So I grabbed a newspaper yesterday morning, after comming back from my buddys place (I got to cook! dont tell my parents, but I like cooking)
Anyways, I grabbed a paper... And started reading through the various articles relating to what happened last century in Europe. Of course, the focus was on Canadian victories, where Canada helped, how many died where, sap story about some lost love finding each other after the war...
Of course everything was highly romanticized, making war out to be some sort of heroic battle where everyone ends up better off because of it...
Yay freedom; yay Canada!
I will be the first to admit, I am proud to be a decendant of a soldier from the second world war (I do not know the history of my family too far back but it is possible my great great grampa fought in the first world war). I reap a lot of benefits for living in Canada two generations after the first world war. I have freedom, a stable economy, blah blah blah, but almost as importantly, I get a life free from knowing just how bad war can be *crosses fingers*
I will never have to be a first hand observer of two of the greatest genocides in all of history...
For those of you who don't live in Edmonton, and havent taken a histroy course, it may come as a surprise to you, but there were two genocides at the time of the second world war... (~5 million Ukranians in the Holodomor and ~8 million Jews/Poles/Other in the Holocaust)...
I will not be the lab rat for newly created chemicals, barring rogue states and terrorist organizations of course, thanks to the Geneva protocol (and subsequent world non-proliferation/retaliation agreements) banning their use.
Inhaling mustard gas and being doused with napalm are not on my to do list...
I will never have to kill a person. I would rather die the victim of a terrorist act then live as a killer; irrespective of how bad the person I killed is. People have died for my right to say that.
I suppose I should end now. There are plenty of other reasons why we should be glad we live in a time we do. But its late, and I'm still not feeling as healthy as I should.
Good night.
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omg. Neal.. My heart stopped a little. No one ever knows about the Holodomor. I'm always the person in history class saying "WHAT ABOUT THE UKRAINIANS?". But seriously, the whole idea IS terrifying. My Grandpa.. a gentle nice old man, once told me about how he had to drop bombs from an airplane on German towns when he was younger then I am now. I can't imagine living through it, on either side. Side note - did anyone hear George Bush's speach yesterday justifying the war on terrorism? pretty scary stuff!
Shout out to the Uks
;)
but yeah, the idea of a just war is a terrifying idea...
No war is ever justified. The loss of one life is too much...
But it seems human nature and the desire for power superceeds humanity or the desire for peace...
Being in a Family that fought on both side of the war I feel I need to point this out. I'm sure you already know this but, the German army did not want to be there as much as the allies didn't want to be there. The war was the Nazis and Japanese generals vs everyone else, the Japanese and German armies were forced to do the things they did, if not they were shot. Now this doesn't justifiy what has happened, but few people actaully know that the german army did not want to be in the war. As for the "Camps" everything in them was done by the S.S. not the German army. just FYI. but the S.S was Hitlers privite army, they actaully shared his princples and views, and as a result they were all killed went into hiding or delt with at the Nuremburg trials. But to get back to my point the German army was dragged into this war as was the rest of the world, so don't call all Germans in the war bad.
Sorry if I offended but its kindof a touchy subject, that people make assumptions over.
As for the problem with George Dubya, I have pretty much come to the realization that he only has the americans worst intrests in mind, and he is trying to get the world back for Gorbachev actaully ending the cold war and not George Sr.
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