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Bluesman · 01-16-2008, 02:06 AM

I just read a cute book on the American Revolution by a guy that thinks he can tell me what an 18th Century soldier was like when he has absolutely NO idea what a modern American soldier is all about. This ivory tower smart dumb guy thinks HE, an academic that almost certainly has never spent any time around troops (he mentions a Medical Corps officer he knows that told him some thrillingly-awful details about gunshot wounds) knows the mind, motivation and method of a 250-years-ago soldier. But, like many another small mind that reads enough about a subject that interests them, they believe they've got the bubble...because the selections they've made reinforce what they already KNOW they know.

It is commonly accepted that the military breeds mind-damaged killing machines, and that's reinforced throughout popular culture. It's now an article of faith that military service DAMAGES people, it doesn't improve them. Well, I happen to know that this is an almost total inversion of reality.

Our military is composed of people that are, on average, BETTER citizens than the society that produced them. But that society doesn't even know them. They de-value them, and assume that they were too dumb to get a job at the Post Office, and the military was their last stop before bum-itude. Oh, I don't say that they're not appreciated, and the love for the troops is, I believe, genuine, much as one loves loyal livestock, or a brave guard dog.

The military is constantly condescended to, looked down on, distrusted, feared and made fun of. Eventually, the message is like liquid under pressure, and it seeps into the hardest wood, and even people that respect the military unconsciously begin to think of military members are some or all of those ways.

And now, like they always have, we see the New York Times peddling the tired old line that they've always believed: if you were normal before you joined the military, you won't be after your service, because the military breaks people that come to them. But far more likely, you're not normal if you're somehow driven to the military. Either you're a poor loser, a mental case, or a bully that wants to shoot brown people. This is what they believe. This is their picture of a military member.

I want you to think back on the DC Sniper stories. Does anybody remember how much the media emphasized his military service? I certainly do; it was considered FAR more important than the fact that he was a Muslim, that he admired Osama, and that he approved of the 9/11 attacks.

Pay attention to ANY similar story in which the criminal was once in the military, and see if that fact is not repeated over and over again, as if it 'explained' it all.

This is what they believe.

01-16-2008, 02:06 AM	#16 (permalink)
Bluesman WAB Bartender *Defense Professional* *Military Professional* Join Date: 11-24-04 Location: Vacaville, CA. Posts: 7,514 Country:	I just read a cute book on the American Revolution by a guy that thinks he can tell me what an 18th Century soldier was like when he has absolutely NO idea what a modern American soldier is all about. This ivory tower smart dumb guy thinks HE, an academic that almost certainly has never spent any time around troops (he mentions a Medical Corps officer he knows that told him some thrillingly-awful details about gunshot wounds) knows the mind, motivation and method of a 250-years-ago soldier. But, like many another small mind that reads enough about a subject that interests them, they believe they've got the bubble...because the selections they've made reinforce what they already KNOW they know. It is commonly accepted that the military breeds mind-damaged killing machines, and that's reinforced throughout popular culture. It's now an article of faith that military service DAMAGES people, it doesn't improve them. Well, I happen to know that this is an almost total inversion of reality. Our military is composed of people that are, on average, BETTER citizens than the society that produced them. But that society doesn't even know them. They de-value them, and assume that they were too dumb to get a job at the Post Office, and the military was their last stop before bum-itude. Oh, I don't say that they're not appreciated, and the love for the troops is, I believe, genuine, much as one loves loyal livestock, or a brave guard dog. The military is constantly condescended to, looked down on, distrusted, feared and made fun of. Eventually, the message is like liquid under pressure, and it seeps into the hardest wood, and even people that respect the military unconsciously begin to think of military members are some or all of those ways. And now, like they always have, we see the New York Times peddling the tired old line that they've always believed: if you were normal before you joined the military, you won't be after your service, because the military breaks people that come to them. But far more likely, you're not normal if you're somehow driven to the military. Either you're a poor loser, a mental case, or a bully that wants to shoot brown people. This is what they believe. This is their picture of a military member. I want you to think back on the DC Sniper stories. Does anybody remember how much the media emphasized his military service? I certainly do; it was considered FAR more important than the fact that he was a Muslim, that he admired Osama, and that he approved of the 9/11 attacks. Pay attention to ANY similar story in which the criminal was once in the military, and see if that fact is not repeated over and over again, as if it 'explained' it all. This is what they believe. __________________ "The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it, and if one finds the prospect of a long war intolerable, it is natural to disbelieve in the possibility of victory." - George Orwell Last edited by Bluesman : 01-16-2008 at 02:11 AM.