A Generation... Lost in Space

I caught the tail end of the baby boomer generation. Of late, I’ve noticed the way that patriotism is spinning in the minds of those around me who have been on the same ride. We were still young when the Vietnam war ended. Not quite old enough to really feel the philosophical effects of the war, apart from the angry messages flying on both sides. Any war brings the opportunity for an addled view. On one hand we had people saying that freedom comes at the price of bloodshed, as it always had. On the other hand, we had people telling us that the prize was not freedom; we were laying down our lives for the benefit of ideals that belonged to the greedy buggers who were holding all the cards… and not one of those cards had the faces of the American people on them. Well that was a long time ago. We’ve had a few years to mull things over. We’ve heard the stories of conspiracy and abuse of power from then and now. We’ve heard the songs of the prophets. We may have even considered the possibility that some of the “all you need is love” people were not really full of conviction, but a lung-expanding smoke that made it apathy rather than love for their fellow man that drove them. “Yeah man, we all agree… war is hell… now pass me another joint.” But I have a feeling that heads are clearing. While still holding a view of the great battles that made for great heroes, we are beginning to realize that the things we fought for then, are not the same things we fight for now. It’s no longer a mystery and no longer something we can pretend is just a matter of opinion. We now know that the only thing we’re fighting for is the face of a man. A man who is not content to live in a world that sees him as a blithering idiot. He is a man determined to do what it takes to show proof before the eyes of all the nations that he is a powerful… blithering idiot.