Eugene B. Sledge
“It was hard to believe that some of our old friends who had wanted so much to return home actually were writing us that they thought of volunteering again for overseas duty. (Some actually did.) They had had enough of war, but they had greater difficulty adjusting to civilians or to comfortable Stateside military posts. We were unable to understand their attitudes until we ourselves returned home and tried to comprehend people who griped because America wasn’t perfect, or their coffee wasn’t hot enough, or they had to stand in line and wait for a train or bus.”
E.B. Sledge, “With The Old Breed: At Peleliu And Okinawa.”
My generation is all about rights. It seems like I’ve heard about rights in one form or another ever since my first day of school. We grew up hearing all about our right to free speech, our right to express ourselves. That’s why we can wear T-shirts with vulgar messages on them in public. That’s why we can get pornography sent directly to our homes instead of driving into rough parts of town to get it.
We apparently have the right to free healthcare and to purchase homes we can’t afford. If anyone dares question those rights, we just look at them and quote Nancy Pelosi, “Are you serious?” We have the right to never be offended, unless you don’t like T-shirts with vulgar messages or the easy availability of pornography. In which case, you are not allowed to infringe on my rights by expressing any kind of opinion that I don’t like.
We have the right to have sex with as many people as we want and to marry anyone we want. We have the right to drag children into that and confuse their natural view of family and anyone who disagrees has no right express that disagreement. Remember? We have the right to never be offended, so keep your opinions to yourself. Your rights end where my rights begin and that means you don’t get to exercise any rights I don’t like.
I’m almost 50 years old and I can’t believe that I have contemporaries that actually believe the garbage I just wrote. But they do. Can you imagine what our children and grandchildren will come to believe? It was not always this way.
The quote at the beginning of this piece is from a book I just finished reading. I heard about it from an HBO miniseries, “The Pacific.” I can’t remember when a book, other than the Bible, has made such an impression on me.
The author of the memoir dropped out of college to join the U.S. Marine Corps. He fought in some of the most hellish battles in history. In his recounting Mr. Sledge pulls no punches. His narrative is graphic, frank and compelling. He talks about the gut wrenching fear of going into battle, the grief, anger and stupor a combat veteran can experience on a minute-by-minute basis while under fire and the nauseating stench and horror of the modern battlefield. But he never talks about his rights.
As I read the book I thought of all the World War II veterans I had ever known: My grandfather, family friends, teachers, etc. I can’t remember any of them getting all exercised over their rights. Now to be sure, they knew they had rights. They cherished them. After all, they had paid a price that I would never have to pay for them. But they didn’t spend a lot of time reminding everyone around them that those rights existed. And they didn’t spend much time finding new rights.
They came home from the war, got educated, got jobs and got to work building the greatest nation in the history of the world. According Mr. Sledge a familiar refrain among his fellow Marines was, “If a country is worth living in, it’s worth fighting for.” So, I can see that they believed the reverse was equally true. If a country is worth fighting for, it’s worth living in.
In the opening passage Mr. Sledge admits that America isn’t perfect. It certainly wasn’t when he came home. There were all the old social problems, racism (a favorite for liberals to drag out), economic troubles, poverty, etc. But he compared these to cold coffee or an inconvenient wait for public transportation. This is not to say the problems weren’t real, but in the grand scheme of things they were the end of the world either. Mr. Sledge had already been faced with that.
Fighting to protect your country and way of life from ruthless dictators who would take both gives you a different perspective on life. Some issues shrink and many of the simple pleasures grow in value.
My generation has paid absolutely nothing for the liberties we enjoy. Our grandfathers and fathers put their lives on the line for us. Even our children are standing up for us on foreign soil. I don’t have any personal friends who have any combat experience. When something costs you nothing, you look for things to value. I believe that is why so many people are inventing rights.
