Service?

It’s interesting how we’ve allowed death and destruction to be accepted as “service”. We say “they served our country”, “they served in Iraq”, “they were in the service”. All of these mean they were in the military.

The military is the largest violence educational institution in the world. The foundation of the military is death and destruction. By using the words "service" and "served" in relation to the military we are reinforcing the concept that violence solves problems. As we look at history we see massive violence. If violence solves problems, then, after all these years of violence, we should not have problems.

The military is bolstered by the weapons industry, our major industry and our number one export product. The weapons industry, the financial industry and others make billions from wars, conflicts, occupations, covert operations and the booty protected or obtained by these actions.

The challenge is to sell wars, conflicts, and occupations to the people. You need a subtle approach. You need a culture that accepts violence as “the solution”. To accomplish this you need a trifecta of propaganda: generate fear, tell the people the solution will strengthen freedom and democracy at home and around the world, and glorify the solution that carries out the death and destruction.

Calling the military “service” is acceptance of the solution.