I have little hope that our no-responsibility/no-accountability government is capable of launching (or administering) a 21st-century war bonds program. But that’s not the only problem.
I’m not sure the public could handle it either.
This is, after all, the same American public that thinks ‘support for the troops’ entails nothing more than putting a yellow-ribbon magnet on your car. These people can’t even make the kind of long-term commitment involved in an adhesive bumper-sticker. Magnets don’t jeopardize your paint job. And magnets can be easily removed should the political winds shift.
…If you’re not enlisted in America’s military, you’re not involved in the war in Iraq. You have neither the obligation, nor the opportunity to contribute to or sacrifice for the war effort. And your president insists that this is the way it should be.
The American public does not today have the character to support a new war bonds effort. (We don’t have the savings, either, since most of us are in debt up to our eyeballs. Our national savings rate is negative — and likely headed down once the housing bubble bursts. But bracket that for now.)
So here’s a modest proposal for a remedial first step: Have the USO start selling “official” versions of those @#&$ “Support the Troops” magnets. Full-sized ones would cost, say, $500. Smaller ones would cost $100. Whenever you spotted someone with one of the unofficial magnets, you’d be justified — even obliged — to mock them as a freeloading, fair-weather patriot until finally they were shamed into putting their money where their tailpipe is. ” (slacktivist via making light)
