Facing the World at 18

My grandson will graduate from a public school in May, and my daughter, his mom, asked me to write a senior letter for him. He’s been part of my life since he was born, and we’re all very proud of him. But what do I tell him about the world he’s about to enter?

Right off he already knows his life itself has a claim on it by the State. If he fails to register for the draft, he could be sent to prison and fined $250,000. With enlistments falling off and the regime’s insatiable appetite for war, it’s possible his future would be cut short as a conscript fighting impoverished foreigners thousands of miles away, “defending our freedom” while sustaining the revenue flow of the Congressional/Military/Industrial/God-knows-what-else racket.

My grandson is too young to remember Pat Tillman, the NFL safety who in May 2002 turned down a multimillion-dollar contract to join the Army Rangers in Afghanistan. On April 22, 2004 Tillman was killed after being shot in the head three times from friendly arms at a range of less than ten feet, according to Army doctors. His family and other critics charged the military with covering up details of his death until after Tillman’s memorial service. Hardball host Chris Mathews rejected the friendly fire claim, saying the evidence supported murder by Tillman’s fellow soldiers. 

Pat Tillman’s younger brother Kevin, who joined the Army with Pat in 2002, published a blistering article after he was released in 2005, part of which reads:

[Before joining the military, we] spoke about the risks with signing the papers. How once we committed, we were at the mercy of the American leadership and the American people. How we could be thrown in a direction not of our volition. How fighting as a soldier would leave us without a voice… until we got out. 

Much has happened since we handed over our voice:

Somehow, we were sent to invade a nation because it was a direct threat to the American people, or to the world, or harbored terrorists . . . Something like that. . ..

Somehow back at home, support for the soldiers meant having a five-year-old kindergartener scribble a picture with crayons and send it overseas, or slapping stickers on cars, or lobbying Congress for an extra pad in a helmet. . . as if it will protect him when an IED throws his vehicle 50 feet into the air as his body comes apart and his skin melts to the seat. . . .

Somehow the more soldiers that die, the more legitimate the illegal invasion becomes. 

Somehow American leadership, whose only credit is lying to its people and illegally invading a nation, has been allowed to steal the courage, virtue and honor of its soldiers on the ground. . ..

But not to worry — Afghan fighting may become obsolete as drones and tactical nukes replace men shooting at one another with guns and tanks. If nukes become obsolete, my grandson’s only worry might be the sticks and stones used in the war following this one, if anyone is still around to fight it.

My grandson is headed to college in the fall to study mechanical engineering. Will he be indoctrinated by economic theories that claim with irrelevant equations that paper money backed by government guns is the best way to go, even as dollar holders are about to go down for the count following the latest spree of Fed and deficit madness? 

As for voting in government elections, what interest could he have when much of the voting public has no confidence in the integrity of the outcomes? Even if we evolve to counting votes honestly, the choice of candidates in presidential elections amounts to Council on Foreign Relations candidate A versus Council on Foreign Relations’ candidate B — though Donald Trump miraculously slipped past the gatekeepers in 2016.

Fortunately, my grandson’s a self-starter. He shows a good measure of common sense. He shows an ability to learn things on his own. Given a phony narrative of any kind he can unwind it at least far enough to reveal its hollow heart.

No matter what horrors this States-dominated world throws at him I think he’ll find a way to get past them.

My prediction: He and others of his generation will be the surprise winners when the current global tyranny self-destructs.