What Does it Mean to Support our Vets?
On this Veteran’s Day, I feel it’s important to discuss what it means to support our troops and our veterans. The rhetoric surrounding our military often is a conservative talking point, as is patriotism and the idolatry around the American flag. But here in lies the problem. Supporting our troops and our vets means paying taxes which contribute to the VA and other social programs including welfare. According to HUD, there are roughly 40,000 homeless veterans in the US, with a rise in these numbers seen in 2017 (https://bit.ly/2O45Qzh). If these numbers, there is a disproportionate number of black and Latino homeless vets (https://bit.ly/2QinbYn). Just today, their was an article which stated that “‘No one steps up to serve’ more than Native Americans, yet they are poorest, least insured vets” (https://bit.ly/2XbEw6E). And while Trump gives a speech at the Veteran’s Day Parade today, we must remember that he avoided service, and most recently in March, his budget proposal would have severely cut services to aid these very veterans (https://bit.ly/350km2f). VA spending is often first on the chopping block. While his administration did propose increasing funding at one point, it was wrapped up in funding for the wall (https://bit.ly/350jYAP).
Supporting the troops does not mean deporting our troops (https://n.pr/32wGqQc). In June, Trump wanted to scale back a program which protects undocumented family members of active duty troops from being deported (https://n.pr/2X0pvo6). And according to the Washington Post, ICE doesn’t know how many vets have been deported, and was “unaware” it was required to carefully screen them (https://wapo.st/2Kczi5b).
Supporting veterans is not just lip service and sending thanks over Facebook for their service. Thoughts and prayers don’t fund programs that veterans need. Supporting our vets means we need to support social programs and vote for candidates who will enact meaningful legislation to actually help those dealing with illness, trauma, and homelessness after their service. And this also means paying into these services through fair taxes. And we can support our veterans and our troops as humans making sacrifices, while not supporting the wars and conflicts they have been deployed to.
Happy Veteran’s Day. Please think about what it really means to support our troops. Here is a list of charities which support homeless vets:
