If the State Treats its Soldiers like this, Why do you Expect Any Different?

Do you think government is looking out for you? Do you believe government is looking out for your best interests? Are you under the impression that it cares about you? That it’s competent to care for you? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this post is for you.

Soldiers are the front line of the state. The state can do without bureaucrats but it can’t do without soldiers. Soldiers take the roughest jobs. Soldiers are the last line of a state’s defense against a coup d’état. Without soldiers, the state is vulnerable to any armed force. So when you notice the state treating its soldiers like so many pieces of worthless meat, you know it couldn’t care less about you.

In this case, a conscientious employee of the notorious war-profiteering corporation Halliburton speaks up. He discovered that Halliburton was not purifying the water soldiers drank and showered in. In fact, the water was full of disgusting pathogens. I shudder just thinking about it. He notified his superiors at Halliburton but they refused to inform the military. Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan might still be consuming diseased water today!

But I don’t feel bad for these soldiers. They should have known better. In A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn documents gross US mistreatment of its soldiers throughout history. The North forcibly sent hundreds of thousands to their deaths solely in order to retain domination of the South. During the Spanish-American war, they were poisoned with bad beef by their own leaders. In Vietnam, the state sickened them with agent orange. In the first gulf war, it was Gulf War Syndrome. The complete lack of care shown for soldiers is legion. For recent examples, remember those deployed to Iraq without body armor. Consider the traumatized soldiers that the state insists on returning to active duty before they are ready.

If the state treats its last line of defense like this, why do you think it’s going to treat you any better? Now that’s something to be truly scared about on Halloween.