She told me she kinda hopes she would get deployed again...

[Skidmore]

and not because of any lofty pursuit of democratizing the world or rebuilding a war torn nation. This young, fresh-faced woman who has sat next to creaky old me in three classes for the last term is a reservist who was just accepted into one of the Big Ten colleges this week. She's extremely bright and pleasant to be around. Her fierceness burns through. I have a soft spot for her because she carries my much loved daughters' name and reminds me of my girl at that age.

That was the conversation we had last night after the exam was finished. She's been to Iraq for a year and joined the reserves so she could afford an education. I asked her why she would want to go back there and she told me that it was because things were simpler there. All she had to do was her job from dawn till dusk. The job was prescribed and circumscribed and there were no stressors for her. She could get up and do the one or two things that were hers to do for the day and go to bed at night. No worrying about where to live, what to do next, if her tuition was covered for the next term, her papers done on time, and any other curve life may throw her now. I let her talk. Stunned a bit that she sees order to her life in the chaos there and would be willing to risk life and limb and to participate in the war because life is unpredictable. I must admit I was at a loss for words at first.

I told her about my experiences as a young mother in the ME living in a war zone. I talked to her about the chaos created outside of those drilled and predictable military routines. Told her about trying to comfort frightened children and the feelings of helplessness that comes when you have no control over the events swirling about you. How, when capricious death can fall from the sky measured in kilotons, you feel like you are being tugged viciously by currents in a stream in which you did not choose to swim and you cling to whatever twig that presents itself for safety. I told her that of all the tools that man has at his disposal at this stage of his development, war is the least productive endeavor. That it resolves nothing but creates resentments and fear and loathing in its wake. That when we unleash the powers of fire in that manner, we only experience the devastating searing effects of its heat and not the healing power of its light. That it's not the answer. I wished her well and told her that my sincere hope was that she was not deployed. That the next time I heard of her she was graduating with honors and looking forward to a graduate career. I told her I hoped that she could get to the end of her obligation to the reserves in a way in which deployment wasn't her backup plan for order, but that she could construct order from what ever chaos she felt in her life now. That she's intelligent and stronger than she knows for if she can survive a year in a cauldron and come home, she can bear this.

I said good-bye to her--this sister-daughter. This warrior-woman who would not want to have a child in the midst of war but would be willing to wield the sword. This young mind that can absorb perhaps a life lesson from an old lady who sat next to her in a classroom.

God speed, my child.

[babylonsister]

1. I'm very glad you were there to share your experiences. If nothing

else, I hope she will remember the conversation and your words of widsom.

[bananas]

2. Ah, to be young and care-free ...

[knitter4democracy]

3. Thank you for speaking up and letting her know what it's like.

It's often hard for any of us to imagine the other side. She needed to hear it. She may miss the simplicity, but what the war is really doing is horrific, even if more simple.

Oh, and go Spartans! :)

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. Sounds like she's afraid of failure, and her chances of "making it" in America

by American standards is something she can't see too easily.

[porphyrian]

5. People that spend a long time in prison tend to feel the same way eventually. - n/t

[marions ghost]

6. I think this

says so much about how young people perceive their lot in American society these days.

I can understand the attractions of simplicity, order, just doing a job well, not having to elbow and scrape (and wonder if you'll be able to afford health insurance and even enough to eat). The attractions of just LIVING without undue worry about the basics.

I'm assuming this young woman was not in the thick of action. I don't think her attitude would be the same if she were. But I think she reflects a perspective that works very well for the masters, not only for the military, but for private employers who seek to keep their workers desperate and subservient.

[lynnertic]

7. About that perspective working well for the masters.

I think everyone goes through a phase in their lives where joining a legion seems safer than going it alone. I don't think that attitude is imposed from above by folks who "seek to keep their workers desperate and subservient." I think it's human nature.

She did, after all, not get redeployed (yet), but went on to grad school. That's certainly not desperation. Also there's no idea whether she still hopes for it the way she admitted to once, a number of years ago.

The *new* thing is that girls who join the Service can get shot as easily as boys now. That's quite a life, when the safe choice gets you shot anyway.

Too bad there aren't more Peace-loving legions to join, closer to home and sexier than "adopt-a-highway."

That's how we could change society and steer impressionable kids to the humanitarian values we wish them to embrace.

[marions ghost]

8. OK well --

I said the attitude 'works well' for those who seek to keep workers desperate and subservient--not that it is overtly imposed. You and I probably have differing views of the nature of American business opportunities. No, not all, but many employers seek to exploit as far as they possibly can. It's human nature when young to join up, whatever -- mass insecurity can be useful to those in control regardless of the age of subjects. Do we need to debate how much we are controlled by others in every facet of our lives?

She went on to grad school. No guaranteed passport to anything. Are you familiar with the mills of academia? So it's not the mean streets exactly, but we aren't talking about those who feel they have NO resources. We're just talking about the perceived options of those who are flailing to stay afloat in a dog-eat-dog society.

I agree that we need more alternatives in terms of public service employment. But that's so communist, y'know. A society that thrives on war does not usually provide 'peace-loving legions.'
You teach humanitarian values by example primarily. And our society is failing at that, wouldn't you say? When you keep people struggling, they tend not to care much about lofty humanitarian values. Many young people join the military and find a level of community support they find nowhere else. I am familiar with military families and in many ways I envy their community spirit.

If we weren't so beholden to war profiteers the military itself could become more like the National Guard and provide support and humanitarian aid rather than waging misbegotten wars for exploitative reasons. American society as a whole is based on the principle of exploitation at this point.

Thanks for the opportunity to expand my thoughts.

[lynnertic]

11. I seem to live in a happier world.

Not a cloud in my crisp blue sky this morning.

You teach humanitarian values by example primarily. And our society is failing at that, wouldn't you say? When you keep people struggling, they tend not to care much about lofty humanitarian values. Many young people join the military and find a level of community support they find nowhere else. I am familiar with military families and in many ways I envy their community spirit.

The best people I know, the most humanitarian and community-minded have the least money and are the least beholden to war profiteers.

I don't really know if an easy life lets people afford to love others any more than any other life. By easy I mean, an abundance of disposable income.

I rather think that the failure to teach humanitarian values came from a dumbing-down of school systems, which dropped cultural studies and current events and other aspects of citizenship. I tutored a kid two years ago who didn't know what Hurricane Katrina was. But: she can type 70 words/minute.

If we weren't so beholden to war profiteers the military itself could become more like the National Guard and provide support and humanitarian aid rather than waging misbegotten wars for exploitative reasons.

You mean, like in Cuba? Those commie bastids.

American society as a whole is based on the principle of exploitation at this point.

I wouldn't say that. I would say that American Society as viewed from in front of a television is based on the principle of exploitation, not as a whole.

[Lex]

9. I don't understand not seeing the consequences of one's actions

and only seeing one's actions in a vacuum. I hope one day she can see other people's perspectives and place herself in other people's shoes around her.

I'm so glad you talked to her. Maybe she just has a lot of growing up to do to gain some perspective.

[redqueen]

10. Sickening.

Mea culpa... I can't seem to cut any slack anymore. Not for issues at that level. Not where innocent lives are on the line.