Failure To Communicate

Every advance in communications technology was supposed to break down the barriers to true, human understanding. Books, the telegraph, radio, television, and now, the internet.

And each time, the Utopian vision has failed. Human beings do not change their world views voluntarily; they only do so after those world views/mindsets have failed. And some do not, even when utterly crushed (see: American Civil War).

So what do you say to an NCO (who you have met through the miracle of the internet), who can quote you chapter and verse on almost all military history, but cannot see the irony of his last assignment: Training AF and Navy support personnel to be light infantry and convoy drivers? How do you tell him that stripping the other services because the politicians won't start a draft is a sign of desperation? How do you tell him that the other services will suffer (see: AF screwups) because they are being overextended? Facts? Figures? Logic?

Never bring them to an opinion fight. This guy has been subject to the most insidious effect of the post-Viet Nam military: politicization. Not only has the society been warped during the Third Turning, much of the NCO and officer corps has been warped further. A military that can't see straight is doomed. We've created a corps of Imperial Grunt/Martyrs, who wonder why they are not winning, despite being God's Chosen/Gideon's Band. (Heinlien's Starship Troopers?)

All they want is a little ego stroking on the level of The Pope (thank you, Tom Wolfe).

Note: this is not a blanket thing, but it describes the worst effects of the Great Push Right. 80%+ of officers described themselves as Republicans.

As a conservative, this scares me. We're screwing up our military.

We lose half of the brightest, and most gifted warriors before enlistment. If the military is seen as an appendage of one political party, it loses all credibility. Such a military will also pursue a failed policy until it's own destruction (because it means The End for the politicians who ordered it). Iraq has gone on longer than WW 2, and has cost more than Viet Nam, even adjusted for inflation. We've already fought WW 3 in equipment usage.

So what do you say to the lifer? Nothing. You are not going to convince him.

All you can do is fire the politicians who have created the mess. Even if it means swallowing your pride, and crossing political lines to do so. Let the lifer rave and scream from his trailer park. He's had his chance, and his time. Time for America to stop being Imperial Rome, and start being America again. With citizen-soldiers, not centurions. (Cylons?)

It will take two generations to recover. Let the healing begin.