A bunch of my friends are increasingly concerned about America's
civil/military divide. I agree it's a problem. We fought two wars with
something like 1% of the population on active duty, and we put the whole
thing on credit, so no one has yet felt economic pain as a result.
Military members think that a more informed, more personally committed
populace will be a more responsible governing body. That, bottom line,
if more people have skin in the game, then we're far less apt to find
ourselves in inexplicable overseas boondoggles. What do you think? Can
we close the civil/military divide, and will it lead to a more
responsible foreign policy if we do? -- Dan Head
The Iraq/Afghanistan wars were handled in an unprecedented fashion. Unlike every previous war they seemed to disappear off the news and be forgotten which allowed our political leaders to do some really heinous shit in the name of America. It's damaged us in a lot of ways that I don't think we'll fully grasp for another generation.
That said the biggest problem in how we act is the political bubbles people are cocooning themselves in these days. When we were growing up the news was news. There wasn't a decidedly liberal news agency (MSNBC) or a conservative news agency (Fox News). We didn't run to the internet and only read the news and opinions of people who agreed with us; instead we had to deal with reality as it was, not as we wanted it to be. But right now that's not the case and it has produced situations where we have Congressmen trying to incite us into nuclear war with Russia and repeatedly asking for a birth certificate (and being given it) for the President of the United States.
What we need is for our politicians to be literate, intelligent people who think critically about what they're doing and how they're acting; and right now that isn't the case. I pray that it gets sorted out as we appear to be moving away from extremism on either side and back toward moderation.
I don't know if I've answered you question so far, so let me say this: the only way that we can close the gap between the consequence for our actions (the military) and just doing whatever we think sounds good (civilian) is for our populace to stop vacillating between extremes and to approach the world as it is, not as we would like it to be. When that happens, and I believe that it is coming, things will vastly improve.
That doesn't give me a lot of hope, but it's an intelligent answer. I think the actual divide itself might also be a little deeper than that, but what can you do?
ReplyDeleteRaise our kids better than that. It's what I'm trying to do. :/
DeleteI think the core problem is deeper rooted than the politicians, and my questions hinted at that, especially the question about core values that you skipped over... ;)
ReplyDeleteWe the people elect our representatives, and with what seems like a lack of care from the populace as a whole as to the well being of this nation, I'm not surprised we have the ineptitude in leadership that we do. The majority of people do not even bother to form cognitive thoughts and/or opinions about key political issues, and then blindly vote based on inane parameters. That IS their choice, but this does not solve any issues, just the opposite in fact.
Then there is term limits or lack thereof and self serving lawmakers who make it moronic to leave office. If I could determine my salary, hours, and had benefits for life it'd be a struggle to get me out too. I'd love to sit here and say I'd be patriotic and do my duty then retire but who knows...
Ramblings... I hate the political system as it sits, and our electoral system is even worse. Not republican or democrat, if I had to align myself I'd be a constitutionalist.
Damn, I'll have to find that question. I know that I wrote up the answer to it. :[
DeleteThat is going to be pretty hard with two factors.
ReplyDeleteOne the lawmakers are bought by the highest bidder and I mean both parties are fucking bought out. Of course they are going to shitty work that doesn't help the people. They paid to only help those that give out the massive donations and wonderful retirements.
Second you actually have to get people to actually think for once. That maybe impossible now given what trends I see most people do. I am not happy with it because of other people I have to play the vote for lesser evils game. It sucks to vote for something you know is bad for the country, but there isn't a good option out there.