"Surely if the war was happening to us, we’d be doing all we could to stop it" - not necessarily, from my or your perspective, yes. But some, maybe most, people will vow revenge until death on the enemy.
Also the difference between the age of breach and the broadcast era is now we don't see things from only one or two perspectives, it's hundreds now, and most of them are interactive feedback loops, giving us back what we put in.
I understand this concept of bringing the war closer to us. During Vietnam, we watched it every night on the news, following reporters as they traipsed through jungles along with soldiers, hearing the gunfire as they dove behind barriers. The result was an anti-war movement like no other before or since. It was hard to listen to body counts over dinner, when we had the TV on in the kitchen for the 6:00 news. But it certainly caused a strong opinion.
When my son was in Afghanistan in 2011- 2012, America could go on day after day not even realizing a war was taking place. I hunted out obscure foreign websites that were only found through typing in long URL's, not with google search. It was supposed to be in respect of families, but I don't believe it. Respect of families would have been letting everyone know what was happening to their loved ones. I got pieces of it from my son over Facebook Messenger, the one way he was able to communicate with me. My co-workers understood when I got an alert in the middle of a meeting to say he was online and sending me a message, and they overlooked my lack of attention to the meeting. Sometimes I didn't hear from him for weeks, which was super hard, knowing he was out on a mission. While the war was incredibly hard for me, and more real than anything else taking place, it seemed as though everyone else in America was unaware it existed. During that entire time, my husband and I didn't travel, and typically we travel a lot. We wanted to be where we could be easily reached in case. But we never spoke about in case of what. Also, there wasn't any joy in travel. There just wasn't any joy in most things. Always that burning under the surface that at any moment, the worst might be happen. You never stop feeling it, even if you can stop thinking it. Such is war.
Oh my gosh! Sharon, thanks so much for sharing this comment with me. I cannot even imagine what it would be like to have a child serving in the war. This is such a good perspective to remember. I imagine I'd be doing the exact same thing. Glued to the web, constantly looking for any news or updates. And yes, I barely remember that we were in the war in Afghanistan then.
On one hand, it's good that we are in a country so safe that we don't even notice when we're at war, but on the other hand, it lets us put on blinders to truly horrible events, usually done for what seems to be very little reason in hindsight.
Like, why was your son fighting in Afghanistan? What were we fighting then? The Taliban? And was that really necessary for us to do? Did we "win"? DId we make the situation for anyone better by fighting that war? Or worse?
"Surely if the war was happening to us, we’d be doing all we could to stop it" - not necessarily, from my or your perspective, yes. But some, maybe most, people will vow revenge until death on the enemy.
Also the difference between the age of breach and the broadcast era is now we don't see things from only one or two perspectives, it's hundreds now, and most of them are interactive feedback loops, giving us back what we put in.
Totally agree! And when I say "all we could to stop it." That also includes "winning" the conflict swiftly via extreme show of unexpected force.
It needs to end, and makes me very sad. Far too many people have died.
SO SAD. And makes one feel powerless.
I understand this concept of bringing the war closer to us. During Vietnam, we watched it every night on the news, following reporters as they traipsed through jungles along with soldiers, hearing the gunfire as they dove behind barriers. The result was an anti-war movement like no other before or since. It was hard to listen to body counts over dinner, when we had the TV on in the kitchen for the 6:00 news. But it certainly caused a strong opinion.
When my son was in Afghanistan in 2011- 2012, America could go on day after day not even realizing a war was taking place. I hunted out obscure foreign websites that were only found through typing in long URL's, not with google search. It was supposed to be in respect of families, but I don't believe it. Respect of families would have been letting everyone know what was happening to their loved ones. I got pieces of it from my son over Facebook Messenger, the one way he was able to communicate with me. My co-workers understood when I got an alert in the middle of a meeting to say he was online and sending me a message, and they overlooked my lack of attention to the meeting. Sometimes I didn't hear from him for weeks, which was super hard, knowing he was out on a mission. While the war was incredibly hard for me, and more real than anything else taking place, it seemed as though everyone else in America was unaware it existed. During that entire time, my husband and I didn't travel, and typically we travel a lot. We wanted to be where we could be easily reached in case. But we never spoke about in case of what. Also, there wasn't any joy in travel. There just wasn't any joy in most things. Always that burning under the surface that at any moment, the worst might be happen. You never stop feeling it, even if you can stop thinking it. Such is war.
Oh my gosh! Sharon, thanks so much for sharing this comment with me. I cannot even imagine what it would be like to have a child serving in the war. This is such a good perspective to remember. I imagine I'd be doing the exact same thing. Glued to the web, constantly looking for any news or updates. And yes, I barely remember that we were in the war in Afghanistan then.
On one hand, it's good that we are in a country so safe that we don't even notice when we're at war, but on the other hand, it lets us put on blinders to truly horrible events, usually done for what seems to be very little reason in hindsight.
Like, why was your son fighting in Afghanistan? What were we fighting then? The Taliban? And was that really necessary for us to do? Did we "win"? DId we make the situation for anyone better by fighting that war? Or worse?