So, on November the eleventh, Veteran's Day, I posted a quick blog entry commending the war veterans everywhere. I know it was probably over done, sloppy, and otherwise badly written, and even though it was partly done on purpose, I now find that no one cares about war vets. Really. My proof? You guys. Thank you, to the all of two people who responded to my original blog, Keanan and Starving_musician. Seriously, dudes, no one else commented. No one. Fifty people read it between the eleventh and today, the fifteenth. Four days, and two comments? Fail, guys. Fail. Not to mention that upon looking at other similar blogs, none of them got too many replies, either.
Respecting veterans is not about supporting their cause. It's about supporting them because they fight in war for a cause that they personally believe in, which is probably more than most people on here can say. (Note, that IS my arbitrary guess, so please excuse me if I'm incorrect in my assumption.) I don't like the wars America and other nations are currently waging, but I do support anyone who risks their own life by putting it on the line for it. That just deserves everyone's respect, I don't care who you are.
If you are looking for my previous/ aforementioned blog entry, you can find it here. And I'm hoping it will post right, too. The site's been wicked glitchy today. o.O Anyway, thanks for your time, guys.
EDIT: Since it won't let me post comments directly for some reason, I have to edit this and address your issues here.
I see the point that some people don't reply to things they agree with, but I personally find myself doing it. I've also seen someone else do a similar thing to this last veterans day on another forum, and he got his point across very well.
mvenus: If you didn't read my entry you missed my point entirely. I talked about how people should respect them but don't care, not my own apathy. Not to sound incredibly accusatory here, but you're staff on a progressive blogging site, and you don't even read the blogs before you reply?
I think many people here respect what the troops and past veterans have done for us. ( maybe not enough, but to some degree)
I think the problem is trying to get someone to read and comment on your blogs. I feel like i have the same problem sometimes too. ( the majority of the time)
I have noticed that well-written longer blogs that have added personal experiences mixed in with a controversial topic or a topic that not too many people write about will get more attention than other blogs.
writing about veterans day is good, but about an actual veteran experience would have gotten more comments.
The problem with me is that i don't really have any really good life experience stories that have life lessons. ( that makes me sound sorry) idk
I disagree that you equate comment-less blogs with apathy towards veterans. I don't see how that translates into disrespect or being unappreciative. You said respecting veterans is about supporting them personally; I don't know how commenting on your last blog has anything to do with that.
And the view count on blogs can be misleading, since it counts a person refreshing a page or visiting more than once (as I'm sure you yourself did) as separate, unique "reads." This brings up another problem I have with this site, though: there are so many bloggers and posts (not a bad thing) that many blogs just get lost or looked over in the onslaught (a bad thing).
While I agreed with your last blog, I saw no reason to comment on it. It didn't exactly ask any questions or was conducive to debate/conversation. What could I have said beyond, "yes, I agree?"
get the respect they diserve, you can't use as proof the fact that a blog you wrote got ignored. An essay I posted here about Veterans Day ended up on the homepage of the site for a while and was on the "highest rated" list for a good part of the week.
(by the way, the blog in question ALSO went comment-less)
"when you hold a pen, you are at war" Attributed to Voltaire
I've posted blogs about freedom of speech, the media, President Elect Obama, and the death of a beloved American journalist, Studs Terkel.
No one responded to any of those blogs. Didn't mean no one here cares about the issues/people addressed in them.
"How can we win where fools can be kings" Muse
Most the people love the military or in the very least respect them, I never even saw your other post till now. SOmetimes things get lost in a blogging on slought. I would hesitate to make such a generalized statement. It really is hard to see everything and I think you would be pretty suprised how many on here are closely associated with the uniformed services.
... Ithink everyone else covered it pretty good.
Good luck
Love is like a box of chocolates; if you chose wisely you won’t be disappointed and have to spit it out. ~T
My mother is a veteran, and yet I didn't read your blog. I mean, I had the day off from work, because I work in a military hospital, serving retirees, active duty soldiers, and their families all day long. Why on earth would reading a single blog posted on a website that I spend most of my time calculating points for define how I feel about veterans?
~C
Check out the latest entry in the Between The Lines column!
Want the highest rated list to change? RATE those blogs, then!
My blog "A Gay in the Life: Our Dastardly Plan to Destroy Marriage," found here: http://www.progressiveu.org/211551-gay-life-our-dastardly-plan-destroy-i..., has almost 7,500 reads, and only 347 comments. That's pretty much the same read to comment ratio you have. So I wouldn't be too upset. People often don't comment on things with which they agree. It's usually the disagreements that generate the most conversation. So, you want comments? Piss somebody off. (But do it within the Terms of Service, please :)
"Never go with a hippy to a second location."
~Jack Donaghy
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
And you seem to have completely missed mine. In THIS ENTRY (which I read), you say that people don't care about veterans, because they didn't read or respond to your blog. I didn't read your blog (and thus, did not comment), so by your definition, that means I don't care about veterans or veterans day. And yet, my mother is a veteran, and I work for veterans and their family members all the time right now. So, again, how does my response to a single blog on a website where I spend most of my time calculating up points for people define how I feel about veterans?
~C
Check out the latest entry in the Between The Lines column!
Want the highest rated list to change? RATE those blogs, then!
Well it seems that I only had a misunderstanding over which blog entry you were referring to, so there's no need to get so fired up about that. Anyway, I think that if people care about something, they should talk about it when/ if someone brings it up. I understand that in some cases you may seriously have better things to do, like in your case, but most members of this site are not moderators.
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Do read my post fully. Not only does it help you understand my point instead of making rash statements, but it also gives me some semblance of faith that people can read and understand an argument.
I am an Iraq war veteran myself I can say honestly that most people or groups don't care about veterans. It's okay though most of my veteran friends (including myself) don't really want a thank you. We all volunteered to join the military and I volunteered to go fight with a group of soldiers that were leaving. I am not a supported of the war or of any cause really. Soldiers don't get the privilege to chose where they go, who they fight, or if they believe in the "cause" of not, When they are in the service. I have since separated from the military and I love my country as most veterans do thank you all who support the troops and veterans thank you to those who don't it is a right you have because of veterans.