War is swell...




Eric Alterman and Joshau Marshall are already preaching for everyone to move on, the outbreak of war invalidates the anti-war movement for the moment. "We lost" sez Alterman "it's time to wish the best of our soldiers and victims of this war and focus on building a better future".
Or so his weblog reads.
Interesting sentiments, I agree with some of them. But then in a larger sense there isn't a whole lot we can do at the moment.
We are forced spectators to the whole war...and many thing do conspire to make us so.
We don't draft anyone to fight thus the sacrifice is unduly placed on a all volunteer force of professionals whose "hero-ization" is the main benefit derived from the conflict.
We don't militarize our economy in any way, with this war we many be the first industrialized country ever to countenance a tax cut during war-time. So we don't even draft money further reducing the body politic to spectatorship...
In a larger sense no specific sacrifices material or spiritual are requested or for that fact offered.
Quite frankly, it's a frighteningly passive experience for a free people at war.
Some will argue that this is a dangerous thing to reduce the citizenry to a mere audience whilst the elite rosily goes off to collect the laurel crowns of conquest.
I wonder if fear isn't at the bottom of it all.
I mean, militarizing the economy, raising taxes to cover the costs of the fighting, drafting kids into the army, all puts a burden on the electorate and electorates as Karl Rove can tell you are unpredictable things. Asking all these things from a free people democratizes the conflict in ways that could have repercussions from a security fixated-messianic minded admin.
Society is a fragile thing to your committed class-warrior type American conservative. These guys live in fear of mobs storming down the avenue screaming for blood and dynamite. At their core they have a dark simplistic view of democracy that defines the citizens either as ripe for manipulation or potential blood-actors in the drama of mob rule/revolution.
Think about that...
JohnIAT@aol.com