My son joined the army in 2000, thinking he was going to "Be all that you can be!" I hated that he joined; I was scared to death he would die. He retired 20 years later during Covid after he decided he was tired of military life. Being SF for 15 years wears out a person's body. I never imagined in my teenage and college years that my kid…
My son joined the army in 2000, thinking he was going to "Be all that you can be!" I hated that he joined; I was scared to death he would die. He retired 20 years later during Covid after he decided he was tired of military life. Being SF for 15 years wears out a person's body. I never imagined in my teenage and college years that my kid would be an instrument of foreign policy. I have always thought that "thank you for your service" were cheap words from people who would never sign up themselves.
You often find this on the right, celebrating the "warrior" culture - I suspect most people who do it now are doing it out of some sense that it's appropriate to do it and perhaps not appropriate not to do it..... We should be suspicious of any culture that worships the military - there's a word for political movements like that.....
yeah, it's always felt so performative; it's almost as if the real message was "I sure am glad you're neither as chickenshit nor as economically advantaged as I am." another thing that bugs me is the phrase I keep hearing on TV that wherever we have troops, "they're fighting for OUR freedom."
uhhhh......REALLY??
I'm not even disputing the fact that some of our foreign adventures might have had some positive effects for some of the people in some of those countries. I'm disputing the idea that OUR freedom was somehow at stake.
but I also feel that talking about the military is something I have no business doing because of my lifelong distance from it.
My son joined the army in 2000, thinking he was going to "Be all that you can be!" I hated that he joined; I was scared to death he would die. He retired 20 years later during Covid after he decided he was tired of military life. Being SF for 15 years wears out a person's body. I never imagined in my teenage and college years that my kid would be an instrument of foreign policy. I have always thought that "thank you for your service" were cheap words from people who would never sign up themselves.
My thought too.
It does sound like a guilt salute.
You often find this on the right, celebrating the "warrior" culture - I suspect most people who do it now are doing it out of some sense that it's appropriate to do it and perhaps not appropriate not to do it..... We should be suspicious of any culture that worships the military - there's a word for political movements like that.....
yeah, it's always felt so performative; it's almost as if the real message was "I sure am glad you're neither as chickenshit nor as economically advantaged as I am." another thing that bugs me is the phrase I keep hearing on TV that wherever we have troops, "they're fighting for OUR freedom."
uhhhh......REALLY??
I'm not even disputing the fact that some of our foreign adventures might have had some positive effects for some of the people in some of those countries. I'm disputing the idea that OUR freedom was somehow at stake.
but I also feel that talking about the military is something I have no business doing because of my lifelong distance from it.