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800,000 Privileged Youths Enlist To Fight In Iraq
WASHINGTON, DC—Citing a desire to finally make a difference in Iraq, in the past two weeks, more than 800,000 young people from upper-middle- and upper-class families have put aside their education, careers, and physical well-being to enlist in the military, new data from the Department Of Defense shows.
"I don't know if it was the safety and comfort of the holidays or what, but I realized that my affluence and ease of living comes at a cost," said Private Jonathan Grace, 18, who was to commence studies at Dartmouth College next fall, but will instead attend 12 weeks of basic training before being deployed to Fallujah with the 1st Army Battalion. "I just looked at my parents in their cashmere sweaters and thought, 'Who am I to go to an elite liberal arts college and spend all my time reading while, in the real world, thousands of kids my age are sacrificing their lives for our country?' It's not right."
I realize some people may not find this sort of "fake news" very funny. In fact, it actually points out something rather disturbing about the United States - something that has even received mainstream media attention: the burden of fighting overseas disproportionately falls upon kids from lower and middle income families:
New Marine Sierra Pettingill, a 22-year-old sociology major who left Duke University before her final semester, said she felt compelled to serve after realizing she did not have a single acquaintance who had died, or even served, in Iraq.
"I was sending out invitations to my champagne-brunch birthday get-together when I heard that U.S. military casualties in Iraq had reached 2,900," Pettingill said. "I decided then and there that I would not allow this inherently unequal system to perpetuate any longer, no matter how much I want to go have martini night at the Oak Room."
Doesn't this fake example demonstrate that most people are well aware of the large sacrifice a relatively small group is asked to bear? And what does it mean that we know this both individually and collectively, but do not seem to care very much? Short of joining the military, is there anything meaningful that can be done? The only thing I can think of is to do anything and everything possible to stop the war. But that doesn't really seem like enough.
By Alain | January 11, 2007 in Current Affairs, Democracy, Fiction, Politics, War | Permalink
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Alain lifts the following from the Onion to post it on Long Sunday. WASHINGTON, DC—Citing a desire to finally make a difference in Iraq, in the past two weeks, more than 800,000 young people from upper-middle- and upper-class families have [Read More]
Tracked on Jan 11, 2007 10:08:56 PM
Comments
Alain--this is wonderful. Particularly your point that for this to work it requires that we know the truth. I'm reminded of Kerry's 'gaff'--what made it a gaff wasn't that it was a lame joke but that it was the truth in the context of lies.
I just came in from our local 'honk for peace' demonstration and a friend told me Colbert's take on Bush's escalation--far too few people. Colbert wanted 300 million people deployed in Iraq (the population of the US) minus the gays.
Posted by: Jodi | Jan 11, 2007 5:37:30 PM
Thanks Jodi. I thought of the Kerry joke as well. And Colbert's comment makes a significant point: In order to make a real attempt at "pacifying" the situation in Iraq, the United States would probably have to send in hundreds of thousands of additional troops and slaughter tens of thousands more civilians. But it is obvious that no one would tolerate such a move, even if Bush wanted to do it. So we are left with the current strategy that makes little sense.
Posted by: Alain | Jan 11, 2007 5:55:02 PM
Kerry's gaff was indeed a gaff. It was an insult to those who do serve, even if there are reasons that they can know no better.
to say anything else is just to point out that they are from the lower-middle-classes, and therefore stupid. If you can then say that being from the lower-middle-classes is a form of stupidity and mean it and not take it back with a lie (as Kerry did, and needed to, since he's a political liability to the entire world), then you are saying something worth listening to. the lower, uneducated classes are indeed stupid in many ways. The same is true of the middle middles, the upper middles and the uppers, but the forms of ignorance are all different emphases. However, Kerry is a total hypocrite and a coward, and it is fortunate he was reprimanded and given his fucking walking papers before he destroyed yet another election.
Otherwise, people just want to whine some more and feel guilty because they are really not going to do anything more than they were before they thought a little more tithing into the 'whine pot' would assuage the guilt till the next time.
Either do something and start showing results or stop feeling guilty and trying to 'sound sincere', because that is nothing more than an aspect of 'extended adolescence.'
Posted by: Patrick J. Mullins | Jan 11, 2007 5:56:28 PM
Patrick, are you suggesting that I am trying to 'sound sincere'? If so, what would constitute a more mature approach? You say that instead of whining one ought to "Either do something and start showing results or stop feeling guilty" Other than participating in protests, or voting, or giving money to causes, what do you suggest would be a more useful or effective activity? Clearly blogging isn't going to change the world, or at least not blogging at Long Sunday. But so what?
Posted by: Alain | Jan 11, 2007 6:05:15 PM
Other than anecdotal observations regarding recruiting efforts in minority areas, which can be offset by an equal number of anecdotes about upper middle class families who have lost a child, the studies on socio-economic status seem inconclusive.
The partisan Heritage Foundation says this:
http://www.heritage.org/Research/NationalSecurity/cda06-09.cfm
Historically, the underlying premise of parody is questionable(i.e. true in Vietnam, not so much WW2, not so in WW1, and probably completely false in that blatant war of Yankee Imperialism, the Spanish-American war, which was idealistic volunteers)
Posted by: Toadvine | Jan 12, 2007 6:42:24 AM
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