THE SOLDIER AND THE STATE

 I wonder what the relationship between the two looks like today. I read the title novel about 30 years ago and it was interesting but I'm not sure I'd believe a single word of social research that alleges to peer into the current relationship between the soldier and the State today. Social research back then had what I thought was no place to go but up but it still surprised me and turned into more useless garbage that its not worth peeling back to read now.

That said, what has the State done to the mind of the warrior elite as its social policies and prattlings have divorced them further and further from the cares and interests of men who set themselves on the path of danger at a young age and then stayed in and accepted the rigors of that life only to find that their own Secretary of Defense decided to overturn the law and spend appropriated money in specific ways that defied the rules because nestling gays and pregnant lesbians was more important to Lloyd Austin then the promotions of every single officer that required the advice and consent of the Congress to get that promotion. He maintained his stand right to the end and never once blinked which left it to others to find some way to let RFK Jr climb down.

It turns out that officers knew for decades that the water they were making their soldiers, sailors and Marines AND THEIR FAMILIES drink and use was toxic in both Pearl Harbor and Camp Lejeune and they are still toxic and likely will be for hundreds of years. They're not unique either since it seems the fire fighting agents we used to put out fires and train with are also quite toxic and have contaminated the ground water everywhere they were used.

All those zillions of DoD officials supposedly concerned with keeping the natives from getting restless have mostly wasted their time and our money doing the opposite if they have done anything at all. How long before the next episode of workplace violence given that we now know that actual no-shit terrorists are casing the bases and have little trouble getting on and off base and does it help that so much of base housing is not even on a base or in anyway protected?

I don't think any of the smart ones use social media at all anymore. Any use of it today is toxic to careers since it can only end up at some point being critical of the people running things so I don't think any of the smart ones even bother. What happens when you simply bottle up your discontent? I think all the truly smart ones see this and move on and leave the service behind to those who are less intelligent or less caring. It might be time to reread the classic Once an Eagle.