I've been thinking a lot about violence and war lately. For various reasons the past year has made it all the more real to me.
Firstly, my elder sister is a member of the Royal Australian Navy. She'll kill me if I say too many details here, but when she joined it was a rather unexpected descision, at least from my point of view. She did incredibly well in her HSC, had a pick of any courses she wanted to do. And she picked the Navy. She's lived away from home for the past year, and is about to go away again. We used to be really close, but something changes when one of the people you were closest to in the world admits they would be prepared to shoot to kill someone. That's putting it really really simplistically of course, but it's one of the things I think about.
One of the most poignant experiences of last year for me was going to the ANZAC day dawn service in Martin place. Now, I'm not patriotic in the least. I don't agree with the concept of going to war, and think the UN is the greatest idea we've ever had (admittedly it's flawed, but we can change that). However, I went to the dawn service. I'd been before, but something occured last year. I realised that my descendants, or even I, could be standing there mourning their aunt, great aunt or big sister. Which brought it home.
Then comes the Iraq war. I think for someone my age it's one of the defining moments of our adolescence, much like September the 11th. It's the war I grew up with, and one I fiercely oppose. I have studied the causes, and why the US needed to go in. I agree that an intervention needed to occur. What I object to is the large scale of the war, and the simple lack of planning. It should not take 4-5 years to dispose a dictator. I don't know what the solution is, and we surely need to find one, but I do know that (with hindsight) it was probably the worst way to go into Iraq. It also further hits home when you realise that your sister could be fighting in it, depending on what the current federal government does.
There's a lot more to elaborate on this subject, and I will soon.
2 comments:
Hey Bec,
I'm sorry me joining the Navy has changed things so much, and I'm sorry it seemed like such a suprise that I decided to join up.
The ADF isn't just for kids who drop out of highschool at year 10. We need smart leaders for the future, so oour Defence Force won't go the way of the Americans and some of the woeful decisions they've made.
I know that me joining the Navy takes me away from the family, but it's the right job for me. I couldn't ever sit behind a desk for my whole career. I need to get out, be in different places, see the world in my own way. And in this job I get to give something back to my country.
I've got the guts to stand up and defend my country, defend my family, defend the people I love. I will also stand up for all the people who don't like me, all the people who deride my choices (and I'm not including you in that Bec ... that refers to people like the student at UNSW who called us "slaves to the system"). Someone has to do it.
I'm sorry, Bec. I don't want my choices to push us apart. I realise that you may think there is no choice, but I hope not. If it makes you feel any better, if I really did have to shoot someone, it would be terrible. But I am smart enough to know when it is actually required. It will be in defence of my nation, the place where my family lives, and the men, women and children of this nation.
Hi, I live in the US (Wisconsin to be exact).I was just wondering what it was like for you guys in Australia when Sept. 11th happened.I never though that other people might have cared/been affected by it outside of the United States.I remember it being all over the news here that day (I'm pretty sure I was in 7th grade that year).And we watched it in all of our classes, and I remember feeling incredibly upset, even though no one close to me was involved in it.
ps. I found your blog through the ravelry teen blogger group:)
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