January 24
Madison Avenue Joins the Army
Pat is one of those crusaders who tries tactics until one works. He is against the militarization of our nation's youth, something that I saw in my years as a high school guidance counselor. I always considered recruiters as pests, hanging around schools and pitching manhood and glory to the most vulnerable of my students. No, I didn't want them to run study halls, or to chaperone dances. At least they weren't landing helicopters on our playing fields like they did in the inner city schools.
We talked about the use of video war games to get students used to high tech killing. I didn't know that the Army has mobile vans that can "serve" up to 15 students blasting away at the "bad guys." How to create pathological killers in our society.
We also talked about the advertising profile of potential enlistees. Recruiters are told by advertising firms to seek out those who are prejudiced, misogynistic, violent, and suicidal with low self esteem. The goal of the military is to teach such people how to kill with a variety of weaponry, and to exalt their murderous behavior when they return from overseas. It is quite an effective strategy for creating mass murderers, who often use their lethal skills right here at home. One of the hidden coss of empire.
