Celebrating the War Machine

I seem to be one of the few people concerned about the militarization of the United States. This weekend – wrapped around Veterans’ Day – has been a love-fest for our military, not just veterans but more so our current service members. I certainly have nothing against veterans (my father and four of my uncles served in WWII, and two friends of mine died (for no reason) in Vietnam), nor against those now serving (though the idea that they are a “voluntary” force is belied by the fact that many if not most “volunteered” because they couldn’t find work anywhere else and were offered the false promise of “training”). But I don’t at all like the exploitation of the military that I see going on in at least the past decade or so. Patriotism is one thing, military empire is another. We are in at least one war that we’ve been in for more than a decade and are supposedly getting out of another (though not very neatly). We have troops stationed around the world in some 150 countries. The sun does not set on our empire. We’ve been in one or more wars for most of the past 150 years. Our economy is a perpetual war economy, the military-industrial-congressional complex being the engine. We spend more on our military (though relatively squat on the personnel, especially when they become veterans) than just about all other countries in the world combined. The current constant celebration of our troops is little more than propaganda that elevates the “sacrifice” of the “heroes” in order to mask the ongoing spread of the war machine. I appreciate and support our troops – I just don’t join in the jingoistic propaganda that exploits the troops for the benefit of the capitalist war machine (which by the way is fueled by the blood of the men and women who are sucked into it, and then ironically celebrated).

4th of July

This is going to sound callous, perhaps, or unpatriotic, but it’s certainly not meant to be. If anything, quite the opposite. But this is the 4^th of July and I’m wondering when this holiday became Memorial Day or Veterans Day or maybe just Military Service Day. Independence Day is just that, a celebration – with picnics and parades and fireworks – that commemorates the founding of our country, signaled by the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a philosophical and political document and moment, not a military one. Yet, especially since the tragedy of 11 September 2001, and the wars that followed, it seems that every holiday, if not every sporting event and political rally, has turned into a jingoistic rally in support of our military. We give thanks on Thanksgiving (a harvest festival) for the military personnel who have served or are serving to preserve our way of life. We remember at Christmas (a religious-consumer holiday) the sacrifices (being away from home) the military personnel who have served or are serving to preserve our way of life (Christian or consumer). Even Labor Day has in recent years moved from celebrating the labor of the working class to the labor of the military (watch the parades, listen to the speeches).

I’m all for a military that works for us, an institution that secures our borders and engages in necessary conflicts overseas. But I’ve read too much history and literature to be comfortable with the unfettered adulation of the military that we’ve seen in at least the last decade or so. A powerful military is too powerful. Our founders knew this (read the Constitution). And a too powerful military is a threat to freedom.

Today is the holiday that celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence (though 42% of Americans don’t know in what year it was signed and 26% don’t know who we declared independence from). That is what we should be celebrating (and perhaps through education rather than picnics, parades, baseball games, and fireworks). All thanks and appreciation to our military. But we already have Memorial Day (for those who gave their lives in service) and Veterans Day (for those who have served). Let’s leave today a day to celebrate our founding, not our current military excursions, as too many of the celebrations seem to be about.

Veterans Days

I’m a fan of Veterans Day. We as a nation – and we as individuals – should honor the service of those among us who go into the military and do whatever they are assigned to do in defense of our country, whether that be a commissary clerk at Fort Riley or a Navy Seal in Kanduhar. Even when I disagree with many of the deployments across the world (most often), I respect that the military personnel – especially the grunts – are in no way responsible for that. I learned this firsthand when I taught for a University of Maryland program in Germany for the military and families. But I also learned about why most of those who “choose to serve” (in the parlance of Veterans Day) in our voluntary army do so. And it’s not patriotic duty, as you might think if you take in the memorials and furniture sale ads today. (If so, only 1% of the population answers the call of patriotic duty. That should give us pause.) No, most who go into the armed services (at least since the end of the draft 40 years ago) do so for financial reasons – either they can’t find a decent-paying job here in the U.S. or (as with my soldier-students) they seek an affordable path to a college degree. There were even some (a surprise to me) who were there because a judge had given them the choice between the military and jail. Yes, all military members deserve our thanks. But many also deserve our apology for putting them in the financial position of not really having a choice to serve.