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| [Apr 30, 2012, 09:51 am ET] - Share - Viewing Comments |
CNET Australia - Anders Breivik, video games and the militarisation of society.
Both critics and supporters of games and gaming, it seems, are unable or unwilling to address the big picture: that Western societies are undergoing a process of militarisation.
Militarisation is the social process through which societies are organised in ways that allow for the production of violence. According to the feminist writer Cynthia Enloe, militarisation describes a process through which individuals come to view militaristic ideas and military needs as being significant and the norm.
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Re: Op Ed |
Apr 30, 2012, 13:41 |
WarpCrow |
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LittleMe wrote on Apr 30, 2012, 12:40:
Cutter wrote on Apr 30, 2012, 11:04:
Even the dumbest, staunchest military supporter realizes that a military is of no use if there's nothing to protect.
This isn't true. Political figures will find new enemies and beat the nationalistic drums of war as long as the masses buy into it. It's an ego enhancing behavior. People want enemies to compare themselves with. The more they differentiate themselves from perceived enemies, the more they enhance their false sense of self. It is human insanity.
Couple with all those people leaving the military and the focus becomes spending on jobs, education, infrastructure, etc. where it should be.
The warfare/welfare state goes hand-in-hand. They are two sides of the same coin. If you want broad socialist policies ('central planning' to feel good), then you are also going to get militarism.
If you're referring to the USSR and the Chinese, their militarism was enabled by nationalism, not socialism. The idea of defending and bringing glory to the homeland is what motivates the public to believe in the military, it's what motivates a soldier to be loyal. The welfare states of Europe are far from militant, probably because they've lost much of their sense of nationalism (although far-right parties are starting to bring it back in some parts), whereas the USA with its strong culture of patriotism has troops all over the world fighting for its (primarily economic) interests. It really has nothing to do with left or right, although the modern left if anything tends to be anti-nationalist and therefore lean on military. |
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