A Thank You, on the Occasion of Veteran's -- Armistice Day

[HoreTore]

That's the idealism. If one side is willing to fight, a logically correct line will not save anyone.

It's typically heads of states and governments that start wars, so that might be a better point of focus - not the least because there are considerably fewer heads of states around than there are soldiers.

That, however, was not Tolstoj's argument in War and Peace. Sorry for being a quote-tease, but I've searched the intertubez for the relevant section and found nothing. And I'm not going to break open that tome again.... A good read though, if you've got a decade to spare.

Anyway, I don't see where I have diverted any blame from hawkish heads of state. Would you care to point out where I have done so? Still, they could not have done so if not for the willingness of their soldiers(as Tolstoj noted).

At the end of the day, I consider a soldier to be a profession like any other. Like, say, working in advertising. And just like advertising, I see no point to their work, and I do not want it. I see them as a drain of resources better spent elsewhere, who contribute nothing of what I want.

Further, days like these do not celebrate sacrifice and losses in war. It celebrates very specific sacrifices in war. And it just so happens that the sacrifices celebrated is not one I find any point in celebrating, I see it as a simple celebration of militarism. It contributes to the aura of grandeur surrounding those in the military. The hero-worship makes it much harder to hand out proper punishment for war crimes(he's a hero, shut your mouth!).

Where is the day celebrating all those who lost their lives sabotaging the war effort in their own countries during ww1? Those are the people I would like to celebrate.