Good afternoon, world!
Yes, I am alive and well. Life, school, fishing and hunting are keeping me very busy these days, and I simply have not felt the need or the will to post anything here.
So, Veteran's Day is approaching, which can be a bit of a touchy subject with me. Why?
- The VA is catastrophically (and some might say irreparably) fucked up, with seemingly another story of gross incompetence or negligence making the news every other week. I won't go into my own experiences with our lovely Veteran Affairs personnel, but saying that my impressions are less than favorable would be a tremendous understatement. And you know what we've done about it? Essentially not a goddamn thing, and I see no change on the horizon, as it's not a glamorous political issue like weed, gay marriage, or war (for reference, I'm not necessarily against any of those things).
- The population of homeless veterans is constantly rising. According to the statisticians over at my favorite department (the VA), in 2010 there were around 76,000 homeless veterans in America, with that number climbing. In addition, veterans aged 18-30 are twice as likely as adults in the general population to be homeless (source: greendoors.org).
- Veterans and service members are offing themselves at a staggering rate, averaging 22-23 veteran suicides per day across the United States, depending on whose numbers you look at. In 2012, more active-duty personnel committed suicide than were lost in combat, despite us still playing a very active role in the Afghanistan conflict at that time.
- The list continues, but I'll truncate it to the key issues for brevity.
Meanwhile, the NFL and its advertisers are throwing millions of dollars away to pay lip service to our nation's veterans. I mean, it's a nice thought, but couldn't that money be used more effectively to actually help people? I have an idea. Instead of kissing our asses for a week and pretending that America actually gives a shit, put your money where your mouth is - donate it to organizations that actually help homeless veterans, or lobbying to gut and rebuild the Department of Veteran Affairs, or to mental health/suicide awareness campaigns... there are many better uses out there (not, I repeat, NOT the wounded warrior project, which has recently become infamous for essentially pocketing the majority of its charitable donations. Look it up).
Anyway. I hope all my fellow vets enjoy your day in whatever way you deem fit. Go get your free meals, no judgment here! I'll be too busy playing Fallout 4 to even get out of my PJs, most likely.
Comments welcome.
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