What would the Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook look like in the 1950's?

[AvgGuyIA]

And there are certain things I believe, that I never say on this forum, even anonymously, because they are beyond the barrier our society has imposed on what is acceptable for an American to believe.

I will give one example, and I expect to catch serious heat for it:

I believe that some veterans, even when they are conservatives who bash welfare recipients, constantly have their own hand out for their own kind of welfare, which they believe they have earned through their service, but which still comes out of the pocket of the taxpayer.

Veterans get free healthcare for life, free college education, 0% down home loans, and life-time pensions after 20 years, and all of it is very expensive.

Also, some veterans have a feeling of entitlement that irks me, as if their service makes them "super-citizens" with more right to an opinion about war than those who did not serve. If a non-veteran favors a war, veterans may call him a "chicken-hawk." If a non-veteran opposes a war, veterans may despise him as a coward. I am not saying all veterans are like this, but enough. That is why I rarely start a conversation about any of our many wars, because I don't want veterans piling on me.

The reason I am mentioning this as an example is that it is considered un-American and downright unpatriotic to not kiss veteran/serviceman ass every time they show up in uniform. When they show up in uniform, we are expected to thank them for their service. When we see them in uniforms at the airport, we are expected to applaud. If we don't do this, they get upset that we are ungrateful for the dangers and sacrifices they endured.

I am grateful. But I no longer think that we are fighting all these wars for "freedom" or even to fight terrorism anymore. I think we're fighting these wars because we got into them, and we have no clue how to get out. The people who run our government, through sheer incompetence, continue to send men and women to fight these wars because they have lost any concept that there might be alternatives. And under American supervision, the countries we invaded have cracked down on Christians and driven them out, Islam has become more radicalized and divided against itself, and Afghanistan has become the number one source of heroin in the world. Also, in Afghanistan, our troops are under strict orders to allow Afghan officers not to interfere when they molest little boys.

So what are we fighting for? Christian persecution? Islamic extremism and civil war? The opium trade? Child molesters? We are fighting for all these things, and in the process a lot of American corporations are making a big profit while American boys and girls lose their lives and limbs.

Are veterans to blame for any of this? In a way, they are. They've been there, so they know how fucked up the situation really is, but I don't see enough of them speaking out about it. We now have many thousands of combat veterans and the way I see it, they should all be doing their damndest to stop these fucked up wars any way they can.

What got me really going on this topic is that the Marines tried to recruit my son when he turned 18-years-old. The Marines promised him they would make a man out of him, but in my opinion they would turn him into the kind of man that is no longer my son. My son is a gentle soul, who has never lifted a hand of violence against anyone in his entire life, or spoken a harsh word about anyone. He always finds the good in everyone, and is friends with people that very few other people would give the time of day to. He is my son, and I love him more than any other person in the world, even my wife and daughters. I do not want the Marines to turn him into a killer, and I do not want him to kill. Also, I have devoted 20 years of my life to raising him, and I do not want to hand him over to the government so they can get him killed or maimed in a war that I believe is stupid, and then spit his maimed or dead body back to me so I can pick up the pieces. And also, there is PTSD. It seems that almost everyone who comes back from these wars has PTSD. I do not want my son to suffer like that.

Am I selfish? Am I unpatriotic? Am I un-American? You can call me all of those things. I just want my son to live, and keep his arms and legs, and to be always happy. Him going in the military goes against all these goals, and for what? A stupid medal that I can pin to his picture after he is dead? No, I'm not foolish enough to think that's enough consolation for a stupid death in a stupid war fighting for bad people who don't deserve our help.

So I talked my son out of joining the Marines, and now he has a civilian job doing tech support for a console game company. And if all goes well, he will live a long and healthy, and happy life.

Now you may bash at me, but I regret nothing.

Has anyone ever told you that you have a talent for brevity?

I hate reading. Make your point in 5 sentences or else I scroll down to the next post.

 

[AvgGuyIA]

I don't think my comment was stupid, so I'm not going to retract it.

There was a Veteran's Day when we put up the American flag, and a deranged little fellow knocked on the door, showed me his Vietnam service ribbon, and thanked me for putting up the flag. I'm pretty sure we didn't even realize it was Veteran's Day, because at the time we just had our American flag up every day.

But this guy was fishing for something, a compliment maybe, or a thank you for his service. It was obvious to me that he was a strung-out druggie, so maybe his service in Vietnam was the only thing he had accomplished in his life to be proud of.

Anyway, I was working on something, or I was on the phone, so I didn't have the time to give this veteran the pat on his back he so desperately wanted. So I distractedly said, "You're welcome," and shut the door in his face.

I haven't always resented veterans, but this was the day it started. This guy knocked on the door and wanted me to thank him for serving in a war that had nothing to do with me, and which we lost, causing the loss of millions of Vietnamese and Cambodian lives. While I supported the war while it was happening, I realize now it is only out of spite for the unwashed Communist hippies that opposed it. Like Afghanistan and Iraq, Vietnam was a stupid, stupid war, and our government did not allow our country to win it. The Communists played us like fools in that war, and I resent our stupid government for allowing our country to be played like fools. I feel bad for the guys who had to go fight that stupid war, but if one of them knocks on my door demanding gratitude, I'm not inclined to entertain that demand.

Did this man get upset at you?

No, he did not. At least I don't think so. After I closed the door in his face, I never saw him again, even though he lived in my neighborhood.

Nowadays, I don't fly an American flag at my home. I don't even own an American flag. I don't know why, but the American flag no longer has the same effect on me that it once did. When Ronald Reagan got elected, and they played the National Anthem, and showed the American flag on TV, Reagan cried tears of joy, and I cried with him.

But those days are over for me. I have grown much more cynical as I got older. Everything I once believed in was dashed in 2008, when I lost my business, my home, and almost my marriage in the market crash caused by the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Up until that point, I believed that the people who run the country basically were competent and knew what they were doing. When I found out they were forcing banks to make bad loans to people with bad credit, then bundling the mortgages to sell to investors on Wall Street, I lost all faith in the system, and the insiders who run it.

I don't believe the insiders are all working on a vast conspiracy to screw the American people. I just think they're incompetent, and don't know what the hell they are doing, as proven by the fact that the economy hasn't really recovered that much since the crash eight years ago.

Are you looking for applause? Here let me start it... [clapper on] clap, clap, clap, clap [clapper off]

 

[JimBowie1958]

The most common incurable sexually transmitted disease is Herpes, second most common is HPV.- no call for quarantine.

Are they deadly diseases? lol, straw man and limp wristic to boot.

Try to keep up dear.