Write of Passage

I disagree with you that sacrifice is no longer a part of the American ethos.  There are many fine men and women who sacrifice their lives for you and me. Do a google search for these names:

Michael P Murphy

Jason L Dunham

Ross A McGinnis

Michael A Monsoor

Paul R Smith

These are not the only ones who have given everything in the course of this war, they are just the most highly decorated for it.  They also did not wait for someone from the government to tell them to do so.

Absolutely -- these men made the ultimate sacrifice. All the more reason we should be willing to make the little sacrifices. Supporting the troops means more than putting a sticker on our cars.

I would argue with Mr Lovesponge that you are only illustrating the point even more.  We are more than willing to send men and women off to die and point to their sacrifice as our own, but few of us are willing to drive slower, turn down (or up) the thermostat, ride a bike or catch a bus.  Recently I was watching a movie set in WWII.  It struck me how the entire day to day existence of people were at least, affected, if not entirely consumed with the war effort. My mother lived through the war in Europe and I have heard her stories. It seems our our only acknowledgment of the problem is to hold up the names of the dead and say "see, we are doing something."  The people who have died in this war are husbands, wifes, sons, sister, dads, moms. They are all these things and more, but they are not the son of God.  They aren't dying so we can have our sins forgiven. If you are going to list the names of the dead then have the respect for THEIR ultimate sacrifice and let us know how you are honoring them by making this war unnecessary with your personal sacrifice.

I’m not sure what you mean when you say “let us know how you are honoring them by making this war unnecessary with your personal sacrifice”.  I’m too old to serve, but I did when I was young…and most of my young kin are serving currently…is that what you mean by personal sacrifice?

My point is to contend Ms. Connors-Badding's contention that nobody is making a sacrifice for this war effort...my guess is she and you just don't know anybody who really is...

No, that's not the case. Our nephew and his wife served two tours in Iraq, and I have two friends whose sons are joining up this summer. I know how it affects their loved ones, and it is a huge sacrifice. I just wish everyone was willing to make more sacrifices —— as DH mentioned —– like Americans did during WWII.

I think her point was that the rest of us should make sacrifices, too. War can never be entered lightly, and if it only "costs" soldiers and their families (and some future generations, not ours), something's wrong with the picture.

There are fewer than 200,000 military personnel in Iraq and in theater. There are 300,000,000 Americans, some 80,000,000 of whom are ages 20-39. Seems like the rest of us should be making some contribution beyond saying thanks.

The parents of people my age changed their way of life during WWII. There was rationing of food, fuel, clothing. Women went to work in jobs they had never considered before. People purchased bonds to support the effort and show faith.

And now? We're making sacrifices because the economy is tanking, and that has something to do with the war. But it's not a deliberate effort to do with less so that others could live in freedom.

Maureen's question is legitimate.

I have been able to trace my family's military service as far back as the Civil War when my great-great grandfather fought with the Union Army.  My grandfather fought in WWI and WWII.  My mother lost her brother to that same war.  My dad served in Korea, my brother was drafted into the  Vietnam War.  My nephew has currently served two tours in Iraq (as well as tours in Pakistan and Liberia).  It isn't the sacrifice of our military I argue with.  It is the will of this country to give up anything at all in support of the war or in a effort to end the war. We are willing to send friends and family  off to die, but don't want to be bothered with turning our SUV off while we run into a store. Most people couldn't even find Iraq     on a map, much less tell you how many lives have been lost there.  That is what I mean when I say let me know how you are honoring them by making this unnecessary war with personal sacrifice.  Since you have a military background I believe you understand the sacrifice being made, but what are you doing to make their deaths not in vain?       Someone said the quickest way to end the Iraq war is institute a draft with no deferment. I agree with that observation. If we forced  everyone to make a sacrifice I suspect the Iraq war be over in a blink of an eye.  

Great blog.  It is really quite simple.  American's have become very lazy.  Every thing is easy.  There are no struggles.  We expect to go about our day with no sacrifice.  We are in a very real war against terror and people would rather talk about global warming (which can very easily be debunked as a joke--tell me, did you ever hear Al Gore talking about it when he was the V.P., or just after when he needed a platform?)

90th Street Conservative,

You've hit the nail on the head. Now all we need is national health care to put the frosting on our candy-asses and we'll be as shiftless and whiney as the Europeans.

You work in the insurance industry, Crusty? Because they are the main beneficiaries of the current system. Other beneficiaries are people with good coverage and enormously costly health problems.

But not most of us, and not the businesses we work for.

With national health insurance, many more people would be able to fulfill the American Dream, striking out on their own and starting small businesses. More parents would be able to stay home or work part time to care for their children or pursue education or other goals if they didn't have to work full-time in order to get insurance.

I pay over $500 a month for healthcare and can't afford to go to the doctor. I don't remember what my employer pays, but it's at least that much. $12,000 a year, and I  can't afford to get healthcare because of deductibles and copays. Most of the money goes to the insurance companies and their determinations for the risk pool. Something is terribly wrong with that.

If I could spend my $6,000 a year on actual health care instead of pouring it into the pockets of insurance companies, and my employer could put HALF the money they are paying now into a national risk pool to cover expenses we might incur above that $6,000 a year, my family and I suspect many others would be in better shape, physically and financially.

Then consumers could actually be able to affect prices in the health care arena: there's no way we can do it now, no matter how much people whine that consumers should shop around. That's almost impossible to do.

