(1) It is common knowledge that American soldiers and veterans lean heavily right-wing in their political biases. What is less commonly known however is how heterogenous those biases can become following their service.
(2) This is what one researcher, Tyson Chatagnier, at the London School of Economics observed. In a 2022 study done over two phases comprising nearly four thousand participants, over half of whom were veterans, Chatagnier found that the results told “a consistent stort in three parts”:
“First, more conservative individuals are more likely to volunteer for military service. Second, conservatism is tempered by the service, which has a moderating effect. Subsequent analyses indicate that this is driven primarily by social issues, perhaps suggesting that the development of close ties to a broad group of comrades-in-arms instils more socially tolerant attitudes. Third, the socialization effect is not strong enough to override the selection effect—in the end, veterans remain more conservative than their non-veteran counterparts.”
(3) This is consistent with my own interactions with veterans in previous lines of work – especially combat veterans who had served in the field. I was always amazed at the heterogeneous nature of their political analyses, while still quite nationalist and conservative, displayed deep critiques of the governments that sent them into battle. Being in the field – whether as a military veteran or any other frontline position such as an aid worker, human rights activist, or journalist – changes a person radically.
(4) In an era of increasingly democratized mass communication outlets and accessible media platforms, people have started displaying a rapidly decreasing tolerance for naked militarism; Both on the traditional left and right of old-school political spectrums (that in and of themselves are getting more heterogeneous) for the simple goddamn fact that people are not monoliths.
(5) Indeed, a brief look-see at the 2020 election results saw military bases in a hard swing away from Republicans. Imagine that.
(6) I remain hopeful that this trend will have a sobering effect on warmongering. After all, hope is in short supply. So why not be hopeful and encourage this wave of anti-militarism on the left and right? As a citizen of the United States – the world’s foremost sponsor and perpetrator of state terror – it’s the least I can be, considering I face none of the brutality from the various nationalist conflicts happening in various parts of the globe that the US sponsors in some way or the other, apparently for my benefit.
(7) We must not fall prey to the machinations of elitist chicken hawks sending American workers to fight imperialist wars of plunder and occupation. So on second thought, let’s be outright forceful, if a tad naive, in saying:
NO MORE WAR!
NOT IN OUR NAME!
PEACE NOW!
***
Broken Shackles Media | Citizen Journalism | Oct 28 2023
love liberation struggle 