The Cost of War - 1

"Sequestration costs GIs Tuition Assistance" reads the headline in the Denver Post for 3/15/13.  While that is BAD for the GIs who were planning to return to school, I wonder if that is really BAD.  

I wonder if the ongoing costs of war, especially greed-motivated war like we indulged in in Iraq, simply costs too much.  Maybe the COSTS that are being felt now as veterans return with PTSD, missing limbs, unemployment, ongoing physical and mental and emotional trauma are just too high.  

Add to that the ways we slap our combat military in the face by hiring contract killers at five to ten times the salary our poorly paid soldiers, marines and sailors make while sending the more poorly paid guys into the nastiest situations while using the mercenaries for the more cushy jobs.  Our government, under both Republican and Democrat leaders, create dissidents every day.  

But, you say, we have to keep our munitions makers in business.  We must keep our shipyards busy.  Sure, it costs a lot to run a war, but we might need these businesses someday.  

Of course, I wonder about the military-industrial complex that gets fat and happy while troops at the pointy end of the stick are dying for less than minimum wage.  How patriotic are these companies and executives?

What do you think about the cost of war?  Leave a comment and let us know.  

Ordinary? No Way!

I suspect that some people in our lives distance themselves from us.  By "us" I mean my wife and me.  If I pick up the "vibes" correctly, we have set our aspirations too low.  We don't mingle with the wealthy, socialize in the 'best' circles, nor have we made friends with governors and the like.  We are guilty of the sin of being ordinary.

Or not.  Each of us has earned advanced degrees.  We think about many things.  We care.  But we have not aspired to be "seen" in the right company, nor have we compromised ourselves to be other than we are. 

So, who is ordinary?  Is it the person who shops at WalMart, consumes 'mommy blogs', and blows air kisses at pseudo-friends?  Or is it the person who gardens for food, drinks beer from a bottle, and doesn't think much about the big issues of life?  Maybe the ordinary person is the one who aerates your lawn or shovels your snow. 

For some, most people are ordinary.  Only they and their kind are extraordinary.  "Real" people party hard, let someone else take care of an aging parent, and get their names in the paper. 

For other people, no one is ordinary.  Each person has unique characteristics, even if it takes effort to see them. 

What do you think?  Do you shun people you seem ordinary?  Or do you spend the energy to see the unique characteristics of each person you meet?  Leave a comment and let us know.

The Readiness is All (Wm. Shakespeare Act 2, scene 5)

When my wife worked at Boeing in ages past she shared space with a Japanese-American lady.  While talking together this lady shared how her family, and so many other Japanese, endured the concentration camps set up by our government.  "We could have moped, spent our energy hosting dreams of revenge or becoming sullen and bored.  We had reason.  But we did not.  We learned -- we learned to write better, speak well, do math, become proficient at everything we could.  We were ready after World War II for whatever opportunities there were."

How about each one of us?  Are we constantly preparing ourselves for whatever opportunities may come our way?  They may be opportunities we never thought about.  They may be opportunities that involve risk and possible loss if we don't do well.  We may not do well. 

The thought I am thinking about, however is summed up in the Boy Scout motto:  Be Prepared.  We all have the possibility of preparing ourselves, our minds, to think new thoughts skillfully, to reason better, to acquire skills, to be surprised with possibilities without being overwhelmed by surprise. 

What do you think?  Leave a comment and let us know.