Soldiers are just a bunch of dumb grunts, right?
Ask a few latte-quaffing urbanites, and you'll soon discover that CF members - anyone wearing a military uniform - are lacking in intellectual curiosity, bereft of creative or critical thought, and merely deadly automatons in mindless service to whatever authority is put above them.
Who needs reality when you have such a smug myth to cling to?
I'll bet Nick was one of the few people there who noticed the uniforms and made the connection with what they were reading.
Who needs reality when you have such a smug myth to cling to?
One hopeful moment I have been meaning to pass on: My recent excursion to the annual book sale at Trinity College was an encounter with the same line ups, the same elbows and knees and - this year - the unpleasant discovery of just how many bibliophiles need to consider adding deodorant to their vocabularies. The Poetry section was picked over as never before and the Astrology/Occult section was, as usual, a bust. But I cleaned up in Classics and Military History, scoring a first edition of The Generalship of Alexander by J.F.C. Fuller and a gorgeous 1904 printing of Langhorne and Langhorne's Lives by Plutarch.
As much as I was pleased by my finds I was more pleased to learn the men competing with me for the classics were in Canadian armed forces uniforms. It may be that most of our people are no longer taught - and no longer care to learn - our most profound history. But it may be the most important of our people have not forgotten and are eager to educate themselves. I met a woman in the stacks who was organizing a drive to send reading materials to Canada's forces in Afghanistan. A number of us searched out some improving material to send along with the (also important) diversions.
I'll bet Nick was one of the few people there who noticed the uniforms and made the connection with what they were reading.
posted by Babbling Brooks at 12:18 p.m.
2 Comments:
From what one reads all over the Internet, this disparaging disdain of military men and women is a common viewpoint of most of the West's Leftists, who are stuck in the timewarp of their 1960's mentality.
All the Anglo nations have had voluntary militaries for decades now. From what one reads and hears all over the Internet, the consensus is that collectively, the West's militaries of today are overall the brightest, most educated and most motivated militaries we've ever had. The operative word is quality.
Not only do almost all officers have bachelors degrees, many have or are working on post-graduate degrees. A significant percentage of career NCOs likewise have bachelor's degrees or are working on one. The vast majority of first-term enlistees are high school graduates, many of whom are working on night-school or distance education programs even while in service.
But since the Left's secular theology includes the article of faith that "the military" is stupid, it follows under their circular logic that members of the military are stupid.
Do we remember Senator John Kerry's infamous and telling remark to students that if they didn't do their homework, they'd "end up in Iraq"? Kerry for once accidentally telling the truth about what he thinks is also what's the consensus of the West's Left.
I'd say rather that if students didn't want to do any homework, didn't want to do any actual critical thinking or intellectual development, they'd likely end up with a degree in Journalism and end up working at the CBC or MSNBC or the BBC...writing slovenly hackneyed articles impugning the intelligence of Servicemen and Women. Servicemen and Women who could run rings around them in both intellect and in character.
I believe that most colleges & universities were founded with the belief that the students were going either into the military, or the priesthood.
Some of them offered curriculum such as medical and/or legal courses however there was an understanding that the students would serve their country in some manner.
It is unfortunate that this tradition was lost, but it speaks well of the observation at the book sale about the number of uniforms. I know I never considered myself dull or uneducated when I was in the military.
Post a Comment
<< Home