As the Chicago Tribune reported today, a poll by the NORC at the University of Chicago found that the only section of government that receives any confidence from the American people is the military. As the article described:
The 2014 General Social Survey finds only 23 percent of Americans have a great deal of confidence in the Supreme Court, 11 percent in the executive branch and 5 percent in Congress. By contrast, half have a great deal of confidence in the military.
My Gut Reaction: As my father only half-jokingly said upon hearing this, "We're ripe for a coup."
Analysis below the fold...
As I wrote a little while ago in a diary about General David Petraeus, the American people have developed what I call a uniform fetish, a tendency to immediately defer to people in military and law enforcement uniforms. People in said uniforms are assumed to be virtuous based on their positions in the military. This fetish has numerous dangerous implications for our civil society and government.
Blogger W. J. Astore, writing on the excellent Contrary Perspective website, summed up what this glorification of the military above all else suggests about our society:
The decline of the citizen-soldier ideal in America–in fact, the decline of the citizen ideal in America, and the related rise of a cult of war heroes–speaks to the decline of America as a republic dedicated to freedom. Which put me to mind of this post I wrote in September 2013. It’s not a wonderful life when we embrace the “wonders” of war, nor is it wonderful when everything becomes a commodity to be consumed by customers. No. It’s a wonderful life when we act as a community with generosity of spirit.
Just on the face of it, this attitude holds peril for America. It portends an endless series of wars as we see the military as the solution for every international problem. It means endless involvements in the Middle East well after it has become obvious that our interventions there just make the situation worse. It bodes increasing opprobrium for anyone who dares challenge American militarism.
This is not just a problem for the Republicans. Democrats in recent years have been just as guilty of it. It should provoke profound and disturbing reflection in every progressive that the leading contender for the Democratic nomination is an unmitigated hawk who has back war on Iraq, Iran, Libya, and Syria. That mainstream liberals are willing to overlook such a blood stained record is a bad sign. It reveals a cynicism about what can be accomplished in politics. Even worse, it suggests a complacency with the bloodshed, an acceptance of it.
Even worse, this confidence in the military and the military alone could portend a dangerous future for American politics. As Astore warned in the essay linked and quoted above, militarism can be harnessed in the name of empire or even fascism. I highly doubt there would ever be a coup in the United States, but that is partly because the military is getting everything it wants. Why seize power when you effectively already hold it?