Guys,
Some things have more impact on people than others.
War is an evil, cruel business, ask anyone who's ever been involved in war and they'll tell you straight up.
This planet has extreme diversity - cultural, political, idealogical, and religious. In a perfect world, everyone would play nice and we'd all hold everyone else's ideals, culture, politics, and religion with equal regard. Unfortunately, that's not the case, and we start wars to solve those differences, be it 'good wars' or 'bad wars'. I will let you look back on history and determine which were good and which were bad.
In each of those wars, there are winners, losers, and countless who suffer in one way, shape, or form. In times of war, people, including civilians, die. People dying in POW or concentration camps suffer the same fate as people who die in fire raids, from roadside bombs, or any other variety of senseless killing that we, as humans, do. That's not to say that any one is worse than any other - they are all equally terrible. But the end result, sadly, is that people die, both combatants and civilians, innocent and guilty.
We can look back on history and cite hundreds of examples of the lingering feelings people have towards their opponents...at one time, we hated the British, the Germans, the Italians, the Japanese, and now they're allies. At one time the Russians hated the Japanese, the French hated the British, the Spanish hated the French AND the English. And now, we get along, for the most part.
There is a fine line between being a military historian/enthusiast and being a war-monger, especially in the eyes of individuals who do not hold the same interests as you.
As a student of military history, I am fascinated by the equipment, the technology, and the art of war, but I abhor killing and violence. Yes, they tend to go hand-in-hand, but the beauty of being a historian is that you study the past in an effort to educate the present, to preserve the future.
This is game...no one gets killed, maimed, or scarred emotionally like actual soldiers and civilians do in time of war. When we auger in with one wing shot off, we respawn and start over...our next of kin doesn't get a telegram or a visit from an Army chaplain.
During times of war, every country can be accused of doing something that's unjust, be it an atomic bomb, fire bombing, killing civilans, genocide, or any number of things that we as a culture have deemed outside of the rules of gentlemanly combat.
Glorifying those people that perpetrated those crimes does no one any good, in fact, it brings a negative light onto all of us, even those of us who simply like to fly virtual airplanes and be armchair generals.
I hope that people will read this and understand that I'm not trying to be political, the moral majority, or anything like that. I'm hoping that people will read this and understand that everything we do, either as a nation or a single individual, has an effect on someone, somewhere. It could be an all-out war fought by nations, or it could be acting like a complete arse here on the forum and insulting someone, that causes someone else to be hurt, offended, or belittled.
This is HTC's show. They make the rules, we only rent space here. It's not a democracy, it's an autonomy, and its there's and there's alone.
Being obnoxious, arrogant, or just plain ignorant, serves no one. Making enemies doesn't make you a better person, neither does being a troll, or feeding the trolls. Everyone is a tough-guy when he's behind a keyboard and anonymous. But one of these days, we're going to hear about a squeeker-troll somewhere ticking off the wrong person, and it's going to be all over the news. Think about it...imagine what could happen if you get the wrong person mad at you.
Ok, I'm off my soap-box. Hope I didn't tick anyone off. Chances are I did...
Jeff
