Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Rules for 21st Century War...and Ultrarunning

Ran across and saved this gem at Brilliant at Breakfast, here (you'll need to scroll to 11 Nov 2013).

My fav--in a sad, despairing way--is # 4.

Rules for 21st Century War  

  1. Prevent a free press from learning the truth and it won't need to be censored for trying to report the truth.  
  2. Never reveal who is getting rich from a war. 
  3. The true costs of a war are so mind-boggling high that hardly anyone finds them believable. Don't worry about it. 
  4. When stirring up the populace for a war, in no case predict and include the costs of the aftermath of a war, which are paid for by citizens for 100 years after the war in the form of medical care and survivor's benefits. As of March 2013, two children of Civil War veterans are still receiving very modest amounts.  
  5. Ship bodies of fallen soldiers home quietly and quickly disperse them across the country. Hide the most grievously injured.  
  6. Call veterans "heroes" and keep them so patriotically stirred up by slights both real and imagined that they'll cheer cuts to social service programs without noticing the V.A. is getting screwed too. The vets of WWI and WWII didn't fall for this scam. Know your history.

The link to Ultrarunning?  Time and history have long memories (see # 4 above in case you forgot), kinda like the long distances we run.  People ask us, "How can you run that far?  How long does it take? Do you get bored?"  And I just smile, try to answer, and know something they don't.

(It's time for an actual Ultrarunning post, I know).


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