Before the parades begin, the flag-waving commences, and the fireworks explode this 4th of July, I want to recognize a large contingent of patriots who help to protect us from terrorism and defend what freedom and democracy we still enjoy. I am speaking of those who decline to enlist or take commissions in our armed forces. My heartfelt thanks go out to all of you from small towns with few employment opportunities, to those who cannot go to college without incurring frightening levels of debt, those who completed college only to enter a bleak jobs market, to the unemployed and under-employed who nevertheless reject military service as a way out of economic troubles. Thank you for not “serving.”

Thank you for not adding to the 100,000 plus civilian body count in Iraq, a country that never attacked us, had nothing to do with the September 11th tragedy, and harbored no “weapons of mass destruction.” Thank you for not contributing to the post-war oppression of Iraqi women, who, before we “liberated” them, enjoyed more rights and greater access to education than women of any country in that region. Thank you for not adding to the misery of these besieged people, who before we came crashing violently into their land, had reliable sources of clean water and electricity.

Thank you for not participating in the daily bloodshed perpetrated against civilians in our name through the bombing of Yemen, drone attacks in Pakistan, and the decades long war in Afghanistan (counting the years we funded the mujahideen against the former Soviet Union.) Thank you for not bombing rebels in Libya along with their oppressors.

Thank you for not contributing to the blowback we call “terrorism;” that is, the creation of terrorists in response to our warmongering and imperialism throughout the world. Nothing will do more to protect us from terrorism than refraining from the oppressive and brutal activities that inspire it.

Thank you for not participating, directly or indirectly, in the torture of other human beings. Thank you for not joining organizations (i.e., our armed forces) that flout the Geneva conventions. Adhering to these rules protects our own troops as much as it does “enemy combatants.” Thank you for not aiding and abetting “extraordinary rendition” – our ghastly euphemism for the practice of farming out the torture of those we capture to other countries.

Thank you for not aiding the incarceration of prisoners of war, scooped up on random battlefields, some combatants, some unlucky bystanders, who will never be given a trial and either convicted or proven innocent. The justification and normalization of indefinite detention for foreigners will eventually be used against Americans. The reflective patriot understands this.

Thank you for not becoming what General Smedley Butler called “gangsters for capitalism” in his 1935 book, War Is A Racket. He wrote:

I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.

Thanks to those of you who did not provide “service” to oil companies during the invasion of Iraq by rushing first to secure the oil fields. Thank you for not enabling the exploitation of Iraq’s oil for the benefit of multinational corporations, the destruction of Afghanistan in pursuit of strategic positions along gas pipeline routes, and the illegal war on Libya, which happens to have the largest oil reserves in Africa.

Thank you for thinking critically about our government’s stated goals and objectives. Critical thinking is crucial for a viable democracy. By resisting the propaganda and questioning our government’s policies, you protect our democracy more than those who blindly follow orders.

Thanks also to all of you who did enlist, for whatever reason – belief in “the cause,” economic hardship, a desire to protect your country – yet retained your critical thinking skills, and ultimately chose not to re-enlist.

No reasonable person would hold individual troops responsible for the worldwide carnage perpetrated by our government. Obviously, those with their hands on the levers of power ought to be held fully accountable. I would point out, however, that in a democracy, each individual bears some degree, however small, of responsibility for the actions of his country.

So on this 4th of July, I ask all Americans, service members and civilians alike, to honor our democratic traditions by doing a little critical thinking about our various wars and our respective roles in them – even if that role is merely apathy. [Disclosure: I am married to a 24-year veteran of the Air Force, who retired in 1999]. General Butler spent his retirement years critiquing his 33-year career as a Marine and the role of the military in advancing corporate and financial interests (then as now dressed up in the garb of liberation and freedom) through his writing and more than 1200 speeches in 700 cities. Surely we can find a few minutes to follow this patriot’s example.

On this July 4th, I salute Veterans for Peace, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Against the War, Winter Soldiers, and all other veterans who speak out about these wars. And I am deeply grateful to those who have few employment options, yet still choose not to join the military. Thank you for not “serving.”
_______


About author Katherine M. Acosta is a freelance writer in Madison, Wisconsin. She holds a PhD in Sociology and is currently working on a script about life in a "post peak" world. She can be contacted at UndisciplinedPhD dot gmail dot com.
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/katherine-acosta/37077/thank-you-for-not-serving

I agree, vote Ron Paul to end this kind of corporate empiricism.

well bestinshow, i'm sure we all celebrate the fourth in our own way and that's about all i have to say about your post.

