tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post5841471751602422134..comments2024-03-17T12:16:42.048-07:00Comments on Civic Center: Cathay Post Veterans Throw a PartyCivic Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12362422142667230626noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post-14282768254733376522009-05-15T23:24:00.000-07:002009-05-15T23:24:00.000-07:00Interesting food for thought on both counts! Thank...Interesting food for thought on both counts! Thanks...whabbearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02835582600900388168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post-88419230676117647422009-05-15T09:20:00.000-07:002009-05-15T09:20:00.000-07:00Dear Rob: Well-stated pacifist reasoning. I'd argu...Dear Rob: Well-stated pacifist reasoning. I'd argue, however, that George Lucas' six "Star Wars" movies and all those shoot-em-up video games from Electronic Arts are ten times more insidious in terms of promoting that kind of binary mindset than marching around in uniforms with your friends as a way to get out of P.E.<br /><br />It would be great if the school district could up with a real alternative program, such as teaching emergency response skills for earthquakes and CPR (an idea of my friend h. brown), but nobody has done so. Until that time, I say leave these kids alone.Civic Centerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12362422142667230626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11380345.post-661459403044917982009-05-15T00:36:00.000-07:002009-05-15T00:36:00.000-07:00Interesting! I'm of two minds about the JROTC.
...Interesting! I'm of two minds about the JROTC. <br /><br />On the one hand, the organization probably does benefit the individuals who participate, as you suggested in your next blog. <br /><br />On the other hand, I don't agree that it's safe to delay pacifism until kids of out of their teens. One of the most insidious things about the military is the strong connection it makes between the rituals, the culture, and highly valued concepts like personal valor, selflessness, honor, and the like.<br /><br />These gilded trappings are so seductive that they easily mask the underlying truth: that to embrace a military mindset is to sort human beings into two crisp categories: those whose lives have positive worth, to the point where you should strive to preserve and protect them at all costs; and those whose lives have negative worth, so much so that you should strive to murder them at all costs.<br /><br />I worry that indoctrination into this mindset may do more harm in the long run than the benefits of participation.whabbearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02835582600900388168noreply@blogger.com