Memorial Day

Let summer begin! Isn't that what Memorial Day is all about in America? Yes, it is the unofficial beginning of summer, coming as it does so close to 1 June, the meteorological beginning of the season. That's not what it's supposed to be about, but what it is supposed to be about has been so distorted, I think I'll just go with the unofficial stuff. It's a whole lot easier to take.

Originally known as Decoration Day originating in the aftermath of the American Civil War, it was made an official holiday only in 1971 and is meant to commemorate those who died in military service for the country. Every country has some kind of equivalent holiday ... more often not a work-free day, certainly not a Monday holiday, as it is in the US. But what a holiday is for, why we even have a holiday, and what we do with that holiday seldom have much to do with one another.

If I were more generous, I'd say that Memorial Day became simply a victim of circumstances. Coming as close as it does to the meteorological beginning of summer, it suffered the same fate as Labor Day (the unofficial end of summer), namely being overshadowed by things that move people more personally. After all, who really wants to think about dead people when you can fire up the grill. And who wants to think about work when you may have to soon put the grill away? But, who am I to disparage the tried and true traditions of sensitive, hard-working people?

Personally -- and this is purely my own personal opinion -- I have no idea why we have a holiday to honor the dead, especially those who have "fallen in battle". Don't get me wrong, I feel deeply for every family who has had a family member go off to war and never come back. My heart grieves at the fact that robust, young men, truly in the prime of their lives, often with young and hopeful families, made what we like to call the "ultimate sacrifice" for ... well, I'm not just sure what.

If you take the last two "world" wars out of the equation (the 2nd because it was a direct result of the first, at a time when bad ideas were gaining the upper hand; and the 1st because it was the last of the vanity-driven wars), which war was fought, which young men died, for a "real cause"? I can't think of one. War, as von Clausewitz noted, is simply "diplomacy by other means", which has to be one of the most cynical statements ever to issue from the mind of a human being. All that really says is, "since I don't know what to do to finally get my way, I'll initiate the slaughter of young men and civilians (yes, old people, women, and children) to get what I want". How glad I am that three-year-olds don't have access to weapons.

Yes, I believe we should honor our war dead, but not for the reasons that we like to proclaim. There is not a single human being who ever lived who died in a war for a just cause. Yes, like the Second World War, there are wars of necessity, but only because we are too slow to realize that there are other ways to solve problems than violence. In general, however, wars are useless wastes of life. And, it is for this very reason that there should be a holiday to remember all of those who died needlessly, before their time, brutally, and in the end for nothing, because we simply haven't learned to live with one another, as human beings.