People’s Attitudes and Stereotypes… and Hope

Back when I decided to become a drilling reservist, in 2002 the US was prepping and posturing to make war on Iraq. At the same time patriotism was rampant to an unhealthy degree. All those flags flown on cars by people who had never given anything more to their country than tax money, really bothered me. I thought the flags were over the top and I had spent over 12 years on active duty. Anyway, here I was back in the Navy and watching my country’s liberties erode before my eyes. The constitution I took an oath to defend was being subverted by my bosses. It caused a serious crisis of conscious for me. I was somewhat outspoken on drill weekends. This ensured some lively debates. Most in the military prefer to believe their bosses know something more. People wanted to believe the USSR was evil, wanted to believe Iraq posed a threat, just wanted to believe they weren’t being asked to do something that would be amoral in hindsight. I remember telling my fellow officers that I felt In understood what it must have been like to be a German in the 1930’s. That really pissed people off. It’s important to remember that the military is staffed by a cross section of society. They want to believe in what they are doing. They should be able to believe in what they are doing. It’s unfortunate that the last administration was so hell bent on abusing the military’s trust.

The military tends to be a little to the right politically. Part of this is their wish to believe in the petty wars their bosses toss them into. Part of this is a bit more sinister. The seven years I lived in Japan the base radio station only carried one radio political talk show… guess who? Rush Limbaugh. So much for balance.

I’ve come to realize this left bent is more on the surface than deep held feelings though. I used to have some pretty inflammatory left wing bumper stickers on my truck. I was always prepared for someone to go off on me when I was on base. It never happened though. The only comments I ever received were positive. Not many times, mind you, but all positive.

Now that I’m over in Afghanistan more of the people I’ve dealt with in the military are willing to question the right wing BS that brought us into these wars. A bigger complaint is the mismanagement they see. Here we are seven years into Afghanistan and basic infrastructure is still absent. It shouldn’t be any surprise that the Taliban are emboldened. But I digress. What seems to be bothering the people, who are increasingly stepping away from the right, is the utter waste of tax dollars. (If you really want to listen to some horror stories talk to someone who works for the Inspector General) To use a common Naval term… this place is a soup sandwich. It’s the turn of attitude though, subtle as it yet is, that brings me hope. This turn away from blind, unquestioning subservience to questioning the status quo, points to our salvation. Remember that the people I work with are a general cross section of society – a bit more to the right but still a cross section.
This is momentum that needs to be built upon. Now, I’m not saying we need to fall in lock-step with what we are told is the left. What we need to build upon is the trend toward questioning our leaders decisions NO MATTER WHO OUR LEADERS HAPPEN TO BE! Only be exercising our freedoms can we keep them. So, lets all fall in line with the tradition set by Socrates and question authority!