militainment

Wed
8
Apr
2015
New translation available
Submitted by antimili-youth

Moscow: Pictures of young Russian children posing with mock AK-47 rifles and other weapons at a kindergarten have provoked a storm of controversy, but some defended them as patriotic education.

Pictures making the rounds online show boys...

Tue
11
Aug
gdghirardi's picture

The US Military Is Using Online Gaming to Recruit Teens

Gamers with the Army, Navy, and Air Force are spending hours on Twitch with children as young as 13.

Jordan Uhl  -

Have a nice time getting banned, my dude,” Army recruiter and gamer Joshua “Strotnium” David told me right before he booted me from the US Army’s Twitch channel. I had just reminded viewers of the United States’ history of atrocities around the globe, and helpfully provided a link to the Wikipedia page for US war crimes.
Was I undiplomatic? Sure. But if the military is going to use one of the world’s most popular platforms to recruit kids, then it shouldn’t be able to do so without some pushback. Right now, with the support of Twitch, gamers with the US military are spending hours with children as young as 13, trying to convince them to enlist.

Tue
31
Jul

Protests across Germany and the UK in response to public military days

Activists protesting at a military site in Mannheim, Germany, on the Bundeswehr Day

Activists in Germany and the UK organised actions during public military days in their countries.

In many Western countries, militaries recruit on a voluntary basis. This requires those militaries to pay more attention than ever to their 'public relations' (PR), to reach out to as many young people as possible and convince them to join their ranks. 'National days', or similar public days linked with the military, have been an effective component of this strategy. Last month, two examples of this occurred in two European countries: Germany and the UK.

Thu
24
May

First-person Shooter Games, the US Military, and Serial Killers

Nik Cruz, the Parkland shooter, and Dimitrios Pagourtzis, the Santa Fe shooter, uploaded these photos on to their Instagram account of their favorite pastime – First-person shooter games.

Pat Elder - May 23, 2018 - 

Both Nik Cruz, the Parkland shooter, and Dimitri Dimitrios Pagourtzis, the Santa Fe shooter, were emotionally distraught because of girls who rejected their advances. They were both outcasts in their respective high schools. They both played video games that simulated war.  In his Facebook bio, Dimitri showed interest in joining the US Marine Corps “starting in 2019.” Nik Cruz felt more at home with the Army.

This is not a cheap shot. The military recruits gamers from the virtual world.

Mon
07
May

5th International Week of Action Against the Militarisation of Youth to take place between 12-18 November

On 12-18 November this year, activists from across the world are taking action against the militarisation of young people in their countries, cities and towns.

Join us this November in this global action with your own nonviolent actions and events!

The International Week of Action Against the Militarisation of Youth is a concerted effort of antimilitarist actions across the world to raise awareness of, and challenge, the ways young people are militarised, and to give voice to alternatives. The week is coordinated by War Resisters' International.

Tue
03
Apr

JROTC Cadet Nik Cruz

JROTC Cadet abs School Shooter Nik Cruz

Pat Elder

Cadet Private First-Class Nik Cruz was talking to America when he posted his photos on Instagram. Nik takes us inside his world. He wanted us to see his development from a fairly normal kid to a serial killer. Cruz is a product of American culture and he has a message for us, although we may not want to hear it. Cruz’s odyssey from ostracized youth to serial killer is noted for its adherence to a well-documented script. Cruz is the prototype. He is general issue.

Looking through a gun sight

Cruz uploaded this image to his Instagram account.

Sun
26
Nov
gdghirardi's picture

Researching Pop Culture and Militarism: If we oppose militarism and militarization, what should our relationship with pop culture be?

Researching Pop Culture and Militarism: If we oppose militarism and militarization, what should our relationship with pop culture be?

Selene Rivas - November 26, 2017

Over the course of this series, we have explored several concepts which are building blocks for the social sciences (“normal”, “normalization”), which in turn have helped us understand and define “militarism” and “militarization”. After this, we dove into the transformative potential found within popular culture: how can it affect the people who consume it? Linking this very powerful influence to previously defined concepts was both the justification and launching point for the two articles that followed. In them, we tried to build upon what had been said previously, and provide some examples of what could be accomplished through this approach.

Sat
25
Nov
gdghirardi's picture

Researching Pop Culture and Militarism: Can video games be anti-violence?

Researching Pop Culture and Militarism: Can video games be anti-violence?

Selene Rivas - November 25, 2017

Fri
24
Nov
gdghirardi's picture

Researching Pop Culture and Militarism: What exactly is an 'anti-war' film?

Selene Rivas - November 24, 2017

“A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done. If a story seems moral, do not believe it. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie. There is no rectitude whatsoever. There is no virtue. As a first rule of thumb, therefore, you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil… You can tell a true war story if it embarrassses you. If you don’t care for obscenity, you don’t care for the truth; if you don’t care for the truth, watch how you vote. Send guys to war, they come home talking dirty.” - Tim O’Brien (The Thing They Carried)

 

Thu
23
Nov
gdghirardi's picture

Researching Pop Culture and Militarism: Can Pop Culture Normalize Militarism/Militarization?

Militarism: Can Pop Culture Normalize Militarism/Militarization?

Selene Rivas - November 23, 2017

Can seemingly innocuous activities such as playing video games, watching movies, or binging on TV shows affect your ways to see the world or how you behave? Could it affect social norms? Is one able to “turn one’s brain off”, and not be affected beyond the most superficial level, by what one is consuming? Much has been written about violence in the media and how it might affect people’s behavior, and indeed, positive correlations with violence can be found1. But beyond these oft-discussed subject, the question is: what role does mass media and pop culture play in normalization? And, more related to this series of articles, what is the relationship between pop culture, militarism/militarization, and normalization? This article will attempt to approximate us to an answer..

Mon
20
Nov

This week is the International Week of Action Against the Militarisation of Youth

This week (20-26 November) is the International Week of Action Against the Militarisation of Youth. During the week activists from various countries will be taking actions and organising events to raise awareness of how the military and military values are promoted to young people, and how we can challenge it.

In Czech Republic, NESEHNUTÍ is organising a screening of the movie “Výchova k válce” (Education for War), followed by a panel session on the militarisation of education in the country.

In Israel, activists from the Mesarvot network - a solidarity network supporting political conscientious objectors in Israel - is organising a demonstration in Tel Aviv in support of the young refuser, Matan Hellman, who's declaring his conscientious objection on 20th November.

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