Activist Post
It has long been known that there are more veterans who end up committing suicide than there are who actually die on the battlefield. This fact has been so unsettling for many people in the mainstream because it exposes the true nature of what war is all about. When the people on the front lines are so depressed about what they have seen and what they have been forced to do, it opens up a whole list of questions that people in the US have been running from for over a decade.
As of last month, 270 active-duty service members killed themselves this year alone, and half were from the Army. Instead of targeting the underlying psychological issues and traumatic memories that are pushing veterans towards suicide, the establishment has been putting forward false solutions that just cover up the symptoms, instead of addressing the causal factors behind the depression.
As suicides continue to rise in 2012, the Defense Department officials are developing a suicide prevention campaign, part of which will encourage soldiers to give up their weapons. Under current legislation when troops are identified as high risk, commanders have the authority to confiscate their service weapons, but they can not ask them to hand over their personal firearms.
These new policies that have been suggested by Congress and the Pentagon are hoping to change that, giving commanders and law enforcement the ability to confiscate their personal arms. This is by far the most offensive and alarming attempt by the US government to lower veteran suicides, but it is not the first time that they have put forward a solution to this problem which misses the point entirely. Earlier this year the US Army awarded a scientist at the Indiana University School of Medicine $3 million to develop a nasal spray that eclipses suicidal thoughts.
The underlying problem here, the bottom line, is that human beings are not cut out for the kind of carnage that plays out on the battlefield. Despite the cultural mythology surrounding human nature, and the dark history of subjugation that has plagued humanity for centuries, violence has a very traumatic impact on the human consciousness. The human nature debate is something that I cover frequently in my work; I even released an article last week reporting on recent scientific studies which added more evidence to back up the argument for a peaceful human nature.
In my hardback book Alchemy of the Modern Renaissance I give a more in-depth description of how post traumatic stress disorder is an indication that human beings are not built for lives of violence. In chapter 12, "Inhuman Nature" I discuss how:
war is the most inhumane and unnatural phenomena on the planet, yet due to endless propaganda and indoctrination it is revered as honorable in most cultures. Dehumanizing programs such as the American 'boot camp' are used by governments to remove any traces of empathy, compassion or free thought from the minds of potential soldiers. During these programs the military conditions soldiers into accepting violence through imposing racist and hateful ideologies. This kind of psychological manipulation coupled with the horror of war often results in what doctors describe as post-traumatic stress disorder, a severe emotional condition in which extreme circumstances cause severe depression and panic attacks. If violence was a natural part of the human condition then soldiers would not be coming home from war with post-traumatic stress disorder.Veteran suicide is a serious problem, that certainly deserves a great deal of attention. However, these solutions that have been put forward by the establishment are nothing more than band-aids that overlook the causal factors behind the depression. These people are suffering through a very traumatic time in their life, where they need to work through their issues and face their demons head on before coming to terms with what they have experienced. To cover up these issues and act like these veterans have no good reason to be depressed is to bury them even deeper in their trauma and increase their risk of depression and suicide.
J.G. Vibes is the author of an 87 chapter counter culture textbook called Alchemy of the Modern Renaissance and host of a show called Voluntary Hippie Radio. He is also an artist with an established record label and event promotion company that hosts politically charged electronic dance music events. You can keep up with his work, which includes free podcasts, free e-books & free audiobooks at his website www.aotmr.com.
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14 comments:
Aren't a majority of suicides by pharmaceuticals? Let's take those away.
If the govt was truly concerned with the welfare of the vets(I'm a Viet vet), they wouldn't put them in harms way in the first place. The real reason the feds don't want guns in vets hands is to protect the govt from said vets WTSHTF
They will play hell trying to get my guns away from me, a Vietnam Veteran. Not gona happen, sorry!
You have to be mentally ill and/or extraordinarily stupid to join the US military these days to begin with.
The problem is obvious!
The US citizen is, from birth to death, conditioned to be passive. The citizen must be afforded a strong argument to overcome this schooled imperative.
What we are witnessing in GI suicide is the confusion, regret, and guilt they associate with their actions and the conscious and/or the subconscious realization that the "strong argument" is a lie.
The US military is not noble; it is a business.
The US military entices its members into service using patriotism, pelf and perquisites.
The US military is a mercenary force.
The US military stifles/persecutes the performance of its members in deference to "correctness".
The US military is being used contrary to its Constitutionally stated mission.
The US military is controlled by ....?
Now what?
what's LUCIS THUST have to do with it????
The government is scared of Vets fighting back when they try to take complete control!
They could care less about theirs or any of our welfare!!
Typical bass-ackwards US profitize first philosphy. Emphasize the cure, but dont expose the cause. Like cancer, "find the cure, oh my baby" but "god dont let em find the cause, we'll lose market share".
So w vets, dont expose the cause, endless wars empire n war profiteering for the military industrial complex causing mental n physical abuse to the soldiers, just find a lame cure, ya guns, thats it, guns, thats politically correct n we still make money. How pathetic.
I agree that veteran suicide demonstrates how unnatural and unnacceptable war is. But it is necessary to deal with causal (ie preventing war)issues but also the instrumental causes: in almost all cases, veterans shoot themselves. A gun makes suicide as easy as a computer click...it is the perfect instrument for the impulsive suicide.
Therefore, banish war, keep guns from suicidal people (this is one case where taking the guns really is in the person's best interest), and which is most likely to take place. We can struggle against war, but we know we cannot banish it. We can take guns from suicidal people, whose minds have been destroyed by the culture of guns.
In the US, each year, 15,000 people commit suicide with guns. That is 6000 more than are murdered with guns. It is absurd to speak of "2nd Amendment Rights" when a mentally damaged veteran (or anyone)is suicidal. You might as well pull the trigger.
Dale
Dale,
You seem suicidal. Hand over your guns NOW!
US Suicidal Tendencies Detection and Prevention Commander
Dale,
I agree with Anonymous 1:16 AM. You're not a "mentally damaged veteran", are you?
Geez, Dale. Chill out a bit.
If they get the power to confiscate a soldiers personal arms, how long before they can confiscate everyone's?
An unarmed population are called "slaves" or "serfs". The second amendment is the only thing keeping us out of slavery.
Don't be fooled, this is not about preventing suicides.
L. Gore
There is a not difficult to figure out and very evil and sinister 'agenda' behind this sudden desire to confiscate the private weapons of US Military men. Suicide prevention is only the cover story.
The real reason is that our criminal ruling elites are getting increasingly worried and nervous about the possibility of the US Military deciding they've had enough of all these neo-con wars of criminal, unprovoked aggression that Israel is demanding that the USA fight for them - and deciding that its time to storm the US Congress and arrest every last treasonous Israel toe sucking cockroach in the place and then start having treason trials, swift convictions and long overdue executions of those found guilty of High Treason.
1.) If a veteran is suicidal, he does not need a gun to kill himself. What's next, locking them up in white padded rooms with straight jackets? They can still try to swallow their tongues. So obviously, Congress is not trying to prevent suicide, they are preparing for an uprising.
2.) How does it make sense that a country that advertises the military as a means of honor and fighting for FREEDOM, then asks you to give up your freedom upon coming home? Where is the honor in that?
3.) If boot camps are designed to prepare a soldier for war, maybe returning soldiers should go through sensitivity training camp on their return home. Rainbows and unicorns people. Make these guys super happy. Give them 24/7 counseling and care. Allow their families to visit. They need more decompression time. Let them stay as long as they want, and let them know they are free to return at any time as well. Problem is you already served your corporate masters and they throw you out like the garbage and tell you to man up and find a job.
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