Barbara's Sharebook 

The Native Americans had the best cavalry in the world. In spite of what Hollywood portrays, the U.S. Cavalry by itself could never have defeated them. What once-and-for-all-time defeated the Native Americans, was putting in the railroads, and then paying professional hunters {from the trains which crossed the plains, using them as platforms}, to wantonly SHOOT-TO-EXTERMINATE ALL THE BUFFALO, thus cutting off the basis for existence of the tribes. The once-huge herds were down to just a very few hundred individuals, when it was finally decided to "save a few" before they went totally extinct. Huge piles of buffalo just rotted on the plains; the starving Native Americans were herded onto reservations, where they were fed on scanty government rations of canned beef, often poisoned, whether deliberately or just by poor "quality-control". Thus further decimating their numbers. This Genocide was INTENDED TO ELIMINATE the Native Americans as well as the buffalo. Eliminate their entire, "savage, un-Christian" culture. That is why their children were kidnapped and taken to boarding schools and forbidden to speak their Native language -- "to drive the Indian out of them", as was SAID at that time.

What happened to the Native Americans, is a MODEL for what the Corporations are now doing to US, and to the WORLD!
CUTTING OFF OUR ECOLOGICAL BASE OF SUSTENANCE;
and THEN feeding us the CANNED, POISONED CRAP THAT THEY CONTROL!
{And, EXACTLY THE SAME THING they are doing to our EDUCATION. Cutting us off from our Cultural Heritage, so that we will be their OBEDIENT SERVANTS, wherever they want to put us to work -- or in their military if there are no other jobs for us!} {The Native American children were supposed to be trained to be good little domestic servants and "hired help" -- they were taught THOSE SKILLS and no others -- but that didn't really work out too well, they rebelled and became mixed-up crazies and alcoholics instead -- only a few survived the abuse, both physical and psychological, and the forced religious indoctrination.} {Those that were strong and survived, were truly the outstanding, exceptionally hardy people.}

So here we are at a REAL DILEMMA, and it is on Care2 as everywhere else.
We KNOW that poor young men and young women, HAVE to join the Military, often THERE IS NO OTHER CHOICE. Often they need to pay off DEBTS from college; or have no other hope of getting into college {they think}, or any job or any life at all. This is more and more the case with middle-class young people also.
These young people are often IDEALISTIC; they are TOLD they are "fighting for Freedom" and they BELIEVE that! If they didn't have these IDEALS, maybe they wouldn't join the military, in spite of poverty and lack of choices! There is a full-time propaganda machine cranking this out......
So, these young men and young women go abroad to foreign countries THAT HAVE DONE US NO HARM AND ARE NO THREAT TO OUR "FREEDOMS";
and these young persons KILL PEOPLE IN OUR NAME, THINKING {at least at the beginning!} THAT THEY ARE "DOING GOOD" IN THIS WORLD.....KILL PEOPLE, WOUND PEOPLE, MAIM PEOPLE, DESTROY ANIMALS AND PROPERTY, DRIVE WOMEN AND CHILDREN INTO POVERTY AND PROSTITUTION {true in EVERY war!}....

Meanwhile, WE HAVE BEEN BRAINWASHED TOO -- with that fine, all-purpose Slogan "Support Our Troops" -- after all, it isn't these young people's "fault", it isn't THEIR war, they suffer too.... we MUSTN'T DIVEST THEM OF THE "IDEALS" THEY *THINK* THEY ARE FIGHTING AND DYING FOR..... Hey that would make them feel bad, feel we don't love them.....
SO WE DON'T TELL THE TROOPS THE TRUTH. WE COVER UP. WE PUSSYFOOT. WE USE EUPHEMISMS.
And they get so CONFUSED, they GO CRAZY and, all-too-often, COMMIT SUICIDE out of their Moral Confusion and Lack of Understanding.......

SO, WHEN DO WE FESS UP AND START TELLING THE TROOPS THE TRUTH:
THAT KILLING PEOPLE IN AN OVERSEAS WAR FOR THE BENEFIT OF CORPORATIONS,
DOES *NOT* MAKE THEM, quote, "HEROES"......
I personally, think the troops would WELCOME SUCH STRAIGHT TALKING.....
just the Generals wouldn't. AND the Corporate Propaganda Masters.....