tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1902141356136486160.post1004585996386511804..comments2024-03-08T00:16:42.049-08:00Comments on My Public Affairs: The Awesomeness of KillingRich Stowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10484250403131513299noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1902141356136486160.post-48464588979975742742010-12-22T11:43:30.529-08:002010-12-22T11:43:30.529-08:00AwEsOmE post Rich..... and as a citizen of this gr...AwEsOmE post Rich..... and as a citizen of this great Republic and am grateful for "people willing to do waht it takes to ensure" our national security. I am also grateful that the Army is an organization that has not bowed completely to political correctness and doesn't mince words about "what they want to accomplis."<br /><br />Pass on my CONGRATULATIONS to "What's his face." ;)Grumpyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14794125981919147123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1902141356136486160.post-16551984810515483502010-12-21T10:54:41.444-08:002010-12-21T10:54:41.444-08:00Lizzy: all great points. The title was meant to ge...Lizzy: all great points. The title was meant to get people to think about what AWESOME really means. I am going to think about what you commented, and dedicate an entire post to it rather than a comment of my own. For now, I will say that all Soldiers go through intense cultural training, though the effectiveness of the training can be debated. I think the military is really struggling trying to find that right balance between preparing their personal to kill, and preparing them to deal with it in as healthy a way possible.Rich Stowellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10484250403131513299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1902141356136486160.post-12673335340257642832010-12-21T10:40:04.357-08:002010-12-21T10:40:04.357-08:00Also, is it necessary that the public and soldiers...Also, is it necessary that the public and soldiers know where to draw the line? Sure, let's not mince words about the mission: kill the enemies of the United States. But word-mincing becomes necessary so that we know the difference between "enemy," "Arab," and "towel-head," right? Incidentally, the same couple of my students do not know this difference, needing a lecture on the geographic and cultural, and political differences between Saudia Arabia, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq (which by the way I'm barely qualified to give). Do most soldiers know the difference? Am I misguided in being worried if they don't? <br /><br />I'm definitely worried that teenage fundamentalists who want to destroy our country don't know the difference between an "American" and "enemy of Islam." Am I misguided in noticing that if the fundamentalists who want to destroy our country regarded us as a complex society rather than a one-faced enemy, they wouldn't be able to recruit their own soldiers? I'm an English teacher. Maybe I put too much stock in the similarities of the rhetoric.Lizzy Gorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06189400786786447001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1902141356136486160.post-39013513856914302752010-12-21T10:20:36.422-08:002010-12-21T10:20:36.422-08:00"Awesomeness" is the perfect choice of w..."Awesomeness" is the perfect choice of words, though I think it requires some mincing here. I have a couple of students who are enamored with the awesomeness of killing, but are not aware of the AWESOMENESS of killing. awesomeness (lower-case) connotes adolescent wonder--a hard skateboard trick well-executed, or a a new X-box. I have a couple students who are excited to join the army because of the awesomeness of killing. Of course, as an adult, even though I've never been in the army, I know that once they actually are deployed in combat, they will encounter the AWESOMENESS of killing. AWESOMENESS (upper-case) in this sense is like awe-struck, awe-inspiring, the AWE of a subject before his God. AWESOMENESS is what you perceive when something is too big for your emotional and psychological bandwidth as a human. I'd speculate that the AWESOMENESS of killing (and fearing being killed), among other things, is partly responsible for the post-traumatic stress disorder that haunts so many veterans.<br /><br />And so the question is, how does the army prepare soldiers for the AWESOMENESS of the job? Military culture is foreign to me, so this is not a rhetorical question. It's a real question.Lizzy Gorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06189400786786447001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1902141356136486160.post-3794740317364124652010-12-20T20:14:01.868-08:002010-12-20T20:14:01.868-08:00If your students only knew the thoughts that go on...If your students only knew the thoughts that go on in your head, they'd behave. Great post.QEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13258551042287621889noreply@blogger.com