Freedom itself has become such a fragile concept that people are afraid to say what it really means to fight for it. For the past century, and indeed long before, fearless men and women have put themselves in danger because the government tells them they’re doing it so that America will stay free. And they believe it. American service members don’t join because they want to intervene in foreign affairs, they do it because they truly believe that without their service, America would be in grave peril. As of late, and perhaps since World War 2, this isn’t the case.
There are myths that recruiters prey on the poor and unintelligent. The American military, in fact, boasts some of the highest I.Q.’s in the nation, and even they cannot always see through the extremely effective propaganda the government lays out. Freedom, as a concept, is something that members of every political group at least say they strive for.
What the military does do effectively (at least enlisted service-members) is prevent a draft. Though this may be a controversial point in anarchistic and libertarian circles, if no one enlisted under the past two administrations, a draft would be in full effect. The phrase “they went so we don’t have to” has rings of truth to it, but you could change it to “they went so the bureaucrats won’t make us.”
The National Guard is no longer even being used for its intended purpose, as Bush has deployed them in support of his interventionism. If the military were truly being used in an effective fashion, they would be protecting American citizens against overzealous cops, the IRS, and power mongering politicians. These are the real threats to the American public, not homeless, unorganized religious zealots. Bush and his ilk like to spread the military thin, so that they can cover unprotected constituents with a fascistic blanket of law.
The military’s purpose is to protect the people from government-authorized attacks, not from attacks by a ragtag group of a few. A few, it should be noted, who eluded an incompetent collective of internal federal agencies for years.
Memorial Day is a day to remember fallen brave men and women, not because they are war mongers, but because they know what hell is; a master-slave government who doesn’t see them as individuals, but part of a dropping number. “We’ve only lost 3,000” they’ll say in the same breath as “we’ve created 3,000 jobs.”
If you think that much of the anti-war crowd is composed of hippies and socialists, you’re wrong. War makes many things out of a man, not the least of which is a stalwart anti-government radical.
And if you think I’m not speaking from experience, that I aim to belittle what service-members and their families have given up, well you’re wrong about that, too.
John C. Keyser
Memorial Day 2007