The Tragedy of the American Military

[knapplc]

^ But let's be honest - the 'magnet' market doesn't exist because of people like you; it exists because of people that are great at self-deception or ego boosting by buying them.

 

I don't have a breast cancer magnet on my car because breast cancer didn't affect my life in a significant way. But I don't actively donate to breast cancer research right now, either.

 

It really is a bandwidth issue, and I think it's that way for most people. Who doesn't care about people dying from cancer? But most people don't have the first clue what to do about it. They're just caring people.

 

There's a segment of the population made up of dunderheads who truly think they're doing something by putting that magnet on their car, or by posting "Fight KONY" on their Facebook wall. But that's a small minority, I think. Most people just have too much going on in their lives. The "quiet desperation" thing Thoreau told us about.

[Junior]

I'm serious about supporting the troops, the police, firefighters, the coast guard, veterans of all services, and the red cross. I support the fight against breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, leukemia, childhood apraxia, AIDS and any other disease. I support the fight for gay marriage, for the right to choose when you die, for women to choose about their bodies, for freedom of religion and free speech. I support the fight against slavery both foreign and domestic, the fight against puppy mills, and the fight against discrimination of any kind. I support net neutrality, the fight against corruption in politics, the fight against corruption in our banking sector, energy sector and natural resources.

 

I support probably another 100 things on top of that, and I'm serious about all of them.

 

But I don't have the bandwidth to get elbows deep into each of them. And I'm not a bad person if I don't, I'm just busy. And if I can't actively fight for all of the things I support in the amount of time I have, I don't think it's too awfully crass of me to put a magnet on my car for any or all of them as I choose.

 

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, but I'm also not going to buy into the notion that people who don't call their congresspersons about this particular subject are somehow at fault. not doing it right.

 

 

To me, it is the superficiality of it that I find irritating. People go on and on about support the troops this, and support the troops that. Rail against Obama when he doesn't wear an American flag pin on his lapel, and then at the same time casually talk of going to war with Iran or North Korea. Or for some reason that I've never been able to figure out, align "supporting the troops" with support for war in general: see http://www.mediaite.com/tv/bolling-scolds-springsteen-fortunate-son-derogatory-to-military/

 

Because it sure seems to me, in my admittedly very unscientific poll, that the people most likely to "support the troops" with a car magnet are also the most likely to casually enter a war with Iran on the flimsy pretense of "making America safe". Then they'll turn around and vote for the very people that shoot down VA reforms because they cost too much.

 

And the NFL camo gear is just capitalism masquerading as military support. (Same goes for the NFL breast cancer stuff, but that's another story for another day)

 

I got into it with my father over this very subject after he made some bonehead comment on Facebook on this article: http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/11/11/popovich_veterans_day_food_stamps.html

My dad went on and on about how Popovich should support the troops and shut his mouth. I asked what he did to support the troops and he had nothing, outside of saying "I support the troops" and bitching when someone else has an idea for actually providing people with financial support.

 

Sorry, knapp, this is just one of my personal soapboxes. I'm not saying you are doing it wrong, or that you should be doing more. But I'm tired of the faux-patriotism support the troops, never question the military in any way nonsense, when in reality very few people do anything to provide actual support for the troops.

 

Edit: All this seems a bit disjointed after rereading it. But I think the main idea comes across. At least I hope it does.

[knapplc]

It does. We're really of the same opinion, it's probably just coming out this way in this moment.

[Something Clever]

What, specifically, should the general population do to "support the troops?"

Knapp, the whole thing is a call-to-arms about no longer tolerating the status quo due to either disinterest or fear of PR backlash. It’s a repudiation of the casual attitude most have when it comes to armed conflicts as well as an honest look at military culture and leadership. I’ve been in the military for the past 7 years and can say that the constant adulation does wonders for the dbags that join simply to get their butts kissed but it does nothing for responsible public awareness of what’s actually going on most of the time. There is a serious issue with defense spending today (even at the lower levels I could give you at least a dozen stories) and how out-of-control it really is, to say nothing of the blatant abuse of spending/decision making at higher levels. Naïve? Of course, but it still doesn’t change the fact that we all must become better citizens (military & civilian) and hold our leaders to better standards.