Member-only story
War as Entertainment
But the shelf life isn’t what it used to be.
Everyone likes a good war. We write books about it. We make movies about it. When I was a kid, we played “Army” and pretended to shoot each other with toy guns. We threw play hand grenades at each other. Those who were “shot” fell to the ground for a few seconds before getting up and starting another battle. I even had a toy bazooka for the big jobs that shot actual rubber bombs.
We were given G.I. Joes for Christmas, or plastic Army men to arrange in make-believe battles. We played board games like “Combat” and “Battleship.” Local heroes were included in prominent floats during the 4th of July parade, while the VFW had its own float and the Boy Scouts marched close behind. 4th of July fireworks provided the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, and that kind of thing.
War is kind of fun, I mean if you aren’t actually in one.
War Isn’t As Entertaining as in the Past
The king of malaprops Yogi Berra once said “the past ain’t what it used to be.” He wasn’t talking about our collective attention span regarding war, but he may as well…
