Midwestern Values  

Have you seen this?

There is a photo of a U.S. Marine who had his leg severed during a rocket attack in Afghanistan.  It can be seen at www.huffingtonpost.com.  The photo shows the reality of war and the consequences…real consequences that come from it. 

Up until now, we have been isolated from this harsh reality by our government.  I think it interesting that we Americans claim the high ground on so many fronts including the invasion of other countries; all in the name of spreading democracy.  Yet we fear showing the truth behind the consequences of such stances.

Why can’t we see this truth? 

I understand the need for the family affected to have privacy surrounding the death of a loved one.  I can only imagine their pain at such a devastating time.  And yet I can also see the need to show exactly that pain for the population to see firsthand.  By doing so, we force people to face up to the hypocrisy that permeates our society.

Yeah!  Patriotism.  Democracy.  Freedom.

These words sound great on the surface.  But most people don’t realize the responsibility and work that goes along with being part of this Democracy. Instead we would rather not think very much.  We want others to do most of the heavy lifting for us.  That is why we have so many following organized religions.  Why so many gravitate toward opinion entertainment FOX News, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and others.  These people say the outrageous things that we cannot in our daily lives.  It is easy.  No thinking required.

So to answer my earlier question; “ Why can’t we see the truth?”  The answer is:  we don’t want to be reminded of the horror of our decisions.  We just want life to be easy.