i choose to treat the day as what it actually is, america's birthday. it's no different than any birthday of someone i care for deeply. on that day it's all about the birthday buddy and only in a positive light. if i was pissed at someone or plain didn't like someone i simply wouldn't show up at the bday party. i've had a tradition that i follow religiously every fourth of july. something if done for over a quarter century now. i'll light the coals on the bbq and while they heat i go into my favorites and click on view link and begin reading from "we the people" and don't stop until i've been all the way through the 27th amendment. EVRY FRIGGING WORD. takes all of about a half hour by which time it's time to toss the burgers on the gril.

i often wonder how many americans have actually read the entire constitution even once. i recal some civics classes in school where we discussed some of it but i'd not call it an immersion in study. my guess is that more people have read more of the bible, alot of pages there, than have read even the body of our constitution which is all of two pages. if you haven't read this great parchment or if it's been awhile, why not sit down with me monday and take the ride. i thing you'd be surprised to learn that whay you thought you knew about how THE VERY BEST CONTRY ON THE PLANET acutually works.

All Righty, I never enlisted becasue I could not serve a self serving government or fight for oil. During Iraq Bush Sr. (Desert Shield) I said from the start we would fall short of Baghdad and not take out Saddam and we didn't. I also said we would be back and 12 years later under Bush Jr. (Desert Storm) sure enough guess what? We had to deal with unfinished business. Now I will not serve a self serving government and thanks to Affirmative Action I never will fight for them. I want to FIGHT them (our own government) but I would rather do it from within and without resorting to violence except against those who WILL resort to violence instead of waiting for some grand revolution to happen. I believe change can happen when people are organized enough, are clear on their objectives, and put the common good ahead of "No man (child) left behind." Also I revile those who do not serve under the grounds they object to war. If I were president and had to go to war I would not allow any politics to hold our soldiers back from beating the ever loving crap out of our enemies and I would draw a line and declare anything past that line is under the black flag (meaning NO PRISONERS). Any town harboring our enemy would be leveled by artillery LONG before I would allow our troops to go in. That way there is no having to guess at who is the enemy and who isn't and prevent jeopardizing our men and women's lives. If our enemy hides among civilians using them as shields thinking we don't have the balls to harm innocent lives then we make an example of those innocents who would say they did so out of fear. If they need to fear anything they should fear what we will do to them if they harbor our enemies. That means if the enemy shows up and the locals want peace they had better run like hell cause we are mopping up the ground with the blood of our enemies. That means I would line up in the boarders of Afghanistan's Eastern Alliance with the North and South Alliance backing us and crush the Eastern Alliance to the last one like bugs. In the mean time I would be on the Horn to India about new boarders for their nation (WAY WEST OF THE WESTERN BOARDER OF KASHMIR) and make an agreement to crush Pakistan once and for all! Us on the West and India on the East. Then we can drive a golden railroad spike where we meet and watch Iran get REAL nervous when I tell them "Make one more threat to us and we are coming for you and we will bring fire rain down upon you! TRY US!" I would in the mean time hint strongly they had better get on board the peace train and start talking to us in good faith before their heads are on pikes LITERALLY! So far since WWII none of our presidents have had the BALLS to really fight a war! What bothers me is how we treat our vets! if you want to get people's attention sometimes you need to beyatch slap them into next week. Then maybe we can get some peace in the world.

If we are going to praise people who do not serve in the armed forces come up with some people WHO DESERVE the praise rather than some Granola eating passive aggressive peace (dirty word that also means Cigarette in the UK) who would not lift a finger to defend this ground. At least I would grab what weapons I have and run to the front in a fight HERE ON MY HOME GROUND and I don't need any guy in uniform telling me who to shoot at and when. I am sick and tired of our nation getting dragged into the UN's mess all the time and having to commit our men, women, and resources to their wars.

Likewise This post could be construed as an insult to those who have and do serve in the armed forces. I not having joined have not given up everything to my nation and you are spitting on the memory of those who have. This is coming from someone who did not join and refused to becasue of our failure of a government. I would have resigned my commission the day Obama became president becasue I could never ever serve or answer to a dildo like him.

I sure hope those who have and do serve who read this post don't get themselves in trouble becasue like I said I do see this as an open insult to people who are willing to fight for this nation. Frankly if the enemy came to our ground I would be showing up armed as much as I can practically carry and fight side by side with our men and women to protect our ground. I have no children and no legacy to leave behind but I am willing to fight to the death to protect my home and America is my home.

So I would ask you to contemplate what you are saying and ask yourself if you have the guts to fight for your home and are you willing to die for it. If not then this whole argument is self serving.

In all reality just dying is not good. It is how you choose to go out is what makes a legend or not! King Leonidus took on a suicide mission to protect his home. He and approximately 650 of the 3300 men who left to hold Thermopylae died but they are remembered to this day as defenders of Democracy!

