fredinator wrote:I've heard several people say on the news that this war and any other war in the middle east cannot go on without some sacrifice from all Americans. It will be interesting to see opinions about this war when all of us are asked to make a sacrifice. I've heard/read the army can only go so far, the economy can only go so far. Hope I'm wrong, but if this does go on and on, how do you all think we can keep it going on and on?
I pulled Fredinator's question from page 2, because I think it's an interesting question and no one (that I read) really addressed it. I don't think many Americans today know what it means to really make sacrifices for the good of the country. That's why we often refer to the generation who fought in WWII as "the greatest generation." When it comes to making overall sacrifices by the general population, Britain during WWII I believe has us beat.
My mom was born in England in 1939. When she was born, her dad was already in the military and off to fight the Germans. My mom's earliest memories are of feeling hungry every night, because there were never enough rations. They only had meat when a neighbor would have an extra rabbit or something from a good hunt. Their main source of vegetables was what they could grow in their garden. My mom does remember stealing vegetables from a local farm with her mom when they were really starving. She also remembers several occasions when her mom didn't eat all day because she didn't want her daughter to go hungry. She also remembers the air raids at night. She said when the sirens went off, everyone put out the lights and drew the black curtains to make themselves invisible to the bombers flying overhead. She and her mom would sleep under the table in the pitch black in their dining room. Luckily, their little town was never bombed. My grandad, I believe came home for good in 1944 or 45. He had a leg injury, so he spent the last few years of his time in the military riding messenger bikes in London.
So, are we ready for that kind of sacrifice? I don't think so. I think the minute we start feeling any pain in our individual pocketbooks regarding this war, the general public will be clamouring for us to get out of there. In terms of actually sacrificing our material items and our food, that will never happen.