I don't support the troops - and neither do you.

You've offered a suggestion for reducing the number of wars not an explanation of how financing the war with taxes rather than credit is a display of support for the troops.

Then let me type slower: while the troops are fighting, the citizens at home should be paying. That is the way that the people at home can support the troops. Empty gestures like wearing flag pins or saying "thank you" to a uniformed service member is supporting the troops in much the same way that waving a twenty-dollar bill at a poor person is charity. Fighting wars on credit not only spreads the sacrifice inequitably, but it also doubly burdens the veterans who come home and are faced with paying the bill for the war that those at home were too scared or contented or self-righteous to fight.

lots of people over the many years of these wars pointed out that there was no meaningful shared sacrifice going on, to the point that more than a few considered this to be the major threat to Bush the younger's legacy.

finn is being obtuse.

Well, your point about creating an economic mess for the troops to return home to has some credence, but your assessment of a simple "thank you" as being an empty gesture is cynical and just not backed up by my experience.

I should point out that I don't say "thank you" enough to our men and women in uniform but as I spend a lot of time in airports I see many instances of it, and in every single case the service man or woman seems genuinely appreciative. Obviously I can't read their minds but I can read their faces and I have to believe that if it was an empty gesture as you suggest I would have read resentment in at least one of the faces.

In addition I have asked the seven people in my family who serve and everyone of them have told me they appreciate a simple "thank you" very much.

Many of the soldiers I have spoken with tend to perceive expressions of opposition to the wars in which they serve or have served as a lack of support for them. Some recognize that a person can can oppose a war and still have high regard for " the troops" who fight in them, but they still take it personally, because they don't want to think that they are risking their lives in a war the folks back home don't support.

Obviously, this is purely anecdotal evidence and I don't offer it as broad proof, but it certainly informs my opinion.

Interestingly enough, not one of the folks I've spoken with suggested that they would feel supported more if taxes back home were increased to pay for their
war.

The notion of shared sacrifice is probably of greater importance to a conscripted military than an all volunteer force.

I will acknowledge that in order to provide these men and women with the greater financial security they deserve, the government requires more cash.

I prefer, however, to see that cash recognized through cutting spending rather than raising taxes. Only someone who believes the government can never spend less than it does believes that increased taxes are the only answer.

Then we must have very different ideas of what it means to "support" the troops. If by "support" you mean "making the troops feel good about themselves," then I suppose saying "thank you" to them would be appropriate, although even by that low standard it pales in comparison to other, more tangible forms of appreciation. It is the rare employee, for instance, who will take a few "thank yous" in preference to a paycheck. I, on the other hand, don't equate "support" with gestures that are as cost-free to the giver as they are ultimately worthless to the recipient.


My dad served in the armed forces, and as much as he might have appreciated it when people thanked him for his service, it was a damn sight better that the taxpayers of Illinois supported him by heavily subsidizing the medical care that he received in a state-run veterans' facility, something that he couldn't have afforded even with a million thank yous in his pocket.


That's a shame, because those who oppose unjust wars are the people who are supporting the troops the most. Perhaps if war protesters said "thank you" more often, those mopey soldiers would get over it.


You need to expand your circle of acquaintances.


It's of greater importance to a democracy. The type of military is immaterial.