copies of Fahrenheit 9-11 were all over Cuba. Needless to say, in Cuba, this type of thing doesn't happen without connivance--indeed, without orders-- from on high.
Fidel Castro has good reason to fear and loath John Bolton. The entire brouhaha in the media and Congress over Bolton's "bullying" of intelligence officials stems from his concern that some of Clinton's Intelligence appointees (still in positions of influence), namely Fulton Armstrong and Christian Westermann, were heavily influenced by a Castro spy and were parroting "intelligence estimates" authored by this spy and planted by Castro. (It does not take bribes, or even coaching, from a Castro spy for a Clinton appointee to parrot Castroite propaganda. These people parrot the mass-murderer's propaganda out of pure leftist conviction, and absolutely free of charge.)
In the late 90's Ana Belen Montes was the Defense Intelligence Agency's ranking expert on Cuba. She had access to all U.S. intelligence on Cuba and led briefings on Capital Hill, at the State Department and the Pentagon regarding Cuban policy. "On Cuba," one government official said. "Montes was who you went to." On September 20, 2001, Ms. Montes was arrested by the FBI as a Castro spy and charged with "Conspiracy to Commit Espionage," the same charge against Ethel and Julius Rosenberg and it carried the same potential death sentence. "Ana Belen Montes was the crown jewel of Castro's intelligence services," wrote the Miami Herald, "one of the most effective spy agencies in the world. And Montes had access to the U.S.' crown jewels on Cuba." Besides handing over reams of sensitive documents and photos to Castro's DGI, Montes outed 4 U.S. undercover agents working in Cuba. "Montes passed some of our most sensitive information about Cuba back to Havana" said then Undersecretary for International Security, John Bolton. A year after her arrest Montes was duly convicted and today, after a plea bargain, she escaped the Rosenberg's fate and serves a 25 year prison sentence.
In a report from 1999 the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency concluded that "Castro poses no significant threat to the U.S. or any of it's Hemispheric neighbors. No evidence exists that that Cuba is trying to foment any instability in the Western Hemisphere." From Havana Castro immediatly hailed the DIA report as "an objective report by serious people." The report had been authored by none other than Ana Belen Montes. John Bolton didn't buy this fable then, and he doesn't buy it now. Among the complaints against Bolton by senior intelligence analyst Fulton Armstrong and aired by the New York Times was that when testifying to Congress in 2002 about Cuba's weapons capabilities, Bolton actually hinted that Cuba might be a danger. More specifically, Armstrong sniffed that, "Mr. Bolton did not include cautionary caveats contained in a 1999 National Intelligence Estimate on Cuba" (emphasis added).
And for an excellent reason: that National Intelligence Estimate had been heavily influenced by none other than Castro's mole, Ana Belen Montes. The "caution" the Estimate recommended was not against Cuba itself, you see, but against the hysterical McCarthyite notion that Castro might be up to no good.
Alcibiades Hidalgo was once Raul Castro's Chief of Staff. Later he served as Cuba's ambassador to the U.N. He defected to the U.S in 2002 and disclosed that, "virtually every member of Castro's U.N mission is an intelligence agent." Just two years ago the Bush administration was forced to expel eight Cuban U.N diplomats for "undiplomatic activity."
The reason for Castro's discomfiture with John Bolton at the U.N. should be obvious.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/05/2005 09:21 ||
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A gangster, eh? Well, at least Castro didn't call him a murderous, ratbag, commie dictator.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
08/05/2005 11:05 Comments ||
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Bolton should bitch slap Castro first and then bust a cap in his ass. Boyyee!
Posted by: Tibor ||
08/05/2005 11:22 Comments ||
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#4
Lemmee See - Fidel Castro - Date of Birth: 13 August 1927
Ana Belen Montes - 25 year plea bargain in 2001.
Means she must serve 16 years minimum... Gets out 2017... Fidel would be 90... Probably still alive and running Cuba (into the ground as usual) No good...
