U.S. Navy Terrorizes Peaceful San Francisco
Since Thursday or so the Blue Angels have been flying over my city, often really low and really loud. On Friday I actually saw the windows shake by my desk. It is fleet week I believe, so I assume that means a bunch of Navy ships are docked here in some nostalgic practice that harkens back to the carefree years following World War II. I wonder how those year's were for Japan.
At any rate, I used to go to air shows as a kid and was thoroughly bored. I actually sustained my worst injury at an airshow in Corpus Christi, so guess how that happened. I can only see two reasons for enjoying the acrobatics, noise, and dizzying fly-overs of the Angels or other such airplanes. One is the amazement some feel when watching airplanes because of their abilities as flying machines. Flying machines are cool and people who believe this like watching them - kind of like that kid in Empire of the Sun. The second reason is patriotic machismo, or perhaps imperialistic team spirit. When you see those planes flying so fast, and they are so loud you feel kind of scared but assured because you know they are on your side. You get a taste of what those bad guys must feel when they climb out of their caves with their machine guns and see what they're up against. It makes you want to pound your chest and shout "U S A . . . U S A!"
In my case, I'm not usually interested in flying machines, except the really big ones. And being an internationalist who is appalled at America's militarism and its foreign policy, I don't like the Blue Angels and wish they would leave. I hope to gods that my tax dollars aren't paying for those jets.
4 comments:
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Jingoism aside, you must admit there's something primal and enjoyable seeing this breakneck speed. The rush you feel may come from that!
Here's an idea for you, why don't you use the right that all those WWI and WWII fighting folks gave you, and leave this country!! If you think Japan is such a fine place, then move there. Japan brought us in to the war, not vice versa.
I guess that would be the right to travel, which somehow was won during WWI and WWII. Well I don't want to move away from my friends, family and people I care about. So I'd rather not.
But that brings up another reason why people go to air shows - the historical significance of the old flying machines. People like old things, that's why we go to certain museums. But the Blue Angels are the kind of jets that have only been around since like the 80's - and memories of the Cold War just aren't as awe inspiring as defeating Hitler and dropping nuclear bombs on civilians.
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