Is the military-industrial complex striking again?

Wikimedia and countless other sources will tell you that Armistice Day was established on November 11 to commemorate the armistice signed between the Allies and Germany at Compiègne, France, to cease hostilities on the Western Front in World War I. The end of that blood bath was a worthy cause for celebration, as would be any genuine armistice or peace agreement.

Many of the Allies declared the date a national holiday to honor servicemen who died in the war. Following World War II, the United States changed the name of the holiday to honor veterans of all its wars. And here we are in 2015 about to “honor” our veterans again.

So, I ask you, What the heck does that mean? What does it mean to “honor” our veterans? Clearly it means to hold parades and try to get some uniformed veterans to march in them. Perhaps those particular veterans marching in those parades feel honored. Or at least vindicated for their role in any violence perpetrated in the name of their country.

And I ask you, who gains what from the parades and the hype about honoring veterans? Do the celebrations serve in any meaningful way to make the lives of  veterans better? Do commemorations get the homeless veterans off the streets and into housing? Do they provide job training programs, adequate medical care, psychological treatment? Do they relieve PTSD? If our country truly wanted to honor veterans, wouldn’t it treat them better? 

Or are the Veteran’s Day parades and ceremonies largely just another media event, a form of propaganda in service of that false god, patriotism?  Are they also, moreover, a recruitment device, an enticement offered to young men and women, particularly in cities jammed full of unemployed and underemployed people, to convince them that it is honorable to join in whatever armed conflicts the government decides will serve its agenda in the next generations? And can’t we do better than that for both the veterans and the civilians in this country?

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology