Posts
With all the (primarily media) comparisons between Vietnam and our military presence in Afghanistan (and to some degree, Iraq), do our children now have to deal with a "wrong war" as we did at their age? Is President Obama right to be so tuned into the perceived similarities as to be rendering himself immobile as he "assesses the options" for the umpteenth time?
It seems that we think so more than they do. And they're the ones fighting it.
The most obvious difference is the attacks on us that precipated our military response in the Middle East & particularly Afghanistan (where Al Qaida thrives along the borders with Pakistan) vs. the total anti-communist paranoia that underpinned Vietnam. Even in Iraq, our military response was supported by a surprising source - Elie Weisel, Nobel Peace Prize winning holocaust survivor - who believed that we could not ignore the genocide taking place in Iraq as we ignored that in Germany prior to WWII. Not the "trumped up" reason used by the Bush Administration that parallels Vietnam.
Then, there's the frightening fact that left unaddressed over there, there will be more attacks over here - with our presence there we are still uncovering/thwarting attack attempts over here. The Vietnamese were no threat to our borders.
Finally, the world in 2009 is so very different from the world in 1969. Much smaller and far more interdependent. Many countries now nuclear-armed did not have such weapons of mass destruction then. In 1969, those who would kill based on religious ideology were confined to small pockets of their own countries, had no money, and had access to no technology; today they are exported around the world, with sophisticated technological capacity and well financed. If Al Qaida, or their pals the Taliban, get hold of nuclear materials from next-door Pakistan, the world is in serious danger. This was not a concern in Vietnam.
The answer, then, my fellow Boomers, is: no. There are no credible parallels between Vietnam and our military efforts now in the Middle East.
Other than those we trump up.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
On "An Open Letter to Obama"
Your thoughts? My perspective on Pritchett's "Open Letter to Obama" that's been circulat'g...& circulat'g... www.boomercoach.wordpress.com
Friday, August 7, 2009
It's become clear how very easy it is for folks, frustrated and disappointed with so many things in their lives right now, to latch onto non-truths when it comes to healthcare reform, and use that faulty information to vent - venomously often.
This is a small attempt to bring some truth to the fore, in the hope that it will help those who wish to discuss the issue calmly, sanely, and with the facts.
http://www.examiner.com/x-654-Baby-Boomer-Examiner~y2009m8d6-AARP-fights-back-on-health-care
This is a small attempt to bring some truth to the fore, in the hope that it will help those who wish to discuss the issue calmly, sanely, and with the facts.
http://www.examiner.com/x-654-Baby-Boomer-Examiner~y2009m8d6-AARP-fights-back-on-health-care
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Getting This Show on the Road
Hey, my fellow Boomers. Now that we're officially and fully ensconced on the web, we can find plenty of sites designed to find a date or a great travel deal, assist us with our finances and caring for our elderly parents, and generally find information geared to our generation.
Very cool!
But nowhere is there a place for you to get the inspiration, insights and direction we all need at some point in our lives, from and for Boomers specifically - provided by a Boomer. Now there is.
We always were, and always will be, trailblazers; we take control, change what we don't like, and are at once cynics and optimists. Our parents may be members of the “greatest generation,” but at the very least, we Baby-boomers are members of the “pretty-damned- phenomenal generation.” After all, we have done some truly amazing, socially ground-breaking things.
Our generation gave America civil rights, and the world human rights; we gave women liberation, and brought all things sexual out of the closet. We are responsible for bringing computers into people’s homes and offices, wireless communications into our cars and hands, and hey, let’s not forget Velcro! We have given ourselves permission to leave bad marriages, were the first to embrace the importance of self-fulfillment, and made the work place employee- friendly. We brought value to environmental awareness, recognized that mental health is as relevant as (and a correlative to) physical health, and explored space, not to mention the Titanic. We refused to fight a trumped up “war, ” and gave the world Star Trek, The Force, and the tobacco settlement. We are a phenomenon to be reckoned with!
And we are again doing ground-breaking things, from reworking the looks of grand-parenthood to reinventing retirement. We need and deserve a place to work through the insecurities, questions, concerns, worries, that surround trying something new, so that we can land squarely on our feet feeling great about what we've accomplished.
That's what you have here, so don't hesitate to take full advantage of it! You can get professional advice/direction from me, and equally valuable ideas from your fellow Boomers on the site. It's better than individual and group therapy! (without the angst...and the couch...the fee...and no one saying "so...how does that make you feel?...").
Look forward to hearing from you.
Very cool!
But nowhere is there a place for you to get the inspiration, insights and direction we all need at some point in our lives, from and for Boomers specifically - provided by a Boomer. Now there is.
We always were, and always will be, trailblazers; we take control, change what we don't like, and are at once cynics and optimists. Our parents may be members of the “greatest generation,” but at the very least, we Baby-boomers are members of the “pretty-damned- phenomenal generation.” After all, we have done some truly amazing, socially ground-breaking things.
Our generation gave America civil rights, and the world human rights; we gave women liberation, and brought all things sexual out of the closet. We are responsible for bringing computers into people’s homes and offices, wireless communications into our cars and hands, and hey, let’s not forget Velcro! We have given ourselves permission to leave bad marriages, were the first to embrace the importance of self-fulfillment, and made the work place employee- friendly. We brought value to environmental awareness, recognized that mental health is as relevant as (and a correlative to) physical health, and explored space, not to mention the Titanic. We refused to fight a trumped up “war, ” and gave the world Star Trek, The Force, and the tobacco settlement. We are a phenomenon to be reckoned with!
And we are again doing ground-breaking things, from reworking the looks of grand-parenthood to reinventing retirement. We need and deserve a place to work through the insecurities, questions, concerns, worries, that surround trying something new, so that we can land squarely on our feet feeling great about what we've accomplished.
That's what you have here, so don't hesitate to take full advantage of it! You can get professional advice/direction from me, and equally valuable ideas from your fellow Boomers on the site. It's better than individual and group therapy! (without the angst...and the couch...the fee...and no one saying "so...how does that make you feel?...").
Look forward to hearing from you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
