Popularity and My America

"The American ideals as set forth by our for[e]fathers have been the rock that has seen us through many a dark hour. The difficulty Americans preceive [sic] isn’t a shakiness of our ideals, but a changing of our popularity (or preceived [sic] popularity) in the world."

Comments section, Sgt. Hook, "Hard Is Not Hopeless."

I am, if nothing else, a firm believer in the ideals set down in our Constitution: The Four Freedoms, Rule of Law, Equal Protection under the Law, Separation of Church and State, as well as the other many basic concepts enumerated in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

I believe that we came to our once-legendary standing in the world based on these principles; an ethos, if you will, that symbolized a moral high ground within the global arena.

I believe in this. THIS is MY America. THIS is the country that I love. THIS is the country that I signed on to defend (and, perhaps, restore). But I have to admit, while I am proud to be a soldier, I am not proud of the many sins that, since 9/11, have been perpetrated in my name.

Domestic surveillance.

Unilateralism.

Torture.

Pre-emptive war.

The abandonment of diplomacy.

I signed up to fight this war, however grudgingly, and the dangers I face are mine to endure. I recognize that, yes, there are people who want Americans dead. Quite brutally, in some cases. But as Socrates said: "It is better to suffer an injustice than to inflict one."

We murder civilians, we rape a SOVEREIGN nations' culture and economy, we talk openly of first-strike nuclear attacks against other governments. We plunge into a culture we don't understand, in hopes of remaking it in our own, Christian, Republican, rich-in-fossil-fuels image. And for what? To avenge a national grief? To prove a point? To justify our own nationalism? And if so, what is noble in continuing this way? Is this American? Sending my brothers and I to our deaths in the name of a barely disguised sense of vengeance and religious fervor--is that American? I don't think that it is.

And I think that the American people are slowly starting to realize this.

I'm all for fighting terrorism. I really am. Send me to Afghanistan. Send me to Darfur. Send me to Somalia. But as far as I can see, fighting terrorism is not what I'm doing here. What I am doing, is contributing to an agenda which sullies American freedoms in my name, and which makes me ashamed of my beloved Army.

Domestic surveillance.

Unilateralism.

Torture.

Pre-emptive war.

The abandonment of diplomacy.

Are these American ideals? I don't think they are. My country is better than this. But if they are, then wouldn't it perhaps be better to slough loose such corrupted values? Wouldn't that be American: to strive to regain the Moral High Ground?

What am I fighting for? WHO am I fighting for? I'm clearly not fighting for MY America.

FUCK popularity. Popularity is bullshit.

I want my goddamned pride back.