By Rubicon w/ Sean Griobhtha
Sean rarely gets too angry or flustered to write, but the subject of today’s article makes his blood boil, and mine (if you want to read what pissed him off, here); however, he has been a great help to me, so I will endeavor to be a great help to him.
Let me start by relating a story from training. This training occurred at my second base on my path toward becoming a military Scout. The subject of the training: Tactics, Optical Manipulation, and Evasion. Many of these classes had heavy reading material in addition to field work. During some training much of a week may be inside the classroom reading and being tested on the reading; the instructor wanted to KNOW that we comprehended the material before going into the field to practice it. The import of the reading was quite serious — absolute life and death. There were ~dozen men in the class, and the instructor and his assistant. The instructor had no patience, whatsoever, for those who wouldn’t read. He actually cared whether we could stay alive or not.
Young men (18+) often fail to be fully aware of the seriousness of their situation and status, rather being playful, joking, and overconfident. Some young men fail to read properly, comprehend, and make themselves fully present and aware; preferring to engage their muscles now before engaging their brain. At least half the class suffered from this disease of youth (but as you’ll see later, fully grown men and women still suffer from this ailment).
More than once, students would get up from a test or quiz and approach the instructor. They would ask a question only to receive an impatient sigh and look from the instructor. The instructor would listen to them explain why they didn’t know what they were supposed to know, letting the student blather at some length; then he would pull out his wooden spoon and show them the back of it. The student would invariably ask what that meant. The instructor would turn the spoon around and the student would see written on the face, “It’s in the book, Nimrod!” Of course the student would protest, “I didn’t see anything about it” and the instructor would shove the face of the spoon in front of the student’s face, then put it away and shoo the student away. The student now understanding that he needed to pay more attention to his reading would eventually find the answer. Afterward, the student, unable to resist questioning the instructor would approach him and ask, “Why the spoon?” The instructor would pull out the spoon again and tell the young man, “Because apparently you need to be spoon-fed.”
This remembrance has served me well through time. Such a simple lesson to make one self-reliant during extremely difficult events, and it saved my life. But it also helped me understand my role as a father. When my kids would ask me questions about obvious things, and how to spell words, I would point to a book or a dictionary and tell them the answer they seek is there. This taught them how to find things for themselves, especially truth, rather than rely on the opinions and false premises of others only. To this day my older kids are happy that I taught them how to find answers for themselves rather than be told what or how to think.
Truth, innate and expressed by learned thinkers, is like gold buried in the ground. Sometimes it’s right there at the surface and all you have to do is bend down and pick it up, yet some refuse to do even that, because gold, and Truth, are heavy; Truth is only heavy until incorporated into the being (cf Heschel, A Passion For Truth). However, sometimes you know Truth is there, but you must dig for it however long it takes.
What does this have to do with Sean’s boiling blood? First, there are Zionists (including Zionist Non-Combat Pretenders) who lie, deny, and excuse the most heinous conduct for political and financial gain. This includes old military history professors who can’t seem to find their way past propaganda and brainwashing. This also includes Zionist youth (from Israel, America, Europe, Asia) brainwashed into accepting a superiority complex which leads them to commit atrocity after atrocity, and then make videos of their atrocities for all the world to see; and this includes leaders who then chastise those video makers for making videos of war crimes that the ICJ can access – a willful accessory to 1st degree murder. These include US Senators like Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow who write Zionist boilerplate documents to constituents spreading Zionist lies in contra-logic to all the facts that debunk everything they say because they are addicted to Zionist cash, thereby breaking their oaths of office. ALL of the trouble in Palestine is Israel and the US. ALL charges of Hamas raping Israeli women have been completely and thoroughly debunked, yet they won’t admit it, nor will they admit that NO Israeli babies were beheaded by Hamas; and they will ignore Israeli soldiers bragging about raping and killing Palestinian women, and bragging about killing children.
But this also includes non-Zionist Non-Combat Pretenders. You know these people, you’ve heard these people; you’ve seen them in parades; they are your neighbors, your acquaintances, your co-workers, your politicians (including those like US Congressman Andrew Ogles speaking about Gaza, “I think it is time we kill them all”, Genocide Joe, Genocidal Rapist Donald, etc…), and your civic leaders even down to your local school board who ignore the rising tide of Fascism and encourage kids to belong to the military cult.
The school boards invite the military into their schools to recruit kids starting at ~age 10, via recruiters, ROTC, and JrROTC. Schools are supposed to teach critical thinking skills, and they fail miserably. Yes, the ultimate responsibility is that of the parents, but if the parents are failing (which they are) and the school doesn’t encourage the kids to make themselves better, this is a willful abdication of responsibility. Sean had an email discussion with a so-called teacher in the Jackson Public Schools District (MI). This so-called teacher encouraged a boy to join the military and praised this decision:
This “teacher” offered no learning to the student. This “teacher” failed the student. This “teacher”, who has never been in the military, let alone in combat, basically stated that this kid is a loser and as such he should be grateful to be sent off to war as an opportunity. Now really pay attention here: Killing is being presented as a move forward; killing is being presented as an opportunity; killing is being presented in terms Mussolini and Hitler would know only too well. “War alone carries to the maximum of tension all human energies”. Israeli leaders have encouraged this behavior, and Americans of all stripes and sex encourage this macho bullshit to the maximum. This is backward evolution at its most forceful.