I think this is why the Donkofarts opposed him so viociferously, too much exposure in their own dirty houses...
#6
It's eight a.m. I roll out my silk sheets
Get fly crash the limo back seats
Lookin' in the faces
Of some ladies that I never met
On the interview tip, no sweat
They ask me questions
I throw the words back
They say they write facts
I know that's bull crap
They're kickin' drama
But then drama's my middle name
That's the price ya pay for big fame
The cellular phone rings
Don't wanta pick it up
But it's my J-O-B I gotta kick it up
Another damn reporter
On the line with a word quiz
I gotta show cause I'm livin' with the show Biz
Out the limo, to the plane
In the pourin' rain
I hate flyin'
But there's no time for slow trains
another show to do
I gotta catch my crew
They left last night
In the bus around two
The plane's a small one
No fun at all
Bouncin' round the air
Like a tennis ball
When it touches down
I wanna kiss the ground
But it's time to wreck a new town
Get to the arena, meet up with the crew
They tell me all the speakers blew
The cordless don't work
Sound man's a jerk
Somebody's gonna get hurt
I'm crazy mad
But my fans want autographs
I turn my angry frowns
Into fake laughs
I can't be rude
Cause they wouldn't understand
I ain't human no more, I'm a superman.
-- Ice-T, "Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous", from the 'O.G. Original Gangster Album'
Pravda is unhappy. I think the whole article is comical.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/05/2005 00:00 ||
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PRAVDA is also quoting and expanding on London Mayor Livingstone's comment about how the West [read - USA] is responsible for dev and funding Islamist terror, and for ignoring terrorists as long as they were "killing Russians". IOW, the West = USA is the only one responsible for any and all anti-Russian terror attacks, ergo Russia cannot be held responsible or blamed for any pre-emptive mil actions, espec if it results in US-Russ mil conflict!?
Seriously, if you read Pravda for any length of time you start getting the impression they're never happy unless they're expressing schaudenfreude.
Maybe prozac would help?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
08/05/2005 0:19 Comments ||
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Oops. Sorry Joseph; I didn't see your post. I was trying to joke about Steve's comment.
There's a serious timing issue in blaming Al Qaeda on the West, more or less based around why it took so long for the Taliban to take over Afghanistan after the war if they were identical with or a substantial subset of the anti-Soviet resistance. The worst thing about the partisan bull that Livingstone was sprouting is that it helps let the ISI off the hook for their actions in installing the Taliban.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
08/05/2005 0:21 Comments ||
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#1
There has been a quiet and unassuming shift that has happened. It is difficult to explain but I will attempt to do so by comparing it to nagging... nagging means there is hope for improvement and cooperation. When you really need to worry is when the nagging stops.
#2
finishing my thought...re: all of this PC, CAIR, ACLU, apologist elephant dung, I'm finding myself moving beyond. Obviously I'm not there yet. But I'm getting close.
#3
The apologist wave needs to subside, Britain and Europe (well, most of europe)have dispensed with it and are in the "purge" phase of the game. We still may need another good hit here to get on the ball and bust some heads. The global nature of the threat now has people demanding things they didn't seem to care about a few years ago; tightening the borders and giving the police and DHS freedom to do their jobs. Combine this with muslim moderates starting to speak out against extremism and al-qaida calling every arab country and even al-jazeera/ al-arabiya apostates and you have what could be the start of a good trend.
#4
I would say that the very best thing from the WoT has been the realization that there is now, for the first time in world history, a chance that the democratic revolution can be spread to the entire world.
This fact, this vision which began in earnest with the American Revolution, has been the persistent undercurrent in how America approaches the rest of the world.
Even US presidents can be gauged by the number of nations that have found freedom and real democracy during their term, and usually with their encouragement (and of course the few failed Presidents in whose time some proto-democracies and freedom were turned back under the heels of a tyranny or totalitarian regime.) But the good presidents always conspired in any way they could to spread the revolution.
The nay-sayers, who often with racist undertones have long said that this-or-that people "are not ready" for democracy, or that their culture, or recently, their religion, was such that they just wouldn't "want" democracy, have been severely slapped down.
Democracy spreads to all mankind, opposed only by the tribalists, the vandals, the tyrants, the kings and princes, the autocrats, and the megalomaniacs. They are as vampires, thriving on death, decay and corruption, and are driven away by the dawn of democracy.
Democracy brings peace. With discipline, it eventually brings prosperity, because failed policies are slowly purged from its realm. It slowly overcomes racism, inequality, injustice, and extremism. It is the very foundation for the promulgation of human rights.
And with this War on Terror, vandals and anti-democrats from around the world are being systematically annihilated; their ancient corrupt cultures and regimes destroyed; their dreams of conquest, genocide, and mayhem crushed. With philosophical Darwinism, the vestiges of Philistinism are finally being purged from the world.
No, it is not a war of religion. Many of the anti-democratic enemy already live in the western world, and in their delusion call themselves its "elites". Many seemingly peaceful peoples lend their support with loyalty above all to their tribe, with no grasp of the greater good of their nation. Paranoid militants who hate and fear democracy because of its complexity and egalitarianism. And lastly, creatures of the herd, willing to surrender all in exchange for direction of a "master"; the damned peoples who embrace slavery as freedom from responsibility.
So far, 30 million people in Afghanistan and Iraq are now tasting democracy and freedom. Surely there is nothing better in all the world.
TWENTY-NINE PALMS, California I have a friend who recently commanded a Marine infantry company in Ramadi, in central Iraq. Captain John Maloney spent four months in the most dangerous city in Iraq, and his story needs to be heard because he is representative of a class of Americans whose lives are rarely depicted in the press. A new fighting American is forming on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. Every day, more than 100,000 of them face challenges that will define their lives, and their country, for decades to come.
When I called John last month, he was minutes away from departing on a combat patrol. Patrolling is one of the most basic operations in Iraq, but also one of the most dangerous. Small groups of soldiers or marines will walk a route through a city looking for anything unusual and "showing the flag."
At times it feels like you are walking around waiting for an improvised explosive device, or IED, to detonate, just so you can react to the event. Other times, I have been almost overwhelmed by the sense that my head or chest may be in the crosshairs of a sniper's rifle. Patrolling is slow, dangerous and difficult work.
Most units in the U.S. military have by now been to Iraq, and like my friend John, their veterans' psyches are being seared by the constant exposure to the danger and stress they face. Yet they still patrol. They persevere. In my infantry company, which returned from the Syrian border last September, men are re-enlisting in robust numbers. I had 12 men step forward and volunteer to fill nine slots for another four years. We took all 12. The other companies in my rifle battalion had similar success.
These men (and in non-infantry battalions, women too) will go back to Iraq and patrol again, day in and day out. These young Americans are being redefined. For John, as for all our service members, the definition of a "normal" life has been changed in a way that's almost impossible for others to comprehend. The implications for America are profound.
In four months spent last year near Iraq's border with Syria, I was exposed to the full gamut of emotions and experiences typical of any modern combat tour. I saw corrupt, wicked men captured or killed by 19-year-old Americans who possessed maturity in applying different levels of force that left me in awe. Eleven years ago when I was their age, I wouldn't have held a candle to our 19 year-olds of today.
On patrol last year, I saw one old friend and 17 new ones killed by sniper's bullets, exploding artillery shells or hidden land mines. I grieved in the desert and saw 900 comrades do the same. Then I saw our marines lock their grief and rage behind a mental door and go back out the gate to patrol again. On those very next patrols, I saw looks of utter joy in the eyes of Iraqi children when I'd hand them a soccer ball, or when one of my marines would mimic a salute at a child pretending to be an Iraqi Patton or Schwarzkopf.
Through it all, our countrymen have been imprinted with a new perspective on life. Much like the returning veterans of World War II, they stepped off the plane with a sense of how petty or unimportant many of the seemingly pressing issues covered in the news media truly are. Compared to the shock of the instant, violent death of a squad-mate standing right next to me, or the excitement of a child looking at my uniform, the constant barrage of partisan politics, runaway brides and the activities of Paris Hilton seem utterly devoid of importance. I have marines slowly recuperating at hospitals in San Francisco, Washington, Bethesda and San Diego. Who is telling their stories?
To be honest, I just want to go back to Iraq. It's where I understand the world now. It's where I find perspective. It's where I make a difference every day.
For all the mistakes in planning that have been made in this war, and all the acts of heroism that have (or more often have not) been reported, this war is transforming young Americans. We are forming a new "greatest generation" that will counteract the obsession with one's self that has characterized the last few decades.
On June 16, five days after I last spoke to him, John Maloney was killed. He was 36, and he came from Chickopee, Massachusetts. John was leading his rifle company on patrol in southern Ramadi when an IED detonated near his Humvee. He died instantly. Even in a service that values its reputation as America's elite, Maloney was an icon. It would take a book to do justice to his impact on the Corps over 18 years of service. Now he's gone, like almost 2,000 others. The day after he was killed, John's marines were out on patrol again.
In six weeks, my rifle company will deploy again, this time to Ramadi. We will replace the company formerly commanded by Captain Maloney. We will patrol the city for seven months and train Iraqi security forces and then come home, God willing, with every man in one piece. But even without any scratches, my 19-year-old men will never be the same. Gone will be the self-absorbed, pleasure-focused children raised on video games. Instead, they will humbly want to serve society and make the world a better place.
If the policy makers and politicians choose the right path, if they spend our lives wisely, this global war on terror will be a Normandy, and not a Vietnam. Through the actions of our service members and the sacrifices of our Maloneys, we are transforming Iraq. As we return home, we are also transforming the face of America.
(Rory B. Quinn is a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps.)
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/05/2005 00:00 ||
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Here's the seed corn needed to cure the decadence John Hayes so laments in another Op piece today. It's right here in this piece, Johnny. Read slowly, carefully.
It's to learn responsibility, of the life and death variety, in early adulthood. It's to learn trust and teamwork that the omnipresent faux corporate training programs only play at. It's to learn to help others selflessly - your reward being only to see smiles slowly replace fear. It's to inculcate doing the right thing automatically - even when it can get you killed - and being fully aware of the fact. It's to mourn the loss of good people in a worthy effort. It's to step outside oneself and serve a greater and lasting good instead of fleeting self-centered gratification. It's to grow up, take responsibility, show loyalty, defend the good, and fight evil. It's to do all this by deeds, not mere words.
It's something not learned in a pub, or school, or on the telly, or even in the gym, on the pitch or playing field. It's tough and demanding and humbling and full of payback that's only understood or valued by those who've done it.
So there you go, John, my boy. Want a solid society chockablock full of solid citizens who can get things done, without whining and dithering? Want a society which will make the right choices in future conflicts? Want a society which values the long-term future and knows it all begins with what you do here and now?
Commit your entire society to doing the right thing - which means working to elect political leaders who have that vision and will act and show the backbone required. Commit your best and brightest to the task. Support them - honestly support them, without reservation or hesitation. The crucible of life is a mean and arbitrary bitch, taking many who are full of promise. But that is the nature of the beast and those who survive are further ripened and tempered by that realization. I know that America will have a solid core of amazing citizens born of this war on Islamofascism. I hope they remain in the majority, but I know they will not tolerate submission, regardless. Period. And that means precisely what it means. The future of America is secure with such people.
No John, you can't borrow any of ours - you don't need to. You need only support your own in harm's way and bitch-slap your leaders into stopping the insanity of subjecting them to jingoistic PC "standards", both at home and on the battlefield. Flush your officers, if needed, as well as your political leaders, where needed. The people in the crucible deserve your honest best efforts, not hand-wringing or justification of your enemies. Do this, do it well, and you might survive the laxity that has brought you to this moment in time. Fail in this and the slide steepens.
#2
Well said, .com. You're right about the British, as well. It's well within living memory that people from other cultures admired their British officers enough to willingly die simply for their approval (see Fourteenth Army in Burma, for example). Those national character traits can't have disappeared that quickly. I think they've just been hidden under a stultifying blanket of PC idiocy. It's long past time now to get rid of that blanket. No one in the West can afford to be that foolish and obtuse anymore in the face of people who want to kill us simply for existing.
Posted by: mac ||
08/05/2005 5:53 Comments ||
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#3
Hear, hear!
And this was published in the International Herald Tribune no less, newspaper of Ami expats, and recently become NYT-lite -- the audience that most needs to be exposed to these ideas.
I guessed that it probably was posted in a liberal paper as I was reading. To them it was all blah, blah, blah, For all the mistakes in planning that have been made in this war and blah, blah blah.....Now he's gone, like almost 2,000 others.
It was worth it for them to suffer through the rest of it just to hear a soldier talk about mistakes made and precious lives lost.
#7
It's to learn to help others selflessly - your reward being only to see smiles slowly replace fear. It's to inculcate doing the right thing automatically - even when it can get you killed - and being fully aware of the fact. It's to mourn the loss of good people in a worthy effort. It's to step outside oneself and serve a greater and lasting good instead of fleeting self-centered gratification. It's to grow up, take responsibility, show loyalty, defend the good, and fight evil. It's to do all this by deeds, not mere words
it's worthy of being framed! I only wish I had had an opportunity to serve. Sometimes, I think that some people are jealous of the experiences of soldiers and that is why they try to demean the service. While most people, like me, are just grateful for those who were tested, others see it as something they lack.
#9
I agree, CF and 2b! Sometimes, I too, find myself sitting there jealous that I didn't serve like these TRUE heroes. I have coffee club with 2-3 vets each morning here at work (1 served in 'Nam and another served in GWI, the third was in the service, but didn't get deployed). Their comraderie amazes me. Differences in age (1 is about 32, the others in their 50s, black/white, but they share a common bond I'll truly never understand. Though I don't agree with the draft (generally), a call to service could be what the "X/Y" generation needs. After 9/11, though, I find that many young kids (at least in my neck of the woods) are returning to service of the country. Maybe I'm just meant to back the troops here and by speaking up for them whenever I can, but many times I do find myself jealous of their service.
Posted by: BA ||
08/05/2005 9:01 Comments ||
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#10
It's a sign of self-confidence that you can acknowledge that you are proud of the accomplishments of others.
Posted by: in confidence ||
08/05/2005 9:37 Comments ||
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#11
I disagree about the draft. Those who don't want to be there will just get in the way of those who do. The American and British armed forces have real work to do, not like the many armies whose only purpose is to look good in parades and keep the lads off the dole for two years.
#12
Agreed, TW. Wasn't really meaning to back the draft (and I completely agree with your argument), but this upcoming generation is much more spoiled/bratty than any before it. Military service changes that and quick! Don't know the solution (except for parents to be parents, not friends, as I'm quickly learning myself).
Posted by: BA ||
08/05/2005 12:33 Comments ||
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#13
BA, as the parent of two former 4-year olds, I can promise it only gets better... and more complicated... and more frightening... and much more rewarding as they get older. Have fun!
#14
Oh, and spoilt though this generation may be -- and they are -- they've lived through 9/11 and many of them know, better than the parents who spoil them, what is important and what isn't. From what I've seen of them, these children of divorce and two-career households value family and parenting, often more than career or material possessions. They may act like spoilt brats sometimes, but didn't we all at that age? And look how well we turned out! ;-)
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