Have you ever wondered why you will hear the same commercial over and over again on the radio, or on TV? Do they think you didn’t notice it the first time? Are they too lazy to make a different commercial for the same product? Are they trying to make you sick of hearing or seeing that stupid thing? Or is it something more insidious?
Advertisers understand that, to burrow through someone’s psyche to the point that they remember something, repetition is often the key. If, day in and day out, the radio is telling you why you really want “Product A,” after a while your brain is likely to subconsciously believe it. And in a lot of cases, it hardly matters if the commercial is informative at all, or tells you anything useful. As long as they bash people over the head with the name of the product, over and over again, it makes it more likely that people will buy it.
And so it is with the ongoing U.S. military propaganda campaign: if they keep bombarding people with nationalistic, war-worshiping propaganda, a lot of people will buy it. There is nothing spontaneous or genuine about the ubiquitous “Support our troops!” message plastered everywhere. It is a very deliberate ad campaign by the war-mongers, to make the masses think that “the troops” are something great, that we all really, really need.
In reality, they aren’t. And we don’t. “The troops” are immoral order-followers who violently inflict the arbitrary whims of crooks and tyrants upon the rest of the world. But the average American, having been exposed to the prolonged “ad campaign” for militarism will refuse to accept that, and will likely lash out at any who bad-mouth the “product” they were trained to love.
In a way, this is a good sign. It means that those in power know full well that without an ongoing propaganda campaign, people would not “support the troops,” and would stop cheering for every war that the politicians decided to create. In fact, even with the multi-billion-dollar ad campaign for “War, Inc.,” a lot of people are losing their taste for it anyway.
Then the question becomes, how many people will dare to come right out and say, “This product sucks!” when most of those around them are still “buying it,” so to speak? On this “Memorial Day”—which the-powers-that-be have designated as a day when we peasants should express an extra heavy dose of nationalistic blind loyalty to the ruling class, and should “honor” all those poor dupes who needlessly died in conflicts cooked up by politicians to enrich and empower themselves—how many people will dare to openly bash the “product” of war-mongering?
Well, I will.
It is stupid, and evil, and horribly destructive.
(I’m sparing the reader by not posting images of mangled and shredded body parts, which would more clearly show how super-duper the “product” of war really is.)
I don’t “support the troops,” even if the radio, TV, and various other advertisements keep telling me to. My view of reality doesn’t come from how many times bullshit artists throw certain words and catch phrases at my eyes and ears. I know what freedom and justice are, and I know that “governments” and their militaries and troops have never, and will never, fight for either one. To expect otherwise is ridiculous. Why would anyone ever think that those who want to rule the world would use their hired thugs to actually make people free?
Sure, lots of people who are obliviously ingesting the sales pitch of the war machine might get mad at me when I insult their beloved “product.” I don’t really give a crap. No, I don’t just offend people for the fun of it, but when the choices are to either insult and offend the “consumers” of militarism, or to remain silent while the meat grinder of authoritarian violence continues to annihilate countless human lives, then I really don’t give a damn about people’s “feelz.”
Fuck the troops.
Welcome back. I will say that we do turn our populace which is intentionally conditioned to be obedient as part of the Prussian Education System into troops at a young age before their minds are completely settled into what might be closest to the person they will actually become. They are also blasted with massive amounts of emotional propaganda to get them to fight. This is highly effective in a educational system that teaches very little in the way of critical thinking. They touch on the parts that overlap with math and science, while neglecting and barely mentioning any of the other parts. Why? If you know those other parts well enough the propaganda becomes apparent for what it is. You also realize that questioning things is a positive thing.
So why do I say this? I do not blame the young troops. They were generally hoodwinked. A lot of them die and I can feel grief over that. I do not approve of the actions of the military, yet I look at it more like big puppeteers playing with their plastic army men and casually tossing them around. They have learned over time the best way to keep these people committed and loyal. There are troops that break free. They remember those they fought beside as brothers (now sisters as well) and at those moments they were in the fray. They often thought "why are we here?" but for them it was too late. There are also those that were drafted and they were either physically forced or they were young enough they hadn't quite realized mentally how to resist.
Troops are in reality taken from a segment of our population that has not yet developed the tools they may need to decide for themselves. They have likely been blasted by the propaganda machine their short lives.
