Civilianism #62 / Creeping Militarism

Jul 10, 2008 by shellius

Creeping militarism describes the insidious insertion of the military, extreme patriotism, and constant war into American life. It permeates our culture and shapes our view of the rest of the world, and we probably barely notice it. It shapes our domestic policies too, from our feelings on the death penalty to gun control. The huge amounts of money involved in waging war and emphasizing militarism causes regular people to suffer every day. The first step in fixing this is to recognize it, and for some people, it’s to stop militarism in its tracks at the source: recruiting people to fight in these wars. Young people are being manipulated by marketing teams and propaganda experts to join wars they would never want to be a part of if they were more informed. Helping to fight this: a growing group of people connected online and in their communities. One community is trying to stop the militarism of summer festivals such as air shows in Duluth Minnesota. This episode features an interview with Michele Naar-Obed of Loaves and Fishes Catholic Workers and the Christian Peace Teams and discusses militarism. She has also been to Iraq several times and talks about the situation there also.

This episode can be directly downloaded (click here) or you can subscribe on the right.

The groups in Duluth need your help in counteracting the military recruitment at their air show. The air show occurs on July 19th through July 20th and will involved an exhibit titled THE VIRTUAL ARMY EXPERIENCE. (You can see a little demo on the site). This exhibit teaches young people to think of killing people as part of a video game. This exhibit is traveling around the United States and attempting to make an appearance at family events where children are allowed, in order to get them interested in military as young as possible. Naar-Obed wrote:

“The Duluth air show started out as a celebration of aviation. Over the
years it has become more and more militarized and has been used as a
military recruitment event. We are not denouncing aviation. We are
denouncing the militarization of it.

Militarization has become ubiquitous in our culture. It’s influence is
everywhere. The military purposefully targets our youth. They have
done studies on the best age group to target for recruitment and have
found that it’s best to start with 12 year olds. The “virtual army
experience” exhibit is open to 13 year olds and above. A child as
young as 13 will be invited to sit on a humvee and shoot at life sized
human images on a computer screen with machine guns. They are
preparing our youth to kill. This is insane.”

World and U.S. military spending is out of control, read about it here.

All Links and contact information are after the break, so click on “continue reading”. Please contact people on these lists to try to stop this Virtual Army Experience and the recruiting booth from appearing at this air show, and other air shows around the country. The VAE exhibit is pictured to the left. People sit in the Hummer and shoot at simulated “enemies” just like in a video game. After the shooting game, they are taken to a room and “debriefed” by a decorated real soldier, who also talks to them about military careers. Read all about it here.

Catholic Workers run homes that are about acts of mercy and they are pro-peace, and their ideas cause them to look at the injustices that are occurring and the bigger contexts of war. Why are people poor? Why is affordable housing so hard to get, why is the economy breaking down?

You can get more information about them here.

More on Catholic Worker’s philosophy:

“Catholic Worker at 75” from The Nation magazine.

LINKS:

Contact:
Duluth Air Show Organizers - 218-628-9996 or email - This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Duluth Air Show Information, click here.

Loaves and Fishes is planning a presence at the air show entrance
on June 19.

Numbers to call:
Duluth Air Show Organizers - 218-628-9996 or email - This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Army Recruiters Office - 218-722-7832

Dave Boe, Duluth Air Show Public Relations - 218- 727-7474

Location of flyers:

Loaves and Fishes Catholic Worker
1614 Jefferson St.
Duluth MN

Contact person: Michele Naar-Obed
{obedsinduluth AT yahoo.com}

Also check out these organizations that have pro-peace agendas or counter-recruitment efforts:

The Project on Yourth ahd Non-Military Opportunities– aka YANO — Click here

United for Peace and Justice, click here for website.

Veterans for Peace Chapter 27 (local chapter)
Minneapolis, MN

List state by state of Campaigns against Military recruiting
http://www.unitedforpeace.org