Sacrifice

As a soldier I am used to sacrifice. I have sacrificed a lot over the years, and there is more on the way as I have another 10 years left before i retire. I have learned first hand all the sacrifices that must be made as a soldier serving one's country.

I spend 20 years serving my country sacrificing time with family, and friends. Missing kids being born, missing holidays, and birthdays. watching friends killed, and injured. with all that and my 20 years of service to my country I get a pension that will just pay for my house payments.

On the other hand the people that we elect into office sacrifice nothing and get paid like 6 figures yearly, and vote yearly on a cost of living raise. Now i don't get to vote on anything concerning my pay. How is it that we allow these people to vote on their pay and retirement and benefits. When they sacrifice nothing and yet they can retire after one term with a wonderful pension. They get paid extremely well while they are in office, and by the time they get out they have the connection to get a very good job if they want it.

Now on to the reason I labeled this post the way i did. I read a very good book that i think has the right idea. That book is Starship Troopers by Robert Neinlin. Now its nothing like the movie, where its about the war with the bugs, the book is about politics. More importantly its about the belief that only those who have sacrificed for their country have the right to decide its future. What that means is that if you have not served in the military you do not have the right to vote or hold public office. Now i am behind that belief 100%.

With the current system broken Politicians spend more time wheeling and dealing and making things better for them. The current state of the economy and the fact that they have not voted to stop giving their over paid salary a raise shows that they are not willing to sacrifice for their country. With an economy in the toilet you would think they could sacrifice a little for their country, I guess not. Now they may choose to do this later on and if they do i will post another blog applauding them for that action.

My belief is that if we had soldiers who understood sacrifice and duty to ones country that made the decisions we would not be in the fix we are in now. Those soldiers understand how to make the diffuicult decision when they have to for the good fo the country. The people that have not served seem to forget that.

Its my opinion that we can revamp the current system and put people in charge that are willing to make that sacrifice and make the decisions that need to be made. If you dont like this idea then maybe you should join the military and serve your country. If you are not willing to sacrifice for your country how can you say you should decide the course your country should take. If you dont have the courage to serve you dont have the courage to make the hard decisions. Just my opinion.