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from the with-great-power-comes-great-responsibility dept.
The main reason why the U.S. military can promote global peace is because of the aura of invincibility it gained in World War II, because of the end of the Cold War, and because of its overwhelming military spending and technological advantage. But an aura of invincibility is a dangerous thing. And unfortunately, there are signs of rot.
Today, the U.S. military has fallen under the Bureaucracy Rule. The U.S. has no great power rivals, and thank God for that. Iraq and Afghanistan have not caused an identity crisis for the U.S. military because many senior commanders view these as "freakshow" wars — counterinsurgency wars, not the kind of "real" wars that militaries fight.
What are the signs that an organization has become a bureaucracy?
The first is excessive PowerPoint. Every organization should ban PowerPoint ( http://theweek.com/audio/442552/ban-powerpoint ). But it has become particularly endemic in the military ( http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/world/27powerpoint.html?_r=0 ).
The fact that the new Defense secretary has banned PowerPoint from some senior briefings is a step in the right direction ( http://www.forbes.com/sites/pascalemmanuelgobry/2015/02/23/the-war-on-powerpoint-in-the-military-continues/ ).
(Score: 3, Insightful) by pnkwarhall on Saturday February 28 2015, @08:35PM
But the Defense Department **is** living up to its name in the context of the propaganda of "terrorism". I don't think we need to change the government--but we do need to figure out how to effectively respond to the terrorism propaganda that's become rampant. Quoting statistics about someone's likelihood to be harmed by a random act of ideological violence doesn't meet most people where they're at -- a place of fear. How do we help move people away from fear of "the boogeyman" into productive conversations about our world-wide problems?
Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Sunday March 01 2015, @02:43AM
Hush! That sort of talk will draw attention to yourself!
(Score: 2) by pnkwarhall on Sunday March 01 2015, @05:22PM
Hmm... thank you for the warning. Usually I would take it in the context of the "old folks" on this site's paranoia, which I would probably be wise to learn from. However, it was more personally relevant to me today after a conversation I had this morning that showed me that certain POVs are much more controversial/offending than others, and could make me enemies despite my best intentions. (--Much less draw the attention of my true enemies.)
Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven