American Dissention?

Cogito ergo Sum. But what does it really mean? Sure we know from the Latin translation it means “I think therefore I am” and that Veni Vedi Vidci means “I came, I saw, I conquered.”

            While in boot camp for the United States Navy my company had a motto. It was “Seek, Engage, Destroy.” This was in the mid-1980’s, Reagan was our Commander in Chief, we were all in our teens and nothing could stop us. We were the greatest, the best trained and the most arrogant of all soldiers, sailors and marines ever to be trained by the United States. We were the answer to the hippy loving, peace seeking, let sleeping dogs lie myopic view of the world.

            But we didn’t really know what we were doing, did we? We followed orders without question and did our best to make sure our duties were performed to the best of our abilities. Was this a mistake? Was this blind following by men and women who didn’t understand the world politics? Maybe. But, now, looking back, did we do the right thing? I don’t know. I wish I did.

            Sure, we partied, we showed tactical support, we had a force that no one could deny and we didn’t care what others thought about us and our antics. We, the 1980’s soldiers and sailors had no clue as to what we were doing. How could we? We were raised to follow orders, do our job and ignore all the naysayers that were around us. Are we to blame? Maybe. But then again, we were doing what we were taught. Just like the modern day terrorists and the Nazi war criminals. Although our motives were not so distorted nor were they as Machiavellian as our enemies. Or so I hope.

            In the 1960’s there were musicians and poets who stood up against the injustice in the world. We, barely semen in our fathers bodies could not even begin to understand what was going on. However, we are now in the mid-life stage of our lives and we have no excuse to why we sit back and watch elected officials send brave men and women halfway across the globe in the name of democracy.

            Democracy… LOL… what a crock of shit.

            What is it? What is the definition of the word that countless people have died for? I can’t begin to fathom it. All I know is that we were founded as a republic but somewhere along our two hundred and fifty years of existence it has gotten bastardized into something that truly means nothing.

            From everything I’ve ever read in history all historians have advised staying out of the Middle East, it will always be volatile and unattainable. So why are we there? Weapons of mass destruction? A falsehood. Democracy? A blatant lie. Support for revolutionaries? Look at Cuba. No, we are there for one simple reason. A reason one of our Presidents warned us about… that reason is the Military Industrial Complex (MIC). For you see, for any entity to truly survive, all they need to do is justify their existence, which the MIC has done. They’ve done it at the cost of our fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers. Our nieces, nephews and grandchildren.

            I applaud any family that has lost a family member in the cause and believe of our way of life. To not do so would be as sacrilegious as cursing the constitution and the bible in my eyes. My question is, did they really need to lose their loved ones? I wish I had the answer. I’m not smart enough nor do I have all the information available as the people who place others in the line of fire.

            However, I do know this, what is going on right now is an unwinnable war, a situation where none of our warriors have a winnable situation. There is no exit plan. I wish there were. But, our current and past administrations have not felt that getting away from a no win situation is worth the lives of the patriots blood that is spilled on a daily basis.

            Don’t get me wrong, I believe in our country and I believe that a democratic government is better and an Aristocracy or even a Dictatorship type of rule. We do have a good system. Even as broken as it is.

            The graft, the backdoor deals, the lies and the inconsistent behavior of our elected officials are truly our own yoke to hold. And it seems to me, no one is questioning the behavior of the people who pass there selves off as our constituents.

            Where are the voices of today? The Dylans? The Who? The Hendrix? The Jopins? The Smothers Brothers? Are they absent? Are they watching semi-reality television? Have they become so inebriated by over the counter pharmaceuticals that they can’t even form a cohesive sentence?

            It’s upsetting. Not in a judeo-christian way but more in he way of “whats best for our youth and future.”

            I’m at a loss. I want some dissention. What the hell happened to the dissention in America? Our fore-fathers stood up against a four percent tax on tea. TEA for fucks sake. Unless you live in the South, tea means nothing to you. Today, however, there is more than a ten percent tax on coffee. COFFEE. The crap over ninety percent of Americans drink each morning from some global coffee monger who started off in a rainy city in the state of Washington. You pay more for a cup of bean juice in two days than you would pay for a pound of ground beans in a grocery store on any given week. This makes very little sense to me.

            Fiscally, this makes a lot of sense. Offer something to people who are too lazy to push a button for themselves at an elevated price and then try to sell them some sort of liberal music so they still feel as if they are fighting against the powers that be. Genius. However, you won’t find me there. Nope. Even the thought upsets my stomach just like the overpriced, overcaffinated coffee and pleasant surroundings make my innards roil.

            I ache, no, I yearn for a singer, a songwriter who will stand up against the current powers that be. The politicians, the businessmen, the corporations and the advertisements that beg for our hard earned dollars. I want dissention. I want questions. I want people to stand up against the status quo and say “I’m smarter than this. I want truth. I want honesty. I want to be treated like the intellectual that I am.

            I know I won’t get it. How could I? Who in our age would want to give up their comforts just to make a point on their principals?

            What are our principal’s? Good question. I wish I had the answers. I wish I could take one of my almost middle aged, bony looking fingers and point to a culprit. But I can’t. Because we are all to blame. Our scarred, scraggly, chubby appendages only end up pointing to ourselves. We are to blame. We are our own worst enemies. We have to be, we keep putting professional politicians in places where they don’t belong.

            Jefferson, Adams, Washington and more never felt there should be someone who would make a career of serving in a public office. Are term limits the answer? Is the outlaw of outside constituents the answer? Or, should we just scrap the entire system and do what Jefferson suggested… which is rewrite the constitution every generation… aka twenty years?

            I don’t know, I wish I did. I just know I’m pretty disillusioned by what the hell has been going on in the states for over twenty years. Where are our hero’s? Where are the visionaries of our generation? Where are the people who will make a difference? I don’t know but I suspect they have gotten caught up in the convoluted world of “Reality Television” and have no inkling as to how to get out of that rabbit hole.

Have a great week. And if you can, perform some sort of public dissention. Even it it means just giving a Law Enforcement Officer a hug and a kiss.