I believe history will record that a major contributor to the decline of America at the turn of the 21st century was the rise of a cult of the soldier. This cult is not a simple militaristic phenomenon that glories in the power of armed might. It is a strange sanctification of common soldiers. I know that this will be a profoundly unpopular diary, but the truth, as I see it, connects the sanctification of our soldiers with a long list of pernicious consequences. In the following discussion, I attempt to trace the origins of the American cult of the soldier and detail the negative implications.
How did America's soldiers become sacred?
A strange feature of the recent Congressional debate about the President's Iraq policy is that both parties competed vigorously to be the most protective of our soldiers. The central concerns of the debate should have been the welfare of our country, the nation of Iraq, and the future of the Mideast. Indeed, the debate was proof of the curious inversion of the customary relationship of soldiers serving America to America serving the soldiers. But a nation does not exist to protect its soldiers. How did we come to this situation?
I believe the explanation is rooted in popular culture. The American love of war and military glory did not focus on common soldiers until the 20th century. The founders did not believe large standing armies were healthy for a democracy. America's early citizen-soldiers and militiamen viewed military service as an unpleasant distraction from their farms and businesses. Our memories of the Revolutionary and Civil wars are focussed on commanders, not common soliders.
But the rise of mass communications and sophisticated propaganda changed the public's view of the common soldier. By the time of WWII, the GI was to become the subject of countless laudatory stories, novels, films, comic books and propaganda productions. It was the gutsy GI who saved the world from fascism, not high-faluting generals like MacArthur or Patton. This democratization of militarism continued in Korea and Vietnam, as the "grunt" played the heroic role, even after America's defeat in Vietnam. To this day, John Kerry is villified for "betraying" and "slandering" the common soldiers. Meanwhile, countless sequels of Rambo movies are produced, glorifying the instinctive nobility of a simple American fighting man.
Although the primary impetus for the sanctification of America's soldiers is populist propaganda, a secondary factor is the increasing awareness among the American public that the world is growing increasingly intolerant of America's disproportionate consumption of resources, and that our armed forces are the only thing standing between us and a radical redistribution of resources that would negatively impact Americans' standard of living. Thus our soldiers are effectively protecting our access to cheap gas and plentiful consumer goods.
Thus, through a confluence of militaristic propaganda, ruthless self-interest, and the spontaneous growth of popular myth, a cult of glorification of the common American soldier has arisen. Proof of the power of this cult is the public outrage that meets any revelation of the mistreatment of soldiers or veterans and the extraordinary focus on minor incremental improvements in the protection of US soldiers (e.g., body and vehicle armor).
What are the consequences of making soldiers sacred?
- Anything that can be said to endanger our soldiers becomes a lever for political action. This is how Bush is ginning up a casus belli against Iran. THEY ARE ENDANGERING OUR SOLDIERS!
- What the military wants, the military gets. You name it: F22, F35, V22, high-tech, low-tech, no-tech, working, junk, vaporware. OUR SOLDIERS DESERVE ONLY THE BEST!
- Military sevice becomes a prerequisite for political office. HE/SHE UNDERSTANDS THE IMPORTANCE OF PROTECTING OUR SOLDIERS!
- Perpetual conflict and low-intensity war become a norm. OUR SOLDIERS NEED COMBAT EXPERIENCE!
- The civil sector is sacrificed to fund an ever increasing military establishment. WE CAN'T LET OUR SOLDIERS DOWN!
- Criticism of the military becomes taboo. One bad joke at the expense of US soldiers ended Kerry's presidential hopes. INSULTING THE HONOR OF OUR SOLDIERS IS FORBIDDEN!
America has come to a strange and paradoxical place in history, where a cult of the soldier designed to serve past political goals has now taken on a powerful life of its own and is dragging the entire nation toward ruinous military adventures and unsustainable expenditures. Soldiers, whose standing armies were viewed with suspicion by America's founders, have become the focus of a powerful cult of glorification in America. Almost imperceptibly, our soldiers have become our masters, and we will all suffer for it.