I've not blogged for a while, as you can plainly see. I'm not sure, then, what the driving factor is behind this new post. It could be guilt at having let things slip, or that I've happened upon an evening with nothing to do.
While these are, no doubt, both contributory factors, I had intended to write about an issue that's excercised me for some time
Before I start though, I should make something clear: I know that what I'm about to say makes me sound like a bit of an a***hole. I'm pretty sure that as soon as I've posted, I'll regret not keeping these feelings to myself. But I'm banking on the my zero readership to allow me to use this simply as an opportunity to form my opinions on the issue.
Without further ado, then, this is the article that sparked this (up to now) ramble:
Olympic Tickets offered to UK Armed Forces Members
I've added the link for reference, but in fact the title tells you most of what you need to know.
Basically, 10,000 free tickets for the Olympics have been reserved for people from the Armed Forces. Now, there's no doubt that that's a very nice gesture, but it led me to wonder why they've been singled out for this treat.
This isn't, in any way, an anti-army, or anti-soldier argument. There's no doubting the sacrifices some soldiers have made, or the bravery they all possess in knowing that, at any time, they could be sent to some of the most dangerous places in the world.
It would seem, then, that this donation has been made as an acknowledgement of the public service they've performed. A thank you for their work in the field. And while that may be deserved, I can't help thinking that nurses, doctors, policemen, paramedics, and even teachers might be equally as deserving and, in some cases, worse paid, that the soldiers in receipt of this gesture. And I think it would be hard to argue that their contributions for the good of society are any less significant.
I doubt that these professions will be honoured in the same way, and in this lies my problem. The reason I think the Armed Forces have been singled out is that a false link has been made between sport and war, and it's a link that does justice to neither. War is not sport. War is true horror. It hurts, slaughters, destroys, and scars. It's a stinking, unglamourous mess.
Sport is unscripted theatre. A test of the human body's limits, yes. But the reason it exists and thrives is because it entertains us. Like the best art, it allows us to experience the apparent extremes of emotion in an arena that simply doesn't matter. In that way, it couldn't be more different to war.
And yet a link is increasingly made between the two. It's most prominent in football, not only with Armed Forces day (where troops are invited for free to Premier League grounds) but in the vocabulary of war that's often used to describe incidents in football matches. Just because both are practised, in the majority, by men in their 20s and 30s, doesn't mean they bear comparison.
Of course courage, bravery, and other worthy qualities should be honoured. But I'm not sure soldiers, as a whole, should be singled out when so many people, in so many professions, make huge sacrifices to make life better.
And if they are to be singled out for praise, I only wish it were in some other way - one that doesn't trivialise their work, or leave a popular form of entertainment compared to humanity's most shameful past-time.
While these are, no doubt, both contributory factors, I had intended to write about an issue that's excercised me for some time
Before I start though, I should make something clear: I know that what I'm about to say makes me sound like a bit of an a***hole. I'm pretty sure that as soon as I've posted, I'll regret not keeping these feelings to myself. But I'm banking on the my zero readership to allow me to use this simply as an opportunity to form my opinions on the issue.
Without further ado, then, this is the article that sparked this (up to now) ramble:
Olympic Tickets offered to UK Armed Forces Members
I've added the link for reference, but in fact the title tells you most of what you need to know.
Basically, 10,000 free tickets for the Olympics have been reserved for people from the Armed Forces. Now, there's no doubt that that's a very nice gesture, but it led me to wonder why they've been singled out for this treat.
This isn't, in any way, an anti-army, or anti-soldier argument. There's no doubting the sacrifices some soldiers have made, or the bravery they all possess in knowing that, at any time, they could be sent to some of the most dangerous places in the world.
It would seem, then, that this donation has been made as an acknowledgement of the public service they've performed. A thank you for their work in the field. And while that may be deserved, I can't help thinking that nurses, doctors, policemen, paramedics, and even teachers might be equally as deserving and, in some cases, worse paid, that the soldiers in receipt of this gesture. And I think it would be hard to argue that their contributions for the good of society are any less significant.
I doubt that these professions will be honoured in the same way, and in this lies my problem. The reason I think the Armed Forces have been singled out is that a false link has been made between sport and war, and it's a link that does justice to neither. War is not sport. War is true horror. It hurts, slaughters, destroys, and scars. It's a stinking, unglamourous mess.
Sport is unscripted theatre. A test of the human body's limits, yes. But the reason it exists and thrives is because it entertains us. Like the best art, it allows us to experience the apparent extremes of emotion in an arena that simply doesn't matter. In that way, it couldn't be more different to war.
And yet a link is increasingly made between the two. It's most prominent in football, not only with Armed Forces day (where troops are invited for free to Premier League grounds) but in the vocabulary of war that's often used to describe incidents in football matches. Just because both are practised, in the majority, by men in their 20s and 30s, doesn't mean they bear comparison.
Of course courage, bravery, and other worthy qualities should be honoured. But I'm not sure soldiers, as a whole, should be singled out when so many people, in so many professions, make huge sacrifices to make life better.
And if they are to be singled out for praise, I only wish it were in some other way - one that doesn't trivialise their work, or leave a popular form of entertainment compared to humanity's most shameful past-time.
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