Free speech and life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness are old hat. We’ve always had those. Those are owed to us. Give us something we can call our own. Let me marry whomever or whatever I want. Let me take my sex life and make it a political issue and force you to accept whatever perversion I decide I want to engage in. We have taken up causes simply because we want something to fight for and in the process we have forgotten what a real fight is.
It’s the difference between standing the muck and slime of war and praying you and your buddies make it home in one piece and marching down a street waving a homemade sign because someone hurt your feelings.
By inventing rights and wearing our feelings on our sleeves we demean the memory of those who protected what is really important. We cheapen the country they died for and we make ourselves even smaller in the shadow of the giants who came before us. We owe Mr. Sledge and his generation a debt we can never repay. Let’s honor that generation’s sacrifices by growing up and living lives worthy of them.
Let’s stop inventing rights and celebrate the ones that really matter.
Great post! And I will be buying that book in the near future. I think you have hit on something here, and I think it all came about by the entitlement mentality that has been cultivated by the government over the years. You are right, my generation had it easy compared to past generations and because we have had it so easy I think we sometimes take our freedom for granted.
Thank you Steve.
I’m almost 60 years old and even more appalled!
I still have the “ration book” from my Grandparents which was used during the war. Can you imagine? One is for shoes and food. Just think if today’s generation got a ration book..
“Individual Rights” is an important theme. It is complex and full of moral pitfalls. There is no doubt that we are suffering from “I have the right to” epidemic. Some of the more dangerous indications are terms use now commonly by American politicians to advance their agendas like “social justice” and “moral obligation” when referring to economic and business policies.
Important concepts that we have to be on our guard against their fraudulent use.
Great Post Larry. You actually convinced me to see if I can find it on audio. BTW, how are you doing my friend. I have been praying for you daily. I hope your body and head are starting to recover and heal.
Thanks for your kind words, however I’m not Larry. I did hear from him last night and he is getting better. He is hoping to return to work on Monday. I join you in praying for his continued recovery.
Great post, Michael. This is also a good subject for me to elaborate on libertarian views of the subject, since it differs from the views of many conservatives. Don’t worry, unlike many liberals, I can debate without becoming emtoional, and take criticism without getting pissy.
I see three separate concepts in this piece:
1) RIGHTS, which I define as “that which you possess unto yourself.” So I agree that individuals have the right to have sex with as many people as they want, assuming it is consensual. That does NOT make it moral or a good idea.
2) DUTIES, which are obligations to others. Health care cannot be a “right,” but government can make it a duty by obligating you to contribute to the purchase of health care for another through taxation. Rights and duties are often confused, such as the constitutional “right to counsel,” which, in my view, is more properly expressed as the duty of government to provide counsel.
3) What is most troubling is the interference with morality by governments. It is said that you can’t legislate morality, and while true, the government shouldn’t endorse immorality, either. The younger generation is the most promiscuous in our history, and liberal social advocacy emanating from government and their media henchmen is to blame. I was a latecomer to parenthood (I will turne 43 in March, and my son will turn 4), and I intend to raise him with high moral standards regarding sexual relations, and not to exercise his right to have sex with lots of partners. If schools teach him any morality I find offensive and I begin to lose the battle, he will be home schooled.
I think that the left has tried, and has been successful in turning rights into license. Of course, you can have sex with a pumpkin, and marry a turnip, just don’t speak out against the government, or want to keep fruits of your own labor.
Frankly, I think that some people think that they are free because they can choose between 300 kinds of breakfast cereal.
Excellent points. I have often told people that rights are a bit more fundamental than choosing what style of underwear to wear or what music to listen to.
Excellent post Michael! I think people tend to invent rights because they seek to justify their own self worth. Our grandparents had skin in the game. They understood how fragile freedoms were and how in an instant they could be threatened by an outside force. They also realized that as long as we as a people were informed and grounded in the principles of our constitution you didn’t need to invent new rights.
Excellent post, Michael– you hit on negative rights versus positive rights, the difference being that the latter entitles us to stuff, while the former asks us to simply not to be interfered with.