The steady diet of war jargon that dominates not only mainstream but nearly all media subsequent to 9/11, and the numbing downspiral of despair of U.S.-occupied Iraq has infected the daily conversation of life inside the monster.
I mean not only Fox news, or Rush Limbaugh, or military media attaches. In fact, the bacteria of war has spread well beyond the confines of media outlets, relevent academia, political arenas, … left, right, middle, whatever.
I mean that I’m listening to someone discuss food distribution among the poor, or growing the economy, or advertising, or education (on NPR!), and suddenly I hear “boots on the ground”, or “at the end of the day”. In fact, those two cliche expressions have become so endemic to our (wartime) culture, that we seem to be pursued, even haunted by the atmosphere of battle in even the most mundane everyday chatter. What is more, people seem to enjoy launching these anecdotes at the slightest opportunity, no matter how inappropriate, or irrelevant in the context of the situation.
Do people not typically reside “on the ground”? Do we now refer to humans as footwear? Can’t we just say, “We need more teachers in the schools,” or do we ENJOY saying, “We just don’t have the BOOTS ON THE GROUND to fulfill educational requirements.”
In fact, even in the context of war, these terms are appalling. Families do not grieve the loss of boots.
I do not want to inflame anyone’s personal, political, or spiritual sensibilities. I actually believe that some things are worth fighting for, both on a personal and national level. The current climate is so fraught with dishonesty and spin that I feel we are all at a loss to comment rationally. (Though I will say that it’s pretty effin’ clear where we don’t belong.)
Point is, if we lose the personal battle…the battle to remain alive inside and out through a deluge of death and deceit…, if we lose our language of life to a flippant vernacular of death, then we have lost the future. Maybe this is how we “deal” with the scene in front of us, to some extent.
Maybe we should not deal with the devil.
Reject assimilated war expressions!
Talk smart!
That this is the monster’s belly is irrefutable…if not by direct purpose, then most certainly by virtue of world opinion. Our doom is to try and survive the obliteration of the language of life, and so, the living of life.
