Opinion: As our geopolitical reality becomes grim, the U.S. military is desperate for immediate reassurance from Gen Z as the government pours millions of dollars into failed recruitment and retention efforts.
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Civilian indoctrination of the military has been a constant recurring theme throughout America’s relatively short but violent history. During the twentieth century, various forms of propaganda were at the forefront of the United States’ military-industrial complex as colorful posters and movie-reels called for enlistment and the call to duty.

Earlier this calendar year, the Senate Committee on Armed Services passed its national military budget for all of 2023. In the National Defense Authorization Act, the 2023 military budget is an absurd $857.9 billion. These funds are to be sent to eight different military sectors –– of these eight, two sectors stand out as worrisome. 

For example, a large amount of this funding is going toward nuclear modernization and continued research and development into weapons beyond human comprehension. Due to the current geopolitical climate between Western countries and the nuclear capable rogue nations of Russia and China, it makes sense that our budget would reflect the rise in nuclear threat. Regardless, it would be naive to completely ignore our current international responsibilities. 

As the West continues to send weapons and aid to Ukraine, the chance for escalation is now a reality. In the Pacific, China continues to threaten Taiwan, and it recently simulated a live-fire faux invasion after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Unfortunately, we the people find ourselves in the middle of a new Cold War, as the U.S. has promised Taiwan immediate military support in the case of China’s potential invasion.
As our new reality becomes grim, the U.S. military is desperate for immediate reassurance. There is now an increased need for soldiers, as the National Defense Authorization Act emphasized the need to “revive and extend temporary authority for targeted recruitment incentives to ensure the military can meet its recruiting and retention needs.”

Modern military recruitment is nothing new as its branches have been recruiting in low-income neighborhoods for the past few decades, following the idea that the poor fight the rich man’s war. Despite the U.S. military’s criticized recruitment tactics, it has doubled down on emphasizing a “new age” in the United States’ military-industrial complex as almost every branch of the military failed to reach its recruitment goal in 2022.

The Department of Defense has partnered with Congress to attract Gen Z to its major branches. The U.S. Army specifically has come out with a new $117 million ad featuring Hollywood’s rising star Jonathan Majors. Unluckily for Majors, who is slated to be the new “big bad” in Disney’s MCU, the ad has been recut and will not rerun until his domestic violence investigation is complete. Much of the financial details of the $117 million budget were not disclosed to the public during Majors’ six days of shooting the commercial, and now the government will have to use an edited thirty second clip of blatant military propaganda. 

The question remains: Why is the United States more focused on being a military powerhouse than using these propaganda funds to fix immediate internal issues that our country currently faces? How come our country’s youth is once again being exploited to potentially fight in another foreign nation? We need to stand up to the military-industrial complex and focus on restructuring our relationship with peace and diplomacy.

Unfortunately, one thing is certain: The U.S. military wants YOU.