We are a nation that loves our brave men and women who serve this country, defending our freedom and preserving the American way of life. A complete 180 from the post Vietnam era when returning soldiers were not welcomed, being spat on, cursed out, and ostracized because they were ‘baby killers.’ Today, our love of veterans have soared high, approaching Babel proportions, bordering on religious fervor. There are even campaigns telling me to buy a veteran a cup of coffee at the local coffee shop if I happen to run into one. National restaurant chains have even joined in on the action giving away free meals to veterans and families on Veterans Day. What they won’t do however is give them jobs.
Recent surveys reveal that unemployment rates among veterans between 26-29 years of age, at 12-15%, are higher than the national average of the same age bracket, which hovers around 9% (varies slightly according to diff. sources). Now, which do you think veterans would want, a cup of coffee or a job to support themselves and their families? A free meal at a restaurant or a job? Our gratitude or a job? I think… unemployed veterans would LOVE a job!! But that’s just me…
In a recent interview during the government shutdown, Senator John McCain said something to the effect that the way America treats veterans is not acceptable (He said it more eloquently that I just did). Others have resounded this sentiments saying that most Americans are content with the parades and periodic demonstrations of support and thanks, but when the parade is over so does the attention given to veterans. Beginning with our administration down to the infrastructures designed to help veterans, there is a large disconnect. The VA is backed up with an inexhaustible list of veterans waiting ridiculously long periods to receive the basic services and benefits they need, while thousands go without ever receiving them.
There is also a large disconnect in our culture if you haven’t noticed. In the face of facts about how veterans are really treated in our nation, we see another unflattering fact about Americans. We are a nation infatuated with saying the ‘right’ things with the appearance that we’re doing the ‘right’ things and being in public denial of the fact that in private, we’re not really interested. What interests us is that people think we’re interested. Just a casual surf on the tides of Google search will expose you to the infinite string of images and words extending out into cyberspace, expressing our gratitude to our veterans. If you’re really that grateful, give them jobs. Put your money where your mouth is.
Just about everyday, I see it on Facebook and other social media outputs, posted words and images supposedly to inspire people. Some of them are so… um… bland, I can’t read them without cracking up (in fact, I don’t really read them). We are overly obsessed with feeling good (and makings others feel good) and looking good, that we have lost the sense of what it means to be good.
What if people stopped with the lip service and followed up with what they say are important and valuable? What if people stopped looking for ‘sweet’ nothings and hungered for something challenging? What if people really put their money where there mouth is? What a different world this would be huh? Not just for veterans, but for all of us in the global community.
So now with the typhoon in the Philippines, people are saying the right things, believing the right things. But are we doing the right things? Or should we just have a parade to remember or honor them like we do everyone else?
A Promethean Dialogue 