“This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence – economic, political, even spiritual – is felt in every city, every state house, every office of the federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.”
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961
The military-industrial complex is far from a revelation in American society. Our economy has always had strong roots in defense. And while this progresses us in certain arenas, its scope of consequences is changing. As the nature of war mutates and becomes more disturbing in a post-Sept. 11 world, so do its ramifications for the American people.
We’re going to be fighting for a long, long time. And inherent in that longevity are changes in the “structure of our society”.
Over the weekend, I sat down and shared some beers with a veteran of the Special Forces. Beginning at age 17 with parental consent, he spent eight years in the service, including several in rural Afghanistan. He now studies as a graduate student at the University.
I asked him what war was like and his answers were understandably abridged. But as more pitchers were ordered and our conversation continued, he began to raise some interesting points about the effect that this long-term war on terror is having on American society.
Most American manufacturing jobs are gone to globalization and the convincing justification of economic theory. Across the country there is now a large work force that doesn’t have the type of job options that their parents once enjoyed. Most of our manufacturing labor is outsourced, so the young men and women in America who would have typically filled these jobs are looking to the military for their careers, not as officers or technicians, but as infantry. As soldiers.
Let’s be honest; there’s definitely job security in the military these days.
There are many who would say that this large movement of young people onto the front lines is just an inevitable repercussion of war. Those people are right; wars need soldiers. But in contrast to American veterans in the past, these soldiers will not have a manfacturing job market waiting for them upon return. There aren’t many more well-paying jobs for workers without college educations in this country.
To be sure, the military does provide opportunities for soldiers to go to college following their service. For many soldiers, however, a college eduction is not a priority, or realistic economically if they have families to support. Some of the most intelligent people in our nation are in the military, but the disparity among the ranks is growing as more and more people enlist.
We seriously need to begin designing solutions for our generation’s veterans. With more and more war in our future, there will be new ranks of vets every year needing assistance after war.
The Millitary says that soldiers become skilled workers in the process of war. This is true in some cases, but soldiers for the most part learn to be soldiers in war. In fact, the experiences of modern war tend to hinder their ability to re-assimilate into civilian life. A good friend of mine from high school is a sharpshooter with the Army Rangers. He laughs and fondly tells stories about playing Halo on X-box inside armored personnel carriers parked in the middle of urban war zones. I think a lot of people back home would have a hard time identifying with the fun in that.
Given how drawn out today’s foreign conflicts are, we’re going to see a lot of Americans fighting in wars for their living. They’ll always have a job as soldiers. Their allegiance to the armed forces will exist, not because of values or national pride, but because it’s a career. But infantry jobs keep people just above the poverty line and leave them more detached from society at the end than when they started in most cases.
The growing population of young veterans will inevitably alter the “structure of our society.” It has to be the responsibility of our country to support veterans in their return from the war on terror. Their existence in numbers is a direct effect of military campaigns with unclear objectives and as long as our conflicts continue to be drawn out and without definitive goals, they will require more and more young soldiers to fill their ranks.
It is important that we remember the lessons from veterans of the Vietnam War. As the number of veterans from the war on terror increases, we need to be cautious about unemployment, medical concerns and other issues our veterans have faced in the past. This will be an important issue of the near future. Our society and economy are changing fast with this war, and are coupled with the changing global economy. It’s our responsibility to monitor and be responsible in regards to its full impact, veterans included.
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