IPFS News Link • Propaganda
IPFS News Link • Propaganda
The cover of the August 29, 2011 issue of TIME
magazine features
five members of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), with the
caption "The New Greatest Generation." The point of author Joe Klein's article is that the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan have created a new kind of veteran who is "bringing skills that
seem to be on the wane in American society, qualities we really need now: crisp decision making, rigor, optimism,
entrepreneurial creativity, a larger sense of purpose and real patriotism." Klein profiles a small number of veterans
(including a Harvard valedictorian, a Rhodes scholar, and a Dartmouth grad) who
have done well since returning to civilian life and credits their military
service as the reason, then goes on to make a sweeping generalization that the
Iraq and Afghanistan wars have created a whole new generation of hard-working,
disciplined young citizens who have something "more" to offer than their
civilian counterparts.
It
is articles like this that perpetuate the meme that anyone who ever wore a
military uniform is a "hero." TIME
magazine is part of the biggest media conglomerate in the world, and corporate
media is the lubricant that keeps the well-oiled military machine humming along
so smoothly. By glorifying this "new
generation" of veterans, they are adding to the layers of positive messaging
about war and militarism, which the American public seems eager to absorb. We don't want to ask ourselves the hard
questions because we might not like the answers. The media conflates the military members with
the wars themselves and produces layers upon layers of nothing but superficial
"feel good" messages which eventually form a fairly unimpugnable depiction of
our military, wars and militarism, and anyone who questions the wars risks
being decried as unpatriotic. Congressmen fund wars they don't agree with because they can't afford
the political cost of not "supporting the troops."
1 Comments in Response to Why You Won't See Veterans For Peace on the Cover of TIME Magazine
"Congressmen fund wars they don't agree with because they can't afford the political cost of not "supporting the troops." In all of the cities that these congressmen are from, it is the American people who go to work at those war corporations for that paycheck. It is not just those in the government that should be brought to the world court to stand trail, but all of those CEO's of these war corporations and then go on down the line to all of those people that support the war by wanting a paycheck. A paycheck if you look at it the right way is signed with the blood of innocent people murdered by this out of control war mongering nation.