The US Military has become a bastion of the Americana, despite the fact that less than 1% of the American population is in service. Everything from glorification in movies, holidays, and tv shows have become a cornerstone in American culture. This isn’t necessarily a good thing; this fascination has spawned some issues, and in keeping with the tradition of this site, I’ve written those issues into a list.
- It’s time to ditch the executive branch
Regardless of your political stance, there’s been a lot of talk about presidents overstepping their politically appointed powers. FDR was criticized for his goal of ditching isolationism and getting involved in international affairs, especially a little conflict we like to abbreviate as WW II. Congress passed a resolution to try to limit the power of the president to deploy troops, known as the War Powers Resolution but that only matters if you want to declare war.
The easiest way to get around this is to simply redefine what the president is doing with the troops, call it a conflict or intervention. You’ve seen this in such conflicts as Vietnam (Kenedy/Johnson), Grenada (Reagan), Kosovo (Clinton), and Syria (Obama). Bottom line, there aren’t any real checks and balances here, and although the president is an elected official, it’s one person that wields the greatest military power the world has seen, and I’m not sure this is a good thing.
So we’ve put all our nuclear eggs into one basket essentially. Historically, this centralized power and authority, unchecked, has led to a steady decent into autocracy. Don’t take my word for it, look at Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany, Communist China/Vietnam/Cuba, hell even present-day Russia where Putin is skirting the line of being a modern-day Stalin.
My point, put the military under congress, which already controls procurement, funding, and holds the authority to officially declare war. George Washington might have resisted the allure of absolute power in the country’s infancy, but we’re seeing rapid, and progressive, power grabs from our modern presidents, that is surprisingly not alarming the public as much as I think it should.
2. You should stop feeling sorry for us
One of the most frustrating things to go through as a veteran or active duty service member is to watch politicians, businesses, and people gloat about doing things for the troops while knowing just how little they give a shit about you. You see this a lot around the political spectrum, arguably more so by the right, but often times whether someone is pro or anti war, they’ll spout out shit about care for the troops, often times while justifying the new ungodly budget for defense spending. This leads me to say, we’re not the charity case you brag to your friends about, we’re your crazy relatives that are a little fucked up in the head.
The resentment builds when you see generations of politicians, with no skin in the game, spouting off about how our “heroes” are out on the front lines defending freedom. The truth is, most politicians, and defense industry folks, actively profit on those same heroes getting put in harm’s way as a way to increase and justify spending. We’ll “thank” the troops, wave a flag, and thank people for their service, but then turn around and cut medical care for those same people, or unemployment benefits for veterans that are permanently disabled from combat related injuries.
Bottom line is, we’re not your dollar a day charity for starving kids, these problems have been manufactured by the same people that put us in harms way through hazy justification, so stop feeling sorry for us and do something about it. Demand transparency, don’t just blindly accept the war hawkish “merica” mentality that demands a strong military response to everything, unless you’re willing to accept the repercussions. Buying me a cup of coffee every now and again is not the way to take care of me, go out and demand that these politicians have some kind of plan before sending us into another country to topple a government.
3. We’re taking sponsors, and that’s a problem
Speaking of money, we’ve become one hell of a money hungry organization, and everybody knows it. Caring for troops is synonymous with large purchases and new equipment. The Bureaucracy and politicization of the military industrial complex has caused this mass spending to ultimately be for nothing. An illustration of this boat load of cash with nothing to show is the F-22. The Air Force spent $334 million dollars in research and production only to stop said production in 2010 for the F-35, keep in mind, this aircraft had it’s first flight in 1997, that’s a service life of 13 years if you count that first flight.
There is a stark contrast between old military spending and new military spending. The M2 .50 caliber machine gun has been in service since 1933, almost completely unchanged, hell I have pictures of me firing this beast, it’s a god damn monster that continues to serve like the loyal god of war it is. The B-52 has been in service since 1955, and continues to serve today. So what the hell has happened?
Corporations and contractors have capitalized on our government spending and restrictive rules. The military is bound by congressional spending and allocation, which has politicized our leadership in service to the dirty hands holding the purse strings. The priority nowadays isn’t really caring for the Soldier, Sailor, Marine, or Airman, it’s solidifying a plant a district manufacturing hardware for the government and jobs for the constituents.
So the next time you hear about a new Air Force toy, a new vehicle, a new uniform, reflect on the talking head spouting out bits and buzzwords and really think about it. Same thing goes for those politicians waving flags, thanking the “boys and girls in uniform” what service have they done aside from holding political office?
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Cause if we never question, we’ll never get out of the shitty spot we’ve found ourselves in.
Caffeinated Face Punch 
