Having served in Fallujah in 2004 with a Marine Corps Civil Affairs Team and come home with some mixed feelings, I have some thoughts I'd like to share with my active duty brothers and sisters. Although I am dead set against killing for Trump, we share the noble cause of being willing to put our lives on the line for this country. There are some critical lessons to be learned from recent history that directly relate to your life in uniform. Whether you choose to recognize that connection is up to you.
Foreign policy is the primary reason the federal government is bankrupt and has to borrow about 40 cents of every dollar it spends. The debt per citizen is over $60,000. That's a stone around the neck of every child who is supposed to be born free. For the sake of argument, let's accept that the threat of terrorism is as bad as the government claims (which is a pretty ridiculous assertion) and accept that the government might be justified in a few drone strikes or even sending some missiles to protect us from the overblown specter of a tin-pot dictator. But the premise of the majority of our military spending is that it's ok for the government to sell future generations into debt slavery so that rich men can get richer while poor men die in wars based on some supposedly well-intended notion that we can improve the lives of people in other countries through imposing martial law.
Of course, there's always the reassuring idea that you are serving in the military to protect our freedom. But for some reason, as the size of the military has increased, freedom has continued to decrease. Obviously, economic freedom is at an all-time low, but the police policies under which we live, have become a constant threat to civil liberties as well. Political prisoners like the Bundy family and Ross Ulbricht still rot in jail. So let me be brutally honest for a second here: if you're defending our freedoms, YOU - FUCKING - SUCK!
In 1932, the "Bonus Army" of 17,000 WWI veterans and tens of thousands of supporters marched on the capitol to demand the bonuses that the government had promised them. They set up an encampment quite similar to Occupy Wall Street, except well-run, well-organized, with a critical mass of people, and in order to live in the camp, every veteran had to prove their honorable discharge. Back then, they referred to it as a Hooverville, like the thousands shanty towns that sprang up around America due to economics that were blamed on President Hoover. (If they weren't still under the propaganda spell of our then exploiter-in-chief, the "Occupation" protestors could have called their encampments "Obamavilles.") President Hoover ordered the veterans' encampment cleared and sent in Generals MacArthur and Patton. Yes, THAT MacArthur, and THAT Patton. The protestors thought the troops were marching to honor them, until the cavalry charged and the infantry came in with fixed bayonets, and adamsite gas, a vomiting agent. 55 veterans were injured, 135 arrested, and the speech of all effectively silenced.
No modern war was fought for the reasons the troops were told and the police who think they are supporting the rule of law are just as clueless as the troops in Vietnam who thought the Gulf of Tonkin incident was real. As much as there is a war on drugs, and a war on crime and a war on poverty and a war on terrorism, there is a war by the government, against YOU! War is the health of the state. War is exploitation. And as Marine Major General Smedley Butler said, "WAR IS A RACKET."
The greatest exploitation happens here at home. Wealth flows to the friends of government while the dependent class grows and the people who actually pay taxes get fleeced. So what is YOUR role as one of Trump's imperial foot soldiers? You're just a pawn. Nothing new. Not only are you a good excuse for the government to spend more money on the military, you're also a way to "project power" abroad so that our government can exploit foreigners, AND a way to control the population here at home. Remember the Kent State incident on May 4th 1970 when national guard troops shot and killed four protesting students? While using troops to confiscate firearms during Hurricane Katrina was a rare exception, more troops are now training for domestic operations than ever before, and the police are increasingly militarized.
But of course, if you really want to crack skulls, you don't have to wait for the next mobilization of troops against civilians, you can just join the police. For obvious reasons, many veterans go right into law enforcement, and while this may help you get out of a speeding ticket if the officer pulling you over is a fellow vet, it doesn't do anything but reinforce the system that has become the greatest threat to the rights that it's supposed to protect.
The American founders opposed the idea of a standing army entirely, favoring a militia defense, knowing that it would be in line with the needs of the people, whereas a military is more in line with the needs of politicians and special interests. Who would have thought that the men who founded this country would have considered joining the military anti-American? It just goes to show you how effective government propaganda can be. If we're asking the question of which country to invade next, we're not asking if maybe we shouldn't be invading other countries at all. And if we're debating that, we've forgotten to ask the question, "Should we have a military at all?" Because when you ask that, you soon realize that not only is the answer a resounding "NO!" but that having a military makes us less safe. Yeah, it's counter-intuitive, but lives are at stake, so it's pretty important to get this one right. The most dangerous weapon to a corrupt power is an open and engaged MIND!
