On soldiers, patriotism and propaganda. [View All]

[Touchdown]

I was a Medic in the Army in the 80s. I served my time, Was assigned to an armored cavalry regiment, got smelly in a tank, did some push ups, cleaned some toilets, got drunk, picked up smoking, made some fast friends and lost track of them just as fast... and I learned to say "fuck" in every sentence. I wasn't very special, didn't have any distinction that set me apart, and I wasn't that exemplary of a soldier. I was just there. Just like the 1 or so million others who were also in the military, and wondering why they joined in the first place. I got an honorable discharge, and went my own way after. No big deal. The reasons I joined are rather simple and selfish, to tell the truth. They offered me College money. As a son of a deadbeat Dad, I had no money for college, so it was an offer I could use. I was offered to be stationed in Germany... something really cool to a 19 year old. Most of all I wanted to get the fuck out of Yakima Washington right after high school. That town is a sink hole.

What I did not join for is an unhinged love and slavering devotion to my country, it's cause or the principles I know much more about in my 40s than I ever hoped to know as a teenager. Without polling data or any kind of statistical facts to support me, I would guess that 95% of all of our kids in their first enlistment and more than half of "lifers" joined for pretty much the same, self interested reasons I did. In Today's economy, it's a job. Pure and simple. The Great United States of America and the corporations that run it and tell us to love it, made sure there are few opportunities for young people just starting out. Then there are the signing bonuses, which in terms of 5 figure dollar amounts, is fairly new. Some even joined because they were pressured or offered a bill of goods by recruiters who never take "No!" for an answer. Of course college money, a chance to escape an oppressive town/city/ghetto, and many other reasons to numerous to mention are why people join.

Again, the last reason most of these kids join is some abstract "Love of Country" and a genuflecting desire to "sacrifice for the principles we all hold dear." That is propaganda. It's jingoism, triumphalism, Nationalism, Military worship, servile and and a load of shit! It's not only shit, it's dangerous. It's how stupid and deadly wars get popular endorsement, and shuts down any dissent, or questioning of said stupid an deadly war. Now, I'm sure there are a handfull of kids who did join for some abstract lofty 'King and Country' goal, but I'm willing to bet they were force fed a bunch of crap from their parents, churches, and a steady diet of TV bloviaters putting those beliefs in their heads. They do exist. I knew a couple when I was in. But they are, definitely a minority. Most American kids like their cars, their iPods, their cellphones, their Rap and Rock, their boyfriends and their chicks. They obsess over their zits, not some unknown "America Hater".

I could be amenable to the message of "support the troops" if it actually had any meaning behind it. Such as making the hospitals better and staffing them with what is necessary. Supporting a defense strategy that has real existential survival reasons behind it, and not a load of "Patriot" talk about God and Country to mask the profit motive for taking over a country and privatizing all of it's resources. To provide for the health and wellbeing of wounded and disabled vets that came back maimed for corporate profit. These things, and many others I could get behind. But alas, the "Support the Troops" order is just as plastic and fake as those who claim the loudest that they are more patriotic than thou, so it'll have to be called something else. "Support the Troops" is tainted.

Another trouble I see, which is where I get my amazement at times, is that many of my fellow veterans seem to fall for the worship and misinterpret that as actual support. Rest assured, those car magnets are made in China and carry a steady profit for the company that sells them... and none of that profit any soldier or vet will ever see. Maybe because I wasn't pumped up with buzzwords enough to be brainwashed of how proud I should be of myself, but I also find it crass to use one's active duty or veteran's status as any sort of claim of authority in... really anything. "Well this is how a car should be waxed. I served my country and sacrificed myself for YOU, so I know what I'm talking about. There is no debate! You didn't serve. You don't know how to wax a car!"

I can count on one hand how many times I've used my military service or veteran status as a trump card in arguments or debates, and even then they were only when my "support of the troops" was questioned. A rhetorical "gotcha" trap I fell into, and bought into the useless meme for a short time. As a short fused Irishman, it's a problem for me. I'll try and take my own advice from now on.

They can be heroes. They can be said to have sacrificed. They can be honored. They can be loved. They even can be supported. What they do not need, or even want, is religious devotion and worship at their polished boots, because they know more than I know that it's phony, and they can see right through those who do it and claim for themselves the mantle of "Patriot"... whether they actually served or not.