United States of America

Mon

Jan

2015

There Is No Future in War: Youth Rise Up, a Manifesto

New translation available

A peace sign printed on the American Flag is raised during a protest against the Vietnam War in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Archive / History Channel)

Submitted by Gary

Statement written by Ben Norton, Tyra Walker, Anastasia Taylor, Alli McCracken, Colleen Moore, Jes Grobman, Ashley Lopez / Codepink -

Once again, US politicians and pundits are beating the drums of...

Thu

Nov

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

Submitted by gdghirardi on Thu, 23/11/2017 - 11:14

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..

Wed

Nov

Researching Pop Culture and Militarism: What is Militarism? What is Militarization?

Submitted by gdghirardi on Wed, 22/11/2017 - 11:14

Selene Rivas - November 22, 2017

In the previous articles, we talked about how normal is defined differently in both space and time; just as Japan and Argentina might have two different ideas of what constitutes as “normal”, so does 18th century and 21st century United States. We also talked about normalization, or how things become more (or less) socially accepted over time. Finally, we introduced the concept of “militarism”. In this article, we’ll attempt to define it as concisely as possible, as well as give examples of militarism in Japan.

The following statement is found in page 92 of the 1996 edition of Naval Science 1, a textbook used for High School JROTC courses.

Tue

Nov

Researching Pop Culture and Militarism: How do things become normal?

Submitted by Gary on Tue, 21/11/2017 - 10:23

Last article, we tried to answer the question of “what is normal?” and after a few examples, eventually settled on “normal is what a group of people are used to.” In this article, we’ll look at an example of the ‘normalization’ process, that is, getting used to something to the point where alternatives are forgotten. We’ll conclude by introducing the main topic of this series: how the presence of the United States military in a surprising amount of aspects of American culture has become so normal that it is no longer noticed or questioned.

“Normal” changes, not just from society to society, but also through time. In a single society, what was considered normal before is not necessarily thought of as normal now, and we can't even begin to imagine what things are normal today that won't be normal in the future. How does that happen? And does something becoming "normal" with time necessarily mean that it is "better"?

Mon

Nov

Researching Pop Culture and Militarism: What is normal?

Submitted by Gary on Mon, 20/11/2017 - 00:26

"Human beings are consumers of vast quantities of raw materials and fuels. A tremendous amount of waste materials results from this use--individual, societal, industrial, and accidental."1

Is this sentence a fact, or an opinion? When starting a sentence with "human beings are..." or "human nature is...", who determines whether what is being said is fact or fiction? History? One’s own experiences or philosophy? Is there such a thing as normal human behavior anyway?

In the following article, we'll discuss how "normal" beliefs, actions, and practices are not, despite being often assumed to be so, universally defined. They are products of a specific context, and are often used to judge others outside of it.

Mon

Oct

Marvel Comics pull tie-in with Northrop Grumman

Submitted by antimili-youth on Mon, 09/10/2017 - 11:31

At 4pm on Friday 6th October, Marvel Comics tweeted that they were to "join forces" with Northrop Grumman, the world's fifth biggest arms manufacturer.

Marvel and @northropgrumman join forces! Come check out the #MarvelNYCC booth tomorrow at 3pm EST. pic.twitter.com/pb5V1tj19L

— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) October 6, 2017

Mon

Jul

Disneyland of War, short documentary

Submitted by Gary on Mon, 24/07/2017 - 23:31

The U.S. government is manipulating children to think that war and violence is fun and glorious.

Disneyland of War, short documentary

Fri

Jun

Military Recruiting And How To Confront It

Submitted by Gary on Fri, 30/06/2017 - 17:16

By Pat Elder

Wars start in our high schools and this is where we can end them.

This year the Army’s goal is to recruit 80,000 active duty and reserve soldiers. The Navy is trying to sign up 42,000; the Air Force is looking for 27,000, and the Marines hope to bring on 38,000. That comes to 187,000. The Army National Guard will also attempt to lure 40,000.

Fri

Apr

Making Your Claim as a Conscientious Objector to War

Submitted by Gary on Fri, 28/04/2017 - 22:46

A training video created for Veterans for Peace by PepperSpray Productions.

Making Your Claim as a Conscientious Objector to War

Thu

Mar

Poverty, Militarism and the Public Schools

Submitted by Gary on Thu, 30/03/2017 - 02:48

By Robert Koehler What’s the difference between education and obedience? If you see very little, you probably have no problem with the militarization of the American school system — or rather, the militarization of the impoverished schools . . . the ones that can’t afford new textbooks or functional plumbing, much less art supplies or band equipment.

The Pentagon has been eyeing these schools — broken and gang-ridden — for a decade now, and seeing its future there. It comes in like a cammy-clad Santa, bringing money and discipline. In return it gets young minds to shape, to (I fear) possess: to turn into the next generation of soldiers, available for the coming wars.

Tue

Feb

The US Military, Like Ancient Rome's, Is Trying to Secure a Dying Empire

Submitted by Gary on Tue, 28/02/2017 - 19:14

Recruiters from the Harrisburg Recruiting Company assisted with the Youth and Education Services (Y.E.S.) October 8, 2010, at the Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pennsylvania. (Photo: Christine June / Harrisburg US Army Recruiting Batallion)

By Mark Karlin

Delving into the underbelly of the US military, longtime antiwar activist Pat Elder reveals how military recruiters are assisted by the Department of Education, the film industry, the video game industry and mainstream media in order to fuel never-ending war -- using the country's most vulnerable young people as fodder. Get the book Military Recruiting in the United States by donating to Truthout now!

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Countering Military Recruitment

WRI's new booklet, Countering Military Recruitment: Learning the lessons of counter-recruitment campaigns internationally, is out now. The booklet includes examples of campaigning against youth militarisation across different countries with the contribution of grassroot activists.

You can order a paperback version here.