I do not like people blindly following any orders. I certainly believe that most wars are caused by governments more than anything else. You can throw religion, race, etc in there as well but I believe those are tools used by the government as part of their propaganda so they can lead us into wars.
So do I hate the troops. No. I hate those that aim them, direct them, and steal their minds.
They are humans. I cannot look at them and treat them as masses of people that have learned to know the things you and I know.
I remember the public school system. I remember college. They do not help a person break free from the propaganda and increasingly they are used to reinforce that propaganda.
So can I "Remember the Troops". Sure. Just like I remember victims of most things. They are victims of the mind used to commit crimes. Some of them may love it, and those I despise. Yet, I've also met plenty people that came through that cesspool and now would stand right beside you in speaking of the evils and corruption of the government.
I do realize that "Remember the troops" is about propaganda to a large degree. I won't go so far as saying "Fuck the Troops" like you did as it is not something I believe. I will say "Fuck the propaganda"!
Again welcome back. I and many others missed having your writings here. I was reminded you've been busy with Candles in the Darkness seminars.
I mostly agree. However, most people who do evil crap think it's not evil, but that doesn't make it okay. Soldiers who commit murder, or other violent aggression, are 100% responsible for their actions, even if they pretend to not be. That having been said, I try not to hate anyone, since hating doesn't do anyone any good. However, I will condemn evil ACTIONS, even if done out of some misguided view of reality. And if more people did that, maybe more of "the troops" would THINK about what they're doing before "just following orders."
I completely agree with you on these things. Those that do evil without knowing it, we hopefully can make them wake up. It doesn't always work out, but it is one of the few non-aggressive things we can try with them.
Could the same argument be made for the generals, politicians, decision makers, etc? Aren't they also a product of their inputs up to this point? I think, at some point, we have to hold people accountable to their "decisions" at whatever level a "decision" can exist for someone who doesn't really jive with the concept of free will. Everyone involved in the war machine, IMO, takes on some responsibly for the actions of that system. You've already seen my post on this.
Yes, this is true. Yet I also don't believe most people are as DEVELOPED mentally at age 18 or so as they like to think they are. So are they responsible? Yes. I also think they were often ill equipped to truly know what their decision meant.
I doubt many of them for example realize that if they are protecting our freedoms then why are they continually invading smaller countries around the world that really were no threat to us...
At that age I don't think many of them think those things.
They generally are much older and should have a much clearer picture of what is going on. "SHOULD" being the operative word.
I've also met many former military people that DO get it. They didn't get it when they signed up, but they figured it out later. That does not stop them from remembering the guys that were there with them and perhaps saved their lives. It does not stop them from remembering when they see that person killed and it being someone close to them. I think many of them GET IT after they are IN IT. Yet that doesn't mean they can realistically extricate themselves FROM IT.
We can condemn their actions, but there is also the reality of survival. They have to come up with an exit plan than will not put their survival at risk.
So do I have a problem with "memorial day". Yes, but not for this reason.
I don't need a day to remember the people I care about that have passed. That is an all the time thing.
I do see "memorial day" as primarily propaganda.
Glad to see you posting here, Larken. :)
I posted a couple weeks ago about why I don't think we should honor the troops, and it really upset some people I know when I shared it on Facebook. The programming runs deep. Not sure what the answer is other than to keep broadcasting a counter message to hopefully reach some kind of balance point where rational thought can once again function. This is system 1/system 2 thinking stuff (have you read Thinking, Fast and Slow? I think you'd like it).
I would say that just because they didn't like hearing it does NOT mean you shouldn't have said it, nor does it mean it didn't make a difference. When they've heard the lie, day in and day out, for all of their lives, they will probably need to hear the truth a LOT before it starts to sink in.
Attacking someones world view is never an instantaneous "Oh, gee you are right". So yes sharing the idea may have set mental seeds that might take some time to sprout, but it could happen. That is what makes talking about these things never a waste of time.
In before "Move to Somalia!"
But @larkenrose....The mooslims!
They gon' kill us all. We need the troops to protect us.
We need to keep convincing people that the world is divided up into separate countries.
Otherwise, traveling 10,000 miles to kill a man who lives 10,001 miles away might make them feel like the bad guy.
Agreed. This product sucks!
The state works much like a large corporation. People support what feeds them even if it means to screw the other side up. Really, is that simple.
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