Now to those who can’t read. My wife and I used to have a friend (a “teacher”) who thought kids shouldn’t have to read “hard” things. Apparently Republicans and Democrats have also felt this way for decades, because they’ve never responded to the criticism and answers in Why Johnny Can’t Read. Reading takes a “teachable spirit”, a willingness to put in the work, and it takes a willingness to learn and comprehend — all of these must be fostered by adults.
There are adults in all walks of life these days who can’t read or think for themselves. They’re unable to read things which disagree with their preconceived notions, brainwashing, self-satisfaction, or their ideas of superiority (color, religion, politics, wealth, greed, professionalism, and so much more addiction). So it is with reading and understanding about the military-industrial complex, and the notions of superiority that allow the superior ones to send those they believe to be inferior to slaughter and be slaughtered. People have seen excerpts (mostly quotes) of X Rubicon, some of them only a picture of the cover, and they are egregiously offended, especially Americans who believe that NO ONE may indict American superiority, hegemony, ideals (so-called), or our commitment to FreedomTM or DemocracyTM. There was a gun nut who was offended by a video for the book where military servicemen are teaching 10yos to aim and fire military weapons; there are several ‘Mericans! upset that we don’t condemn Russians, Chinese, or “towels-heads” of whatever nation; there are “Christians” upset that we refuse to see Jesus as a bloodthirsty King; there are Zionists upset because Israel, deservedly, doesn’t come off looking very good in this book; there are Zionists offended who haven’t read or looked at the book, yet one of their Zionist friends received Dear Zionist; there are teachers upset because their military father or grandfather was a great man who fought for FreedomTM and DemocracyTM (regardless of the fact that our fathers and grandfathers also fought and that we are combat veterans, or that generations of combat veterans have decried this never-ending slaughter); there are numerous Virgins Talking About Sex who have never been in combat and are offended because they know all about it; there are Trump fan-girls and fan-boys upset that Trump is trashed, and there are Biden fan-girls and fan-boys upset that Biden is trashed (X Rubicon is an equal opportunity thresher); there are those who are offended that we don’t believe Arabs are an inferior people in need of being slaughtered or turned into slaves (much of our literature, poetry, art, science and math comes from Arabic study and ingenuity); in short, there are many who hate the book without ever having read the book.
The despots, the Fascists (including Americans, Nazis, Zionists) are gaining ground. They were not defeated by WW2, only transferred elsewhere. Those who beat the never-ending war drum for profit and hegemony must be the first placed on the front lines, no matter how old, stupid, or ignorant they are. If they can blather like a blowhard, they should be made to actually fight. You, YOU, must stop sending young men to do your fighting for you. If you believe that strongly in war and profiteering, YOU go fight it instead of sending youth who have no understanding of these things or brakes.
This brings us back to where we started, the refusal to read and learn. There is a widespread failure teaching our children moral philosophy, at home and in the schools! Socrates has always been a great guide to human behavior; there are great guides from all races (I just don’t have translations handy right now); there are great humanist guides from religions (and we’re atheists); but addressing willful ignorance and seeking Truth is summed very well in this quote of Socrates (included in the book):
An unexamined life is not worth living… Most people, including ourselves, live in a world of relative ignorance. We are even comfortable with that ignorance, because it is all we know. When we first start facing truth, the process may be frightening, and many people run back to their old lives. But if you continue to seek truth, you will eventually be able to handle it better. In fact, you want more! It's true that many people around you now may think you are weird or even a danger to society, but you don't care. Once you've tasted the truth, you won't ever want to go back to being ignorant.
Socrates
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Rubicon spent just under three years as a military Scout. During that time he was awarded the “AF Cross, 2 Silver Stars, 4 Bronze Stars, Defense Superior Service Medal, AF Good Conduct Medal, and the CIA Distinguished Service Medal” (ODNI). When he refused to kill further, he was stripped of these awards and was abandoned with his PTSD by the military and thrown away.
Sean Griobhtha (gree-O-tah) is a combat veteran. His latest book is X Rubicon: Crossing Life, Sex, Love, & Killing in CIA Proxy Wars: An indictment of US Citizens: ignorantia non excusat, which details the life of Rubicon. You can find him mostly on SubStack & Facebook. It’s important that you read the Foreward (Vanguard); written by a highly intelligent woman with a heart of empathetic gold; she’ll bring you in gently, which neither Rubicon nor I would ever do.
Belén Fernández is a writer I highly respect. If you need a primer into US Misdeeds, you should start with this article.
‘Schools are supposed to teach critical thinking skills, and they fail miserably.’
Yeah, I strongly agree with this point. This is also the case in my country of Malaysia. The education system must train the young generation to question things and think more rationally and critically, especially towards the narratives from the government and various political and/or religious leaders.
Excellent!