Memorial Day Is Not a Celebration—It’s a Warning
The dead are not asking for parades. They’re asking us to stand guard at home.
Ph.D. student in Complex Systems at Binghamton University.
I didn’t grow up calling Memorial Day a celebration. And I certainly won’t start now.
This is not a day for barbecues and beach trips. It is not a day for cheerful posts with flags and fireworks emojis. Memorial Day is a requiem—a reminder of the true cost of war. It is a moment to reflect on lives cut short, families shattered, and the haunting finality of sacrifice.
But this year, the weight feels heavier.
Yes, we mourn the dead. But we must also reckon with the fight ahead — not abroad, but at home. Our democracy, our freedoms, our institutions — all are under siege from within. The next war isn’t coming by way of foreign boots on American soil. It’s coming through corrupted courts, broken information systems, billionaire-funded propaganda, and authoritarian designs wrapped in patriotic theater.
We are already in the early stages of an insurgency of ideas — one where truth is assaulted, enemies are invented, and loyalty is demanded over law. If we wait for bullets to fly before calling it a war, it will already be too late.
I say this with a heavy heart and a lifetime of experience observing systems of collapse.
The most dangerous threats are not always loud. They are procedural, legalistic, and incremental. They pass under the guise of “reform.” They speak in the language of nationalism. And they exploit every gap left by our civic inattention.
So, this Memorial Day, I don’t say “Happy.”
I say: Prepare.
Call to Action:
Subscribe. Share. Speak out.
And above all: Stand ready.
The dead are not asking for flags.
They’re asking us to finish the work.
📎 Disclaimer:
This article represents the personal views of Ronald J. Botelho, a Ph.D. student in Complex Systems at Binghamton University. It is not affiliated with any government agency.
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Well, Ronald, that was an excellent piece, pinpointing the real cause of the fascist coup; AMERICAN APATHY, and then it morphed into denial. As I am sure you know, it started with “fake news”. It was never fake, but it was distorted to the point that we believe the lies of a senile sociopath over the “in-your-face” truth.
I never believed his lies. I wonder how anyone did. No matter how vicious and cruel and deceitful he is, people support him. In my view, they are as bad as he is because they enable him to be that way. He has not ever been held accountable. Unfathomable, how someone with 34 felony convictions, can be voted into office and essentially gets no consequences. No fines, no detention, no consequences.