Five minute free write - the military

The earth shook with the power that rolled along the widened road.

Line after line after line of sleek military machines droved steadily forward. Flags raised high in the air, under the colors of their country they moved. Mottled green, browns, dull gray, pale blue, each engines designed to deliver lethal payloads with endless efficiency.

High above the throaty roar of jets.

Fast, angular, the best that modern science and a rich government could pump out. Death hanging off both wings they waved to the audience, wagging back in forth. Wedge after wedge moved overhead. The symbols of power echoing their mighty calls off of the cities buildings.

The people watched. Awestruck. Afraid.

In the stands. One man alone cheered. Over and over again he clapped, like a small child on Christmas. The military, his military, on parade for all the world to see. The power he held, limitless. The responsibility he carried, weightless.

On and on they rolled.

On and on they sheared through the air. But, from the sides suddenly a small girl slipped underneath the barrier. Noticed not by the troops that kept the crowd at bay she walked to the center of the street.

A small bouquet of hand picked daisies in her hands, she stood in front of the oncoming horde. With sad eyes she raised the flowers and said quietly, but with deep strength. 'Please, stop. For our future. Please, no more.'

---

War.

What is it good for.
Absolutely nothing.

We were supposed to grow up as a species, move on from killing each other over petty differences and made up lines in the dirt. We were supposed to grow together as a civilization and move towards the stars. To move from our childhood into something greater. Instead, we've stayed exactly where we were. How many generations have passed, have been killed, in the name of one cause or another?

Driven by greed, of that there is no doubt.

The industry of war is one of the most profitable, and seemingly endless. Or so they would have us believe. They say that bullets are the only thing that can win the conversation between people who disagree. They use technology to make it quicker, easier, more detached.

From swords and spears we now use drones. Blood used to spray an indelible red ink that scarred forever. Now, point and shoot. Just like a video game. Those at the console unsure of how to feel. Is it a video game, is it real? I know people who've sat at those consoles raining death on people a thousand miles away. Their path to healing from what they've done, even if it was for a believed good, long and arduous.

Why, why, do we continue to kill?

Why do we celebrate death as a god above all others. Some may argue that it is a necessary evil, that we're doing it for good, but, seriously, who are they kidding. That we must kill them before they kill us. But, that is an endless cycle. One that the industry feeds and grows fat off of.

What will it take to get us off this path of murder and death? What will be the lesson that finally shows us that this is not the way. Our course could have been changed long ago, with the dropping of 2 bombs. Instead, that drove us further down this path at an even faster rate. The lust for the power of the atom, the superiority over another, an absolute hammer to bash down any nail.

It will take many generations, many flowers, many lives for us to finally realize that we are better than this.

That the military machine is no longer needed. For a society that can reach up to the stars, and into the deepest oceans, why is it so hard to realize the most basic of facts...we are all human. Sure, there are differences, but none big enough to kill over.

At least that's my opinion.

Thanks for reading! Sorry I got a bit wordy with my close. But I feel that a lot of things our civilization does is stupid, unnecessary, and counterproductive. So when the topic comes up, I ramble.

Hope y'all having a great Sunday!
Michael

Thanks again @mariannewest for your lovely Five minute free write prompt

Leader image courtesy of the Creative Commons

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