Would You Die For Your Country?

I owuld not, and will never, die for my country. Why? Because I belive it is better to find alternatives to killing, and to go out and kill and die in a situation that could have been resolved peacefully would be a betrayal of my beliefs. I'd rather think a way out of conflict than simply strap on a gun and blow up anyone I (or my country) didn't agree with. But, I'm not criticising your right to do that. I just don't like it, that's all.

 

...I belive it is better to find alternatives to killing...

If alternatives can be found, then yes. But some situations require a violent response.

...and to go out and kill and die in a situation that could have been resolved peacefully would be a betrayal of my beliefs.

What if there was no plausible way to resolve it peacefully? Then would you fight?

 

No. I would not fight, because there is always a peaceful solution.

 

I have always loved this quote from JFK, which IMO applies to what we are talking about...

I have here some $8000 in these letters sent to my office from all over the country - quarters, dimes, dollar bills from housewives, plumbers, car salesmen, teachers, invalids ... These are the people who cannot afford to send money but do, these are the ones who drive the cabs, who nurse in the hospitals, who see their kids go to Vietnam. Why? Because they care, because they want to know the truth -because they want their country back, because it belongs to us the people as long as the people got the guts to fight for what they believe in!

 

I will not die for my country.
I will not kill for my country.
I would much rather live for my country.

 

My faveorite quote on this comes from a poem, Dulce et decorum est:

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

 

Awesome quote DS. JFK is one of my favorite presidents

 

No I would not die for my country. At least not right now as there is no reason to die for it.

 

CM - Thanks.

Just to be clear...the quote was from JFK the movie.

Regardless, I agree, JFK is one of my favorite Presidents too.

 

I would not fight, because there is always a peaceful solution.

NO APPEASEMENT FOR PEACE.

 

This isn't my country. It's all been taken over by economic migrants.

 

Zethlin_Maximus, that's bollocks and you know it

I suggest you stop reading the Sun and Daily Mail - everything they print is not necessarily true. And I also think you need to lighten up a bit - your bio makes a very bleak read

 

Somebody has to die for their country, if there is war, it could be you.

But I'm female, so I'm out of the water.

 

Now that raises an interesting question. Suppose Bush gets reelected and they end up bringing back the draft. How would it be run and would it include women, college kids, etc. How would it differ from Vietnam?

 

I think it has a chance of including woman, as there are much more woman in the military now than any time previously.


That being said, I doubt the draft will be reinstated. If we get hit that badly by either terrorists or another country, we would have people signing up by themselves.

 

I would not die for my country, nor do I live for my country. I live for myself and for my wife. I go to work 40 hours a week to earn money for myself, my wife, and any children we might have. I do not give any of my money away. I am not a saint, nor a hero, nor anything extraordinary. I'm simply a man who minds his own business and tries to better his and his family's lot in life.

 

Zethlin_Maximus, that's bollocks and you know it

I suggest you stop reading the Sun and Daily Mail - everything they print is not necessarily true. And I also think you need to lighten up a bit - your bio makes a very bleak read

No, I don't read the paper. My views are both from my past experiences (33 years worth), what I see walking into town every day, along with what I see on the BBC, ITV and Ch. 4 news. Tony Blair and the rest of the middle-classes are fast making England into a doormat for the entire Third World to wipe their feet on. We the English are fast becoming the minority in our very own country, and England will soon become "a foriegn land". Live with it, you'll feel better about it when some East European, Asian or African is taking your job, your house and your welfare.

And besides, what do you know about my circumstances? That post was probably written by some mollycoddled middle-class buffoon who doesn't know what the facts of life are, or what it's like at the bottom.

But like I said before, I wouldn't raise a finger for a country who treats its own poor with such contempt.

And what I put in my bio is my very own experiences. Brother, that's how far our so-called "freedom of speech" has been destroyed in this dictatorial country, people telling me what I can and can't say in my own bio! No wonder the BBC bosses were sacked for telling the truth, 'cause people in this country don't like the truth anymore, do they? Just another reason why I won't fight for this country. It's full of two faced, elitist, back biting, money grubbing back stabbers. No wonder the Third Worlders like the place so much.

 

CM -

Suppose Bush gets reelected and they end up bringing back the draft. How would it be run and would it include women, college kids, etc. How would it differ from Vietnam?

I agree with JF in that I don't see the draft being reinstated.

I bet no one would be automatically exempt (Marriage, college, etc.), but many would find ways to avoid it.

I say that if they do bring back the draft, the first to go should be the leaders and pundits(the Bush administration, Congress, Media elite, etc.) who never served in combat and/or their children. After them should be the people whose sole contribution to the defense of our country is to slap an American flag bumper sticker on their SUV.

 

Zethlin_Maximus, that was quite..uh, well, racist for you to say something like that about people from the Third World. I mean, they're not taking 'all our jobs', after all, aren't we the ones taking doctors from India etc?

Anyway, that's not the point, the point is I would never, ever die for my country. I find all the glorification of war and fighting very small-minded. The reality of war is PEOPLE DIE. Not 'Those stupid *insert stereotypical comment here*'. People. People who have families, who are probably not that different from us. I just couldn't face doing something like that to a fellow human being.

 

I just couldn't face doing something like that to a fellow human being.

But could you stand by and let somebody else do it to someone you know?

 

There are ways to stop people without killing them, you know. It's called negotiation. I wouldn't let it get that far.

 

There are ways to stop people without killing them, you know. It's called negotiation. I wouldn't let it get that far.

Negotiation only works when both sides are willing to negotiate. If one side is not willing to negotiate (or decides to renege on their commitments), then negotiation does nothing.

You could also say that you always have an option oto fighting, but that would mean that you always surrender.

Kimball Kinnison

 

Then you can be our ambassador to Osama bin Laden.

I'm not saying that people should be supportive of any war, or that the only way your a patriot is if you fight in the military. What I am saying is that it is extremely stupid to say you will never fight. People seem to forget that it only takes one side to wage a war.

 

Where's the shame in surrendering if you belive you're doing the right thing?

EDIT: I'll talk to Osama if you find him first, JediFlyer.

 

It means other people get killed and lose their liberties on your account.