So finally, back to that noble cause. As much as I'd like every soldier to immediately start disobeying all unconstitutional orders and live up to our oath of enlistment, I realize that's a bit much to ask. Standing up for what you believe in has consequences after all. But it also has rewards! So I'll just INVITE you to apply the same courage it took to put on that uniform for the first time, to asking yourself WHY you joined the military in the first place and WHETHER OR NOT the system you are a part of serves that cause, or undermines it. While a war can be just on one side if it is truly defensive, war has always represented the greatest failure of humanity, and modern war, has never been about settling legitimate disputes, but rather the most vicious exploitation by government. Whether or not you believe that war has ever been just or necessary, let us share the lessons of our experience, let us not be deceived again, and let's make ours the last generation of combat veterans the world will ever know. Hoorah?
I am the author of FREEDOM!, a book endorsed (I mean banned) by the US Department of “Justice.” You can get a copy here. I’m running for Not-President in 2020 on the platform of the peaceful, orderly, and responsible dissolution of the United States federal government. You can find out more here. Whoever has the top comment on this post after 24 hours can claim a free signed copy of FREEDOM! by sending me a message with their address.
Speaking of standing armies, Virginia's Declaration of Rights was written before the US Constitution:
Section 13. That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.
We have come a long way since then. People forget that early Americans were willing to die to fight a powerful imperial army. Now our army has become the same.
I walked by a car while going to work the other day, and it had a bumper sticker that said, "Make America Great Britain Again." Oh yeah? Sic semper tyrannis, mf'er.
Simply. Awesome.
I sent you a little upvote love, @endplunder. Your reputation should not be 35! Have you been in steemit.chat yet to talk? Please network with fellow liberty lovers on there. Goodnight for now!
Hey, brother! Text me for my address. haha Enjoy the night... I am. /cheer
@adamkokesh, that was a heartfelt rant that I would feel justified in writing daily. War is a rich man's game and the foot soldiers are merely cannon fodder. Patriotism has nothing to do with fighting made up enemies abroad. War is theft. Standing armies are theft. Wasteful spending is theft. That is the bulk of the pentagon's budget, theft. Passing our money on to special interests that give us nothing but grief and a police state for our efforts. Kokesh for Not-President 2020!
Thanks! Well said!
Right on Adam! Due to my questioning nature, and dislike of authority I knew I could never join the Military. Turned out to be a blessing. I would however gladly fight to the death against any invading force that came to my home soil.
I believe the warrior class of men should defend their borders from the inside to stay honorable, and never cross that line. Other wise they become the invading force and doing nothing but fighting for fighting's sake.
There's plenty of ways to be a tough guy or hero right at home :-)
Cheers brother & Goodluck with your endevors.
Much appreciated!
I can't wait for your first executive order as not for president. You are one of the whole reasons I became a voluntarist anarcho capitalist. Proud of the way you have held it together throughout your persecutions. War is a racket. Peace and love. @adamkokesh
Thank you for writing this post, voices like yours should be heard in these uncertain times.
Thank you!
Nothing is fair in love and war, war is only made to kill the poor.
War is a rough game in which i didn't support in that huh
I respect and appreciate your views, and I've personally seen some wasteful and generally corrupt things happening in the name of defense, but there are still many ways that the department of defense protects freedom. Countries like Estonia on Russia's border and South Korea benefit from the security that the U.S. gives them compared to the security of their more aggressive neighbors.
I hate the ways parts of our defense industry work, but these assholes are still necessary while there are other states more aggressive than them.
Is it necessary for US security?
Upvoted and RESTEEMED :]
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STOPVery well said and a good Account taking into both sides of the coin. I feelt it always comes across better from someone who had actually experienced it.
Its funny my partners cousin has just been discharged from the army on health ground possbile diabetes (he a struggling on high exserion). Chatting to him he is disappointed, I explain the obviouse and his respones was he wanted the carrer opportunity and he would not have been sent anywhere to bad. I explained that it was more than that it was the ethos behind the wars not where you were being sent. He is out now and thats the main think but does not seem to have any awareness of the situation I mean he agrees that the war is a proxy war but that it needs to be done inorder to bring peace. When questioned on his logic he could not explain and chaged the subject? The main thing he is out i guess but it relly highlighted the brainwashing in the army for me and the speiel he came out with was quite worrying !
Hey Brother, Great to see you back around. Hope all is going well. Stop by on one of your tours. Life is even better here now than before~*~
Good article. Here's one that I wrote a while back:
https://steemit.com/veterans/@donniet/a-veterans-day-reflection
Good piece of work. I have not served although several I love have served. I think for years past the vision and reality of men long gone is also gone. War is profit for yes the rich. Propagonda is a key word in the end of life as we know it could be.
"Serving" in the military is an oxymoron. All your service, Adam, has been in the years since you rejected the State. I thank you for this service.
Amen. He's a Rockstar.
Hey I didn't think about it like that but you're right. Can they really call it serving if they got paid? And got free school? Worth considering.
This is possibly the most well written way to say this. Thank you adam
Rothbard had it correct: war should be the most important issue of a libertarian.
War is the health of the state.