Here are some names we should remember:

Harriet Tubman
Rosa Parks
Martin Luther King Jr.
Lydia Taft (Who actually began the movement of Woman's Suffrage in Colonial America!)
Susan B. Anthony
How about naming people who made contributions to this nation without needed to fight and die in a war? How about recognizing those who risked their lives and well being to fight American Injustice against our own?

Those who do not sere deserve NO praise. Those who do serve and toot their own horn deserve no praise either. Those who serve without expectation are the Saints who walk among us!

And it is to those people who I will remember this 4th.

The rest can SUCK IT!

With today's' education standards I am sure only about 5% of students actually read it all the way through.

BTW, you don't need to join the military to serve this nation. There are other ways!

Yeah, by voting against liberal elitist scumbags!

my guess is fewer than five percent of adults have read it and even fewer than that here if the posts on these forums are any indication.

indeed there are although my choice was nine years army helicoptor pilot thirteen months of which were in vietnam. so hey, how did you serve your country. amd? in fact everybody, have you served your courty? can i thank you for your service on monday? how bout it? let's see all the ways the folks here have served their country voluntarily or otherwise. i know many ways to serve my country but i'm interested in how many actually do. i suppose paying your taxes on time counts but c'mon.

I worked on Naval Helicopters for a defense contractor. Does that count?

Charles Laughton's rendition of the Gettysburg Address:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0czJEX9Zlwo

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

I would view that as a contribution to the greater good! Some people do try to make a difference and others just bitchhe about how bad war is. The woes of this nation are not going to solve themselves. But even so there are so many unsung heroes out there who try to help the homeless who want off of the drugs and the street. There are those fighting the system as best they can trying to deal with the things that are wrong with this nation like its immediate leadership. Posers like Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson are nothing but mouthy jerks who set this nation back all the while acting like Champions of Justice. Both are champions of ignorance!

But again the vitriol of this topic seems aimed at those who served in the military and that is unfair, wholly unpatriotic, and WRONG! We should never forget the backs this nation was made on. How about all those Chinese and Irish immigrants who built the rail roads in the late 1800s? At least they were here legally and not committing a bunch of crime. Here and now we are chock full of criminals and criminal illegals.

hey, not for me to judge what counts. i do thank you, though, if you worked for less than standard wages and benefits because of your patriotism and the contractor gave a the navy a discount.

So, don't vote AndyBgood ... check. Way to be completely and utterly evil.

Really, the best way to handle countries that "hide among civilian populations" that "endanger our men and women" is ... well, not to get involved in a war in those countries because ... well, none of them can touch us militarily. And we are not the World Police (America! F*** yeah!).

"Harboring our enemy" ... right. Because random people have a say in what oppressive governments do, politically. You know those same citizens which militants hide amongst aren't necessarily CHOOSING to be human shields, right?

By this reasoning, the US government should have firebombed the entire city of Waco because it was "harboring" David Koresh, right? (Reasoning: Cult is to Regime, as City is to Country). I'm sure that would have been just fine with you right? So long as you weren't living in Waco at the time.



Basically what you're saying is, if you were in charge you would turn America into an engine of fear in the world? You really think the rest of the world is going to say "Yay, America!" at that point? Several countries hate us now ... start leveling nations that don't agree with your personal doctrines and see how quickly the world as a whole unites against us. Sorry, if we're going to survive, we need to set an example of how to "play nice" ... not be the schoolyard bullies that beat up smaller nations because they don't like our "Girls Gone Wild" and "American Idol" culture.

Grow up. People who spout the above propaganda believe the USA can withstand whatever the world throws at it ... including the entirety of the world itself. Sorry, not going to happen. Choose your battles ... and try not to choose only those with third world countries just because "we can take 'em!"

I vote,

I volunteer

I raise healthy, productive, happy children who will be part of our future leaders,,,


..some of the ways I 'serve'

good for you mn. i suppose most of us serve in similar ways. i suppose most folks in most countries do likewise, but my question is, since this thread is thaking those who didn't serve in the military and it was mentioned that there were other ways to serve amreica, other than everyday efforts most everybody does, what sacrifices and risk taking do we do other than serving in the military? for the most part, i've heard some served earning a salary at a defense contractor, you vote as many do, you garden for america and raise children. all great stuff. what do you volunteer that servas aemerica. anybody??

I consider serving 'americans' as serving america. I especially consider it service when it is unpaid(no direct benefit involved).

I volunteer in soup kitchens and at assistance offices, trying to uplift and motivate people who are in bad situations and feeling down. I often will 'sacrifice' what little I do have to give to others (financially) who have less. I dont take 'risks' because my children come first and I have to be sure to be here for them in all ways I can.

seems the only difference between me and you ms is that you don't take risks for your country and i put my life on the line for it.