The Vietnamese War Against Trivia

Last night I participated in a trivia contest, the proceeds going to the local homeless shelter and food bank.

The announcer's first announcement was that last Thursday was Veteran's (really Armistice, but I'm sure that's a piece of trivia he didn't know) Day. He asked all the veterans to raise their hands so that we may honor their sacrifice, since they fought so that we could be here tonight.

Really? We had a Vietnam vet at our table, long an anti-war activist, and editor of the local Peace newsletter. What a surprise it was to him to find out the REAL reason the US invaded, bombed, napalmed, and Agent Oranged that small country, killing 3,000,000, poisoning millions more, (including babies still born with horrible birth defects ), torturing and herding into concentration camps civilians, did I leave anything out?

Those damn "gooks" were trying to prevent us from playing trivia!

And no doubt the terrorists have the same goal!

The lionization of veterans is more meaningless ritual, like voting, but the purpose of the mandatory genuflection is the legitimization of war and military participation. Even anti-war people feel pressure to bow and "support our troops".

Bullshit.

They don't support the Viet Vets Against War, and they don't support the Iraq Vets Against War. Look at what happens when our heroes speak out or demonstrate against war.

All of a sudden, they're no longer heroes.

I'm pretty picky too. I only support veterans that have repented and now are against war. Like Smedley Butler and the Iraq veterans against war.

The smug, self-righteous veterans who feel no sorrow or shame for what they've done most certainly do not deserve any honor or respect.

Tribal Passions

So an atheist anarchist walks into a bar in Texas. No, really, I did.

It was a piano bar and a fun time, packed with drunken people singing with and swaying along to the music of beloved pop songs.

The piano players (2 of them) tried to stir us up even more by talking about football teams. Please! I am way too intellectually advanced to care which pack of overdressed mesomorphs trample the other to victory.

Then they tried to wave the militaristic Fort Hood flag. Please! As a kind and loving citizen of the planet Earth, I am opposed to the US plan for military domination of other peoples.

Then they divided the bar into two halves, and announced a singing contest - judged solely by volume.

There I was - singing as loudly as I could so that my side could beat those dirty bastards on the other side of the bar!

How fricking easy it is to manipulate we humans by emotion and tribalism.

I was the same way during the election.

Intellectually, I know that the system is rigged, the media biased, the voting machines preset.

But I still got all caught up in the excitement of my Green tribe going against those bastard Demopublicans!

And I'm still mad that they used the system to stomp us down. I am bitter that my fellow citizens, here in my homeland of Dumbfuckistan, are unable to see through the lies and hype that we are constantly fed. I feel that we will never overcome the ability of the ruling class to play us for fools with their advanced and efficient propaganda machine.

We are like the dissident yeast in the vat of tasty sugary barley and hops, saying "Hey, slow down the party! We're going to eat and reproduce ourselves into poisoning our environment!"

How's that working out for us?