Wrestling with Patriotism vs. Principles

May is National Military Appreciation Month, and the library district brass wants us to include observances of this occasion in our social media post assignments, but this is a challenge. In my childhood, I developed the usual patriotic habits inculcated by midwestern culture, pledging allegiance, saluting the flag, and such. Over time, however, my study of history and philosophy leads me to conclude the government is illegitimate, its military is guilty of mass murder, and like marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler wrote way back in 1935, War is a Racket.

Speaking from my own living memory, the military has been routinely sent abroad on dubious justifications to impose puppet states, prop up allied dictators, and bomb strangers from the sky. I remember some confusion about US participation in the NATO bombings in the former Yugoslavia in direct contrast to what I was learning about the Constitution and its very specific language regarding war powers. The Global War on Terror was a fool's errand. While the US has finally withdrawn military forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, they are still supporting Saudi Arabian genocide in Yemen.

Now we have conflict in Ukraine as Russia invades, and whether intentionally or accidentally, it is devastating the lives of the civilian populace. The media, always eager for war headlines, wants to compare Putin to Hitler. Evil Mustache Man started World War II by invading a foreign country under the guise of re-unifying an ethnic group divided by national borders arbitrarily imposed following a prior conflict, so there are superficial similarities at play. However, Putin's blitzkrieg seems to have faltered, and I doubt very much Russia has the infrastructure to press forward.

This tendency to hearken back to World War II is also a peculiar obsession. Every new foreign despot has been compared to Hitler. Hell, every election cycle includes allegations of racism and fascism. No one looks deeper to the seeds of conflict sowed by the Treaty of Versailles following World War I, or the economic fallout from war debt and inflation contributing to the Great Depression. These, combined with militaristic nationalism, created a perfect environment for authoritarian demagogues to seize power by promising salvation through political monopoly.

World War I is also perhaps the last example of the military actively disregarding orders to recognize the shared humanity of the grunts on the ground sent to kill and die for the political class. Early in the war, there was a Christmas truce which temporarily overruled belligerent orders. The soldiers refused to fight and kill, even if for only a few days. This was unacceptable to the higher echelons. Training, propaganda, and disciplinary measures combined with ramping up the brutality of war were designed to engender hatred and prevent peace from breaking out.

Today, we have the illusion of a volunteer military despite the specter of the Selective Service System or the reality of the poverty draft and propaganda. We are told the troops protect our liberties while they help wage illegal and unjust wars which result in terrorism blowback. The National Guard even flagrantly violated the Bill of Rights following Hurricane Katrina, so how can I trust any soldier to hold his oath above his orders?

I can't appreciate the military of today. Enforcers for a corrupt government will themselves inevitably be corrupt. Remember, every war crime committed by any soldier under any flag is a personal dereliction of conscience. "My" government and "my" military are no exception. Maybe there are times when violence in self-defense is justified, and the use of arms to prevent a crime is necessary, but governments the world over are built on a foundation of extortion and murder. If my patriotism is dead, it is because the government has betrayed the very principles of respect for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness which they claim to uphold.