It’s just too easy and simplistic to view the world as you do. It’s also very easy to take the high moral ground when you are not placed in a position where you have to make the big decisions. I’ve seen many left of centre chardonnay sippers make all sorts of judgement calls from the comfort of their couch and wriggling in the delicious sense of self righteousness they obviously feel. You know, the left are the good guys and the right the evil ones. It’s nonsense.
There have been unjust wars fought for reasons other than justice or protection of a country but we don’t have to go back too far to see what would have happened had we and our allies held your opinion on soldiers and war back in 1939. Only a fool could like war, but only a foolish person would make sweeping generalisations about ALL soldiers and all wars.
I might add that some balance in your views would be appreciated. If you abhor violence and the abuse of human rights then how about a song or two about the taliban or Iraq under the tender care of Sadam? Are you only upset by crimes committed by western nations? True men of peace abhor all human rights abuse and carry no political agenda

You sing beautifully, Vince.

regards,
Mark

I don’t see much of a distinction between nationalism and patriotism. Both require the subscriber to sacrifice or expend effort for the benefit of one country over another. Outside of the conceptual, the boundaries of countries are defined at most by geography. When it comes to the lives of people, nationalistic sentiments have no currency.

Jem

We are so caught up in the Liberal/Conservative mantra that the economy is the ‘be all and end all’ of government. We supposedly live in a great economic climate, while the economics of the Whitlam Government were flawed. Perhaps, from an Economists point of view, that is correct. But, isn’t Government about more than just economics. Don’t they need a social conscience too?

We now live in a world of war, Work (non)Choices, Compulsory Health Extortion, and economic fear. I for one can’t wait until our Attack Forces once again resemble a Defence Force and our Government resembles that of the Whitlam Government – we are worth more than money.

Love your work – love your style – love you man!

The Waves await
So travel your sea
Captain your Ship
You have ability
To Navigate safety
Your spiritual Waters
Anchor your heart
Upon your own orders
As you reach new shore
It is time to explore
The treasure to be found
On your sacred ground!

(c) Debra Lea Ryan, 15/07/07

The dictionary definition of patriotic is “loyally supporting one’s country”. If we are grateful for living in a democracy, are proud of our heritage and take pride in promoting it to other nations then we are surely showing patariotism, and for people to stand united as a country patriotism must be an essential element of that unity. I don’t consider myself a fool for loving my country and the freedom that it stands for.

But, I also don’t agree with the term patriotism being loosely used by leaders with their own agenda, when trying to justify fighting illegal wares, decided on by a small majority of people in power under the guise of fighting “terror”. Surely terror is what they are creating.

The war in Iraq was not sanctioned by the United Nations, of which Australia is a member. We became an “invading nation” by helpine to initiate the hostilities. This went against an organisation of which we have always been a “law abiding” member, went against rules which we as a member nation helped forge. This was morally and legally wrong and made me very disillusioned with the current government.

I was among the hundreds of thousands that marched against the War but our protest fell on deaf ears. There were private agendas involved, not the welfare of the country or any consideration for the massive loss of life and destruction that invading another country would cause. Sure Iraq was run by a monstrous dictator but did we invade Uganda when Idi Amin was in power? Of course not, no oil wells.

The war in Iraq is never going to solve the problem of terrorism. It has just made us a bigger target.

Armies do have a place in the peaceful structure of a country. In theory governments have a duty to protect the population of their country and maintain armies for this purpose. This is a realistic fact of life, but maintaining an army for defence against attack is totally different to irresponsible warmongering and sending in armies to illegally invade countries halfway across the world in the name of patriotism and combating terrorism. I would have thought governments would have learned from Vietnam and given Iraq a wide berth.

Soldiers are human beings like the rest of us but they are sometimes manipulated by bad people and obey orders given by a chain of command that can sometimes be corrupt. Nothing is ever black and white.

Until we live in a PERFECT world where ideally EVERYONE lays down arms a defence force is a necessary evil.

The bottom line is that this is not going to happen as too many people make too much money out of war.