Brendan’s Response To Week 2 Blog Post

I think the questions posed at the end are very intriguing when considering America’s history of participation in wars. In short, I believe that a combination of the powers of the pro-war ideographs and the economic and political benefits of war lead to this constant state of war in America. American culture and society has bred great appreciation and respect for the military. As you mentioned, the ideograph of “support our troops” are examples of this. With this widespread attitude, there are many people who “support the troops” but not necessarily the war itself. Despite this, as long as Americans hold the military in such a high regard, it will be an option for young men to enter into the armed forces, and with a military force that is constantly war-ready, it becomes easier for the political powers to utilize. I think the questions posed at the end are very intriguing when considering America’s history of participation in wars. In short, I believe that a combination of the powers of the pro-war ideographs and the economic and political benefits of war lead to this constant state of war in America. American culture and society has bred great appreciation and respect for the military. As you mentioned, the ideograph of “support our troops” are examples of this. With this widespread attitude, there are many people who “support the troops” but not necessarily the war itself. Despite this, as long as Americans hold the military in such a high regard, it will be an option for young men to enter into the armed forces, and with a military force that is constantly war-ready, it becomes easier for the political powers to utilize.  In addition, I agree that the Military Industrial Complex plays a major role in the ongoing wars. Just as Astore mentions in War Is the New Normal, “the U.S. military’s recourse to private contractors has strengthened the profit motive for war-making and prolonged wars as well.” This part of the reading really reminded me of the movie, War Dogs, that came out in 2016. the movie opens with this monologue:  What do you know about war? They’ll tell you it’s about patriotism, democracy… or some shit about the other guy hating our freedom. But you wanna know what it’s really about? What do you see? A kid from Arkansas doing his patriotic duty to defend his country? I see a helmet, fire-retardant gloves, body armor and an M16. I see $17, 500. That’s what it costs to outfit one American soldier. Over two million soldiers fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. It cost the American taxpayer $4.5 billion each year just to pay the air conditioning bills for those wars. And that’s what war is really about. War is an economy. Anybody who tells you otherwise is either in on it or stupid. I think this quote and that movie as a whole help to summarize that as long as there is an economic motive present, war will continue to be a part of our reality.

Collin Kavanaugh’s Response:

I think that is a great quote, I might have to look into watching that movie. I thought it was surprising that the American military is so highly respected in our country as a governmental organization. The corporate associations that capitalize on that respect are only contributing to our acceptance of this country as a war state. We need to find more ideographs that counteract and challenge the “support our troops” ideology to hopefully take steps away from it.