We are not the men we once were. I stand close to comrades who Know, while I have only stood on the edge of the long grass, and truthfully have never seen the Beast. I remain thankful that I have been included in your company. But our time for doing is long past, and for myself I see the time for effective leading is also starting to wane. Most certainly I personally have gotten 'Too old for this shit'.
But what I don't understand is this:
At twenty we were full of the patriotic fever. We were bold in our strength. We knew we could not die. Then, the Right was obvious, and Evil was to be thwarted - and we were just the men to do it! Fun, Travel, Adventure.
Along the way, because although we were innocents, we were not stupid, we started to catch a glimpse of the men behind the curtain. The cracks in the masks worn by those who extolled 'For God, Queen and Country'. Questioners even at the beginning, it became obvious that there were in fact no neat and tidy answers, that the world was nothing if not various shades of grey. That we were being offered up on the altar of The Big Lie. So more and more the cry of 'Hurrah!' was answered with 'You've got to be fucking kidding...'.
And now we sit. Not exactly the ones who pull the levers, but more and more at least contemporaries of those placing political gain first above all other things. The grey men in their grey suits who loudly demand for sweat, tears and blood - but never their own. I never have understood how they can be so ignorant. How can they possibly have shared the events that we have seen, yet grown to have a world view that is just so - wrong?
The young men still answer the Call. In their youth and enthusiasm, they are as we once were, lacking wisdom and perception that can only come from experience. May the gods keep them. May their arms be strong, their legs fast, their reflexes quick. May they have luck.
But we know Valhalla is full of those who thought it was going to be 'someone else'....
And most importantly, I wish we would stop sending those young men off to wager their skill against mere political expediency. Sometimes, yes, there IS a Good Fight to be fought. This most certainly is NOT one of those times.
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1 comment:
beautifully, sensitively said.
It seems to me that those who pull the levers are those who have from the very beginning - chosen to pull levers. They were not seduced by Life, but allied themselves with it's opposite from the beginning; content to feel omnipotent by observing and controlling the life they do not live. One cannot have a life and be a CEO/politician. There simply isn't time.
so one must choose. choosing against life, one becomes morally incapable of pulling the levers wisely, responsibly.
it seems only in Greece were they able to pull off being both lever-pullers and life lovers.
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