In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
THE YOUNG AND THE GUTLESS
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
THE YOUNG AND THE GUTLESS By ROD DREHER
October 2, 2001 -- OUR enemies know what they believe. They're willing to kill for it. And, more importantly, they're willing to die for it. Are the young men and women who may be called on to defend our civilization willing to make the same sacrifice? Anecdotal information cannot conclusively answer that question - thank heavens. If liberty had to depend on most of the young people I spoke to in Washington Square Park the other day, we'd all be answering to Osama by Christmas. "I'm not big on war," says Patrick Mulryan, 21, an aspiring actor. "I'm gay, so I'm not big on the military." Well, the Islamic extremists our military are preparing to attack are not big on gays. In Afghanistan, Osama's Taliban supporters execute gays by crushing them under demolished walls. Recent college graduate Philip Rosenbloom, 21, is also unwilling to put his life on the line to defend his country, which he says "to some extent, has been something of a bully." NYU student Jonathan Chen, 20, thinks that war is wrong, wrong, wrong. But as for terrorists, Chen insists that "we have to take care of them." "We," but not "he"? Does Chen mean that other men have to be willing to die to protect his freedom? Yes. Some people are born for that purpose, he says. "There are people who are more willing to fight, who have the mindset of killing people," Chen says. "Not everybody is meant to fight." Chen has "hopes and dreams" of becoming a filmmaker, and he doesn't want to "endanger" them, he says. Presumably, those brave firefighters who went to their deaths in those burning towers to save the lives of strangers had no hopes and dreams worthy of concern. Perhaps, men and women who are willing to die to defend Chen's right to pursue his hopes and dreams have none themselves. NYU student Justin Tables, 19, saw one of the towers collapse in front of his eyes. Still, he is unwilling to risk his life to fight the terrorists because "this is all [America's] fault anyway." Jason Toledo, 19, is the only draft-age man I can find who would be willing to die for his country in the coming war. He says he's not enthusiastic about fighting, but he would go if America called. Toledo, an NYU student from Atlanta, says he's wondered a lot if Americans have the backbone to fight such a dedicated enemy. The terrorist-themed Bruce Willis film "The Siege" has been on his mind. "There's a saying in that movie that the most committed wins. That's scary, because we're not about causes here. We're about individualism," he says. Toledo cautions me not to take the young men in Washington Square as representative of the whole country. "Man, we're in the Village. I don't know anyone who would go, even if there were a draft," he says. Still, you have to figure that you could have gone into Washington Square Park in December 1941 and found plenty of liberal young men who were willing to go fight Tojo and Hitler, neither of whom had done what Osama bin Laden did: mount a sneak attack that murdered more than 6,000 in New York, live on TV. That was then. This is now. Maybe the Muslim fanatics are right, and we in the free world have become decadent beyond all saving. God help us. We may soon see. e-mail: dreher@nypost.com http://www.nypost.com/commentary/5487.htm
October 2, 2001 -- OUR enemies know what they believe. They're willing to kill for it. And, more importantly, they're willing to die for it. Are the young men and women who may be called on to defend our civilization willing to make the same sacrifice? Anecdotal information cannot conclusively answer that question - thank heavens. If liberty had to depend on most of the young people I spoke to in Washington Square Park the other day, we'd all be answering to Osama by Christmas. "I'm not big on war," says Patrick Mulryan, 21, an aspiring actor. "I'm gay, so I'm not big on the military." Well, the Islamic extremists our military are preparing to attack are not big on gays. In Afghanistan, Osama's Taliban supporters execute gays by crushing them under demolished walls. Recent college graduate Philip Rosenbloom, 21, is also unwilling to put his life on the line to defend his country, which he says "to some extent, has been something of a bully." NYU student Jonathan Chen, 20, thinks that war is wrong, wrong, wrong. But as for terrorists, Chen insists that "we have to take care of them." "We," but not "he"? Does Chen mean that other men have to be willing to die to protect his freedom? Yes. Some people are born for that purpose, he says. "There are people who are more willing to fight, who have the mindset of killing people," Chen says. "Not everybody is meant to fight." Chen has "hopes and dreams" of becoming a filmmaker, and he doesn't want to "endanger" them, he says. Presumably, those brave firefighters who went to their deaths in those burning towers to save the lives of strangers had no hopes and dreams worthy of concern. Perhaps, men and women who are willing to die to defend Chen's right to pursue his hopes and dreams have none themselves. NYU student Justin Tables, 19, saw one of the towers collapse in front of his eyes. Still, he is unwilling to risk his life to fight the terrorists because "this is all [America's] fault anyway." Jason Toledo, 19, is the only draft-age man I can find who would be willing to die for his country in the coming war. He says he's not enthusiastic about fighting, but he would go if America called. Toledo, an NYU student from Atlanta, says he's wondered a lot if Americans have the backbone to fight such a dedicated enemy. The terrorist-themed Bruce Willis film "The Siege" has been on his mind. "There's a saying in that movie that the most committed wins. That's scary, because we're not about causes here. We're about individualism," he says. Toledo cautions me not to take the young men in Washington Square as representative of the whole country. "Man, we're in the Village. I don't know anyone who would go, even if there were a draft," he says. Still, you have to figure that you could have gone into Washington Square Park in December 1941 and found plenty of liberal young men who were willing to go fight Tojo and Hitler, neither of whom had done what Osama bin Laden did: mount a sneak attack that murdered more than 6,000 in New York, live on TV. That was then. This is now. Maybe the Muslim fanatics are right, and we in the free world have become decadent beyond all saving. God help us. We may soon see. e-mail: dreher@nypost.com http://www.nypost.com/commentary/5487.htm
Comments
you may cut me off in traffic with your little car but you can't outrun my .223's !
She was only a fisherman's daughter,But when she saw my rod she reeled.
Better to have and not need, than need and not have.[This message has been edited by SP Tiger (edited 10-05-2001).]
Freedom is not free,what have YOU done to support it?
Better to have and not need, than need and not have.
She was only a fisherman's daughter,But when she saw my rod she reeled.
IF YOU DON'T LIKE MY RIGHTS - GET OUT OF MY COUNTRY (this includes politicians)
"START THE BALL ROLLING THERE, TECTOR"