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Millennial Vietnam
Biden ordered us to get out of Afghanistan, and against his word; The Taliban succeeded a takeover in the course of a weekend. Now, people like Tucker Carlson, Lauren Boebert, Nicholas Fuentes' "Maybe we were fighting on the wrong side for 20 years." quote and the like. Now, I fear for the future. The lives lost, the struggles of many Veterans like myself who live day to day with guilt they can't help, and can't find the guidance to understand. The innocent civilians taken from husbands, wives, children and siblings. All because both sides believed in what they fought.
I'm not condoning the acts of the Taliban in any way; in fact, they were the first reason I swore to join the military. I saw people like them as my worst nemesis. When I swore to defend the Constitution, I swore to defend what I believed the constitution to be. I felt that being descended from a land of immigrants, those rights were expected to be given to EVERYONE EQUALLY. I believed EVERYONE should be given a chance, EVERYONE should be able to defend themselves in their time of desperation. The only time I felt it necessary to take a life, is to protect more. I try to hold onto that. I hoped to find like minded people who believed as I did, and propel the world forward for everyone.
So when I take a look around and see a virus running rampant, people turning increasingly apathetic, demanding the erasure of lives of people simply trying to live in peace... I can't decide if I failed, or if I've been lied to.
My memory isn't what it is, I will probably repeat and rephrase things a lot. I will probably lose my train of thought and jump around like a frantic, broken record. But when I see the state of division, cynicism, selfishness, egotism in many of those I once called fellow countrymen; are telling me to move on, to accept it. Some of my own therapists are telling me that I care too much, and that I can't change anyone. I could go on about my thoughts there, but many of the examples elude me... But simply put; I'm being told to have empathy and think for others, and when I need basic human contact, I'm shunned, when I find myself in need of validation, I'm called selfish. I'm told to have empathy for others, when it feels like no one else has any, or is expected to have any because "Everyone else does."
Everyone else does. Pressure is a funny thing, isn't it? You can pressure one to do something negative, but you can likewise pressure someone to do something positive. Pass a law to enable recycling, providing...
I'm not condoning the acts of the Taliban in any way; in fact, they were the first reason I swore to join the military. I saw people like them as my worst nemesis. When I swore to defend the Constitution, I swore to defend what I believed the constitution to be. I felt that being descended from a land of immigrants, those rights were expected to be given to EVERYONE EQUALLY. I believed EVERYONE should be given a chance, EVERYONE should be able to defend themselves in their time of desperation. The only time I felt it necessary to take a life, is to protect more. I try to hold onto that. I hoped to find like minded people who believed as I did, and propel the world forward for everyone.
So when I take a look around and see a virus running rampant, people turning increasingly apathetic, demanding the erasure of lives of people simply trying to live in peace... I can't decide if I failed, or if I've been lied to.
My memory isn't what it is, I will probably repeat and rephrase things a lot. I will probably lose my train of thought and jump around like a frantic, broken record. But when I see the state of division, cynicism, selfishness, egotism in many of those I once called fellow countrymen; are telling me to move on, to accept it. Some of my own therapists are telling me that I care too much, and that I can't change anyone. I could go on about my thoughts there, but many of the examples elude me... But simply put; I'm being told to have empathy and think for others, and when I need basic human contact, I'm shunned, when I find myself in need of validation, I'm called selfish. I'm told to have empathy for others, when it feels like no one else has any, or is expected to have any because "Everyone else does."
Everyone else does. Pressure is a funny thing, isn't it? You can pressure one to do something negative, but you can likewise pressure someone to do something positive. Pass a law to enable recycling, providing...
