the rix mix

Martin of Tours and the Beggar by El Greco. The story is that Martin, a low-ranking officer in the Roman cavalry, gave half his ample cloak to a beggar. The beggar is, of course, Jesus. They all are. The lesson is that there's enough to share, & no one need freeze or go hungry. Today is his day, the day the first Armistice was signed in 1918, stopping World War I. I knew that growing up, but not the connection to Martin of Tours, Martinmas.

Although having a day to honor veterans is right, I wish we had established a separate day for them & kept Armistice Day, which was about the end of a war & the establishment of peace. A day devoted to peace. Rarely see the word "peace" in print anymore, why is that? I was born on Armistice Day. It was changed a few years later. "Ami" in my mother's maiden name Amidon has meant peace or a quality of peace all the way back into proto-Indo-European language. God's joke on a hot-tempered child whose growth spurt screeched to a halt at 5'6", but endowed with a scorpio's penchant for creative, patient revenge. Oh yeah, in case I inherited the gift of blarney from the Irish side, I was given a stutter that didn't subside to a controllable level until I was in my Twenties. You have to learn to write poems, kid.

Signing a truce is not the same as making peace. It's better than fighting, but it does not reconcile. Nations make & observe truces, as do families  & individuals, but use them to avoid getting to the heart of the matter.

 Rules for 21st Century War  

 Prevent a free press from learning the truth & it won't need to be censored for trying to report the truth.  

Never reveal who is getting rich from a war. 

The true costs of a war are so mind-boggling high that hardly anyone finds them believable. Don't worry about it. 

When stirring up the populace for a war, in no case predict & include the costs of the aftermath of a war, which are paid for by citizens for 100 years after the war in the form of medical care & survivor's benefits. As of March 2013, two children of Civil War veterans were still receiving very modest annual payments.  

Ship bodies of fallen soldiers home quietly & quickly disperse them across the country. Hide the most grievously injured.  

 Call veterans "heroes" but keep them so patriotically stirred up by slights both real & imagined that they'll cheer cuts to social service programs without noticing  vets & the V.A. are getting screwed too. The vets of WWI & WWII didn't fall for this scam. Know your history. 

Labels: birthday, holidays