It is the soldier...

[Mad_Jack_Rabbit]

I saw this in someone’s signature:

“It is the soldier, not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,
who has given us the freedom to organize.
It is the soldier, not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the soldier who salutes the flag,
serves under the flag,
and whose coffin is draped by the flag,
who allows the protester to burn the flag.”

The first time I read it I thought, ‘that’s good.’ But then I thought about it and the more I thought about it the more I decided it was just a piece of meaningless patriotic bullshit. Not entirely fair, I admit. It isn’t that it is wrong that annoys me, but that it is only partly right. Soldiers follow orders – a necessity of the occupation. The following is equally true:

“It is the soldier, not the Dictator,
who prevents freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the state,
who prevents freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the head of state,
who prevents the freedom to organize.
It is the soldier, not the political system,
who prevents the right to a fair trial.
It is the soldier, not the popular support of the people
who keeps the corrupt administration in power.
It is the soldier, not the government
who massacres the people,
It is the soldier, not the corrupt politician
who seizes the land from the people.
It is the soldier who salutes the flag,
serves under the flag,
and whose coffin is draped by the flag,
who shoots the protester when they burn the flag.”

 

[Mad_Jack_Rabbit]

Of course, you can use this format for lots of other things too:

“It is the electricity company, not the Intel® Pentium® processor
that powers my computer.
It is the electricity company, not the GeForce(r) graphics card
that makes the 3D games run fast.
It is the electricity company, not the printer
that makes the hard copies to send out to people.
It is the electricity company who generates the electricity,
distributes the electricity
and who charges for the electricity
that lets the user write and print letters complaining about the electricity.”


See?

 

[crystalizedjoy]

well, if you ignore the patriotic bullshit, it's a pretty poem. i t hink its intent was to honor those soldiers that were willing to die to protect their families and their homes. and not all of those were americans.. soldiers in general..

and yes, the opposite poem applies as well, but i think your analizing too much

 

[Rex1960]

That reminds me of Pete Seger's "Universal Soldier" somehow.

 

[CoolidgEffect]

I think the initial poem seeks to honor the great sacrifices our soldiers have made but does so by belittling the contributions of other professions to our society and freedom.

 

[Mad_Jack_Rabbit]

Re: Re: It is the soldier...

well, if you ignore the patriotic bullshit, it's a pretty poem. i t hink its intent was to honor those soldiers that were willing to die to protect their families and their homes. and not all of those were americans.. soldiers in general..

and yes, the opposite poem applies as well, but i think your analizing too much

Yes, I know the poem is intended to honour the American soldier and it does that well.

Analising too much? Nah, just having a bit of fun - the 'Electric Company' bit was supposed to show that.