can you count the times you’ve seen these bumper stickers?
“support our troops!”
“freedom isn’t free”
how often have you heard the words, “…soldiers fought and died for our freedom”, or “let’s honor those serving our country…”?
what i’d like to know is how these people are supposedly fighting for my freedom. how is it that they can be funded by forcing me to pay for their “service” only then to go across the planet and kill people who never did anything to hurt me? being forced to pay for things you don’t want is freedom? if that’s true, then i don’t ever want to see tyranny!
in actuality, they greatly reduce freedom for everyone. first, one group of people is stolen from (some may refer to it as being “taxed”) in order to fund military adventures, then another group of people, the vast majority of them innocent people, are murdered by this group. so, theft in support of murder = freedom? does that seem like an odd concept to anyone?
additionally, what’s this bit about “our country”? who, exactly, is included in the word “our”? surely, no one would imply that there are people who own every bit of the huge geographic region called the “united states”, would they? do they mean that we all own a piece? i don’t remember buying any of it, but if i own some, then i’d like to sell my share. oh, wait, that’s right, it isn’t anyone’s “country” after all. that “our country” b.s. is just that – b.s.. and how about “our troops”? i don’t know about you, but i don’t own or employ any troops. if i did, i bet i’d support them. i guess lots of folks have troops at home that they support and would like for me to support, but why don’t i ever see these people’s troops running around neighborhoods doing troop stuff?
the fact is that no military action has ever done anything to promote freedom outside of the revolutionary war. military action is always in furtherance of the state’s power. people being forced to pay for so-called “defense” is not freedom. being killed by soldiers in a war you had nothing to do with is not freedom. they aren’t “your troops” or “our troops”. they are the u.s. government’s troops and you have nothing to do with what they’re doing and don’t benefit at all by being forced to pay for their murderous escapades in lands far, far away. and yes, it is murder. anytime someone undertakes actions that will knowingly result in the deaths of innocent people, i.e. foreign civilians, it is murder – regardless of whether they are hiding in an alley waiting to waylay hapless passers-by, or are camouflaged warriors draped in the u.s. government’s flag.
so don’t be duped into supporting the u.s. government’s or any other government’s soldiers. they are simply another tool of the state in its never-ending quest to transfer wealth and power from the citizenry to the political class.
support our troops? no, thanks.