Rudyard Kipling"
āWhen you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldierā
General Douglas MacArthur"
āWe are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.ā
āIt is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.ā āOld soldiers never die; they just fade away.
āThe soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.ā
āMay God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .ā āThe object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
āNobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
āIt is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
COMMENT | We're doomed if we don't abandon political apathy By Sharyl Priyanka Selvaraj
Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Malaysiakini : Theyād use those lines to shut down the conversation, which often
works. Their uncle at the dinner table or their colleagues at work would
respect that response and switch instead to commiserating about the
latest episode of Masterchef or the latest gossip at the office.
It's
perfectly understandable all around. The person who changes the topic
is acting on their native instinct to keep the peace. They have to see
their uncle at every family gathering and collaborate with those
colleagues daily.
The person who shuts the conversation down feels
frustrated by the dog and pony show that is politics and by a history
of feeling disconnected from and perhaps disenfranchised by the
political elite.
Claims of not needing to pay attention to or
participate in the political process have become a reflexive non-action
that is widely accepted in our culture.
Many people don't even know who their representatives are or how the electorate process works.
Some of them will even wear this ignorance as a badge of honour.
They
proclaim their expertise in sports or pop culture as if politics were a
fluffy elective or extraneous hobby that can be plucked from a buffet
of topics and discarded without consequence.
āApolitical peopleā
Many, if not most of us, are overwhelmed by our world, which is more
than understandable. How do you get through school, focus on your job,
or even just socialise with your friends when the entire world seems to
be falling apart?
When the country is in crisis, life can seem impossibly hard to deal with.
Here's
the thing: these so-called "apolitical people" need to know that
political life does not exist in a vacuum. Not everyone has the luxury
of just ignoring politics.
If you're of a certain race, you worry about not getting that one job offer because of the colour of your skin.
If you're undocumented, you worry about the authorities arresting or assaulting you.
If
you're a woman, you worry about reporting your boss for sexual
harassment or even an assault to human resources because no one believes
sexual assault and harassment are that "common" of an issue.
If you live in poverty, you worry if you'll have anything to eat the next meal.
If you're marginalised in any way of your life, you worry about these issues and more each day.
If
you're not in a position of power, you can't afford to not be political
because politics affect every day of your life. Your right to life as a
person is threatened every day.
āKeep upā
You
have to keep up with new laws and policies; you have to keep up with
who's running for office and where their stance is regarding how they
view you as a person.
You have to keep up with advocating for
yourself and constantly proving that you're worth as much as anyone else
every single day of your life.
It's exhausting but not optional because it's your livelihood.
People
who choose to be completely unaware of politics are in positions of
privilege. You may not be privileged in every aspect of your life, but
you are privileged enough to write off social issues as "political"
differences.
You can easily ignore how people have no rights or
are losing the rights you take advantage of every day because politics
don't affect you personally.
But here's the thing: politics does affect you and living in denial won't make that go away.
In
truth, you can't separate yourself from politics any more than you can
separate your organs from your body. You can choose to ignore caring for
your body, but that doesn't make it go away, and it will lead to severe
health problems.
I think, on our 65th Merdeka, it's abundantly clear that Malaysians can no longer afford to be ānot that politicalā.
