Memorial Day

It’s Memorial Day in the US. I’ve been pondering what that means. Usually the television schedule is filled with shows and stories oriented toward the US military experience. The menu includes movies about Vietnam, World War II, and the Revolutionary War. Pursuant to its tradition, the Discovery Channel will allocate several hours to the examination of the weapon systems currently available or being planned for the United State’s military arsenal. Even the History Channel will devote special attention to one or more of the United State’s many military exploits over the last 230 years. The streets in towns across the country will be lined with US flags, and local newspapers will be drenched with stories about heroes and warriors. Is that what it’s all about?

I know the history of this holiday, that it grew out of a desire to honor the sacrifices of Union soldiers during the Civil War. I also know it has grown in to something that both feeds on and nurtures a truly insidious part of the base morality of this culture. It exemplifies our compulsion to focus so much attention on our militaristic heritage. I guess it’s not really all that surprising since military conflicts define much of the history of the United States. What I find troubling about all the present Memorial Day focus is the scale of the glorification of war and the emphasis on the “gallant sacrifices of those who died to preserve our freedom”.

In truth, it seems to me it’s not the dead we are memorializing, or the supposed “freedom” their lives bequeathed. It’s all about creating a myth of grand proportions to hold together the unquestioned patriotic zeal of the masses, and cultivate a fertile foundation for recruiting a new generation willing to lay down its life for the “cause”. It’s all about re-writing history to give purchase to the false ideal that one’s death in combat is somehow more pure than death by any other means. It disregards the fact that death is death. It’s brainwashing in its most insipient form.

I have no problem with the idea of remembrance. I think it’s a wonderful way to give some perspective to our place in the ever changing human condition. I also think it can serve as a tremendous benefit to us to stop periodically and look at who we are by way of those who have set the stage for what we are today, and to see the impact they and we have on the progression of both human society and its impact on the environment. My difficulty with the current celebration is its singular focus on the remembrance of war and the glorification of militarism.

Imagine how much more powerful to our collective consciousness and our moral base it would be to remember other sacrifices. How about of the indigenous people on this continent, as well as around the world, who sacrificed their place and gave of their own cultural heritage for the demands of colonial/imperialist expansion? What about the millions of slaves, torn from their own culture, denied their humanity, and upon whose back much of this country’s early development depended? Similarly, what about the sacrifices of working class people and laborers who came to this country, and who continue to come, whose sweat is the blood sacrifice they offer? What about all of those over the centuries whose labor has been exploited on the railroads and in the mines, fields, mills, and factories to serve the larger interests of this society?

For me, Memorial Day is an opportunity to reflect on the true cost of our social development in both human and environmental terms. It is a chance to discover and teach the truth to our children, that what we have and what we are today does indeed come at a cost, but the cost does not have to be in the form of needless wars to be valued. The sacrifices of each generation and each sublimated culture can be seen in the fear provoked in the hearts of those wielding power and the strength of the effort to suppress, contain, and crush the will of those who would courageously give voice to the true ideal of the human spirit. If there is glory to be had in the giving of one’s life for a cause, which is better to die in battle fighting for the political and material benefit of a few, or standing in defiance of the will of a few to advance the humanity of all? For me, Memorial Day is a chance to remember all of the struggles throughout history, whether written or not, of simple people trying to hold on to their dignity and shed the yoke of oppression.