It's true, we'd have to make hard choices, too, as a nation: another form of self-sacrifice for the greater good that we seem to have lost sight of.

Do we want to continue to pay for $90,000 defibrillators in people over age 80 and pay the attendant costs for medications, procedures, and frequent visits to specialists? That's a personal example: my beloved late mother. I wouldn't have wanted her to live a month less long than she did, but I know that she thought the expense AND the hard last years were sort of a bizarre use of money.

But we're going to have to make those hard choices anyway, and I have no idea why people think insurance companies, whose only interest is their own bottom line, are the best places to have those decisions made. At least with the government, we can vote the policymakers out of office. . .

"American's have become very lazy.  Every thing is easy.  There are no struggles.  We expect to go about our day with no sacrifice."

Do you really think people aren't suffering enough? I don't know anyone who is free from struggles.

What's different right now from other times is that our struggles don't seem to have any meaning. We can trumpet all we want about sacrifices to save the world for freedom, but we aren't paying for that, we're taking out loans for someone else to pay. (I think we should be paying for the war NOW.)

We're not doing with less or without because we are working to make the world better. We're doing with less because even though we follow the rules and do everything we've been told to do, the economy is crumbling. And it's not doing that because we aren't working hard enough. We're extremely and ever-increasingly productive.

It's because of policies and actions made at a much higher level. It's because of increasing competition. And yes, it's because of alterations to the environment, both man-made and natural.

Tell me, 90th St: what sacrifices are you making that the rest of us aren't and that you think we should be making to achieve a proper level of industry and sacrifice? Or do you feel you already made yours and now it's someone else's turn?

Al Gore wrote a book in 1992 called Earth In The Balance so this isn't something new to him.  The problem has gotten worse and rightfully so gotten more attention.  I think it is funny that you call it a joke that can be debunked, but when Congress held hearings on it the main person they could get to speak against was a some "shiftless and whiney" guy from Europe.  The argument is longer about whether it is occurring or not, but what is the cause.  And Christine I would wager that our conservative buddies aren't making any real sacrifices.  They have the same sense of entitlement they like to accuse others of.  It reminds me of one of my favorite joke.  Put a glass on a table and fill it partially with water.  A liberal will say it is half full, a Democrat will say it is half empty and a conservative will scream "who stole the rest of my goddamn water!"

Yes, conservatives have a sense of entitlement.  We expect and hope to keep what we earn.  We don't like  federal and local governments continuing to raise our taxes.  We believe it is the duty of every American to basically say we can and should be responsible for ourselves without always looking to the government to solve our problems.  Certainly help those who are really in need, but stop throwing more and more money at the problems in our society.  

Thanks for bringing us almost full circle, 90th. Of course conservatives (and others) like to keep what we earn. But you can't cut taxes and then wage a very expensive war. Once again, the president is not asking us to sacrifice some income to pay for the war as we go. Our children will have to pay the price, and it's unconscionable.

Maureen...

Great post.  I read it last Friday before leaving town.  I just wandered by tonite after being away for a spell.

I gotta say that everyone said at least one thing I can agree with - which is unusual.

Thanks for tweaking everyone.

Sacrifice is a loaded word.  It is one that can have deep meaning and when properly implemented can really do something positive.  Sacrifice that actually impacts something, like WWII rationing, comes to mind.

However, it can also be a fraud used as a tool to take the well-meaning of their liberty, freedom and livelihood.

Maureen....you also should not create new entitlements while fighting an expensive war.    However, if you must know....gov't revenue has gone up since the tax cuts....so the fed gov't isn't starving itself of money.

To get back to the original post....why do you need a president/governor/county exec to tell you to turn down the thermostat or drive a more fuel efficient car or take a shorter shower?.....a simple glance at my utility bill and filling up my car are all the impetus I need to cut back.

Another twist....

Sacrifice where you actually do something that actually does something meaningful and has positive impact someplace else...potentially good

A personal "sense of sacrifice" (as opposed actual sacrificing) by doing something trivial so that one can feel good about themselves and give one the perceived moral superiority to look down upon others and their "wasteful" ways.  Always bad.

I absolutely agree about the whole lack of sacrafice in this country. Of course those serving in Iraq are making a great sacrafice, but if you know that you're not doing the environment or the oil crisis any good by driving a dinstance you could easily walk, do you really have any justification for doing so?

And it's true that people would become upset if a government figure suggested something like shorter showers. It's disgusting that people would feel that their rights are being trampled on when someone suggests to do something so simple.

Despite my lack of a car, I’ve finally found a way of getting around other than mooching off of my mobile

Miss Mclennon,

The word sacrifice is being used as a politial tactic by both sides on several issues.  Few are advocating it for anything substantive.  Oftentimes, those calling for it are hypocritical in that they do the exact opposite of what they are calling for....Al Gore and his rising energy use come to mind.  Its the same for those who advocate "change"....both are cynical political tools that get recycled about every 30-50 years.

I will be the first to admit that we have it very very easy in this country; however, some seek to lay a guilt trip on us by using the tactic of sacrifice as a way to slowly remove our freedom to live our lives in the way that we want to.

Americans are notoriously cynical when it comes to those who call for sacrifice.   We will do it if we think its truly needed, but will laugh in the face of Jimmy Carter style sacrifice.

Despite my lack of a car, I’ve finally found a way of getting around other than mooching off of my mobile

I tries taking a fast shower. It stinks :)

Seriously, excellent point in the article. The little things we can do add up over time. Not only can some sacrifice save our household money, but it can help everyone in the long run.