Not like Ike
The nut baggers are right. Socialism has come to America. It is here, now. The government owns the "commanding heights" of this economy, as is the case in classic socialist doctrine. Citizens of this American socialism get free medical care, housing, food, clothing, even travel. They have abundant educational opportunities, including college. It promises and actually delivers both diversity and social mobility. It also has elements of fascism, just as the nut baggers have warned in their rallies attended by hundreds: The socialism has a heavy corporate component, with giant companies moving in lockstep with the regime's demands yet also holding strong political sway within the regime. In exchange for its benefits, members of the society give up certain freedoms — yet they keep joining enthusiastically.
I'm writing about the military, of course, and not just to show the absurdity of the nut baggers' claims. In a nation where six people are chasing every job, where college is increasingly out of reach, the only advanced nation in the world where people go without health insurance — in today's America, the military is often the only option open. It made news last month when a man who couldn't get insurance joined the Army so his cancer-stricken wife could get help. (When I Googled "joined Army to get health care," the second and third hits out of 53 million were Army recruiting sites). Military recruiters have more than met their targets — ones raised for the Army — since the economic meltdown. Even with the danger of war, many Americans just don't see another way.
Elements of this have long happened. There's the classic case of the directionless kid from high school who joins the military — sometimes under a parent or even judge's threat — and becomes an adult. I went to high school with young men who joined up, served honorably and succeeded as civilians — I doubt most of them ever would have chosen the military as a first option. And we honor their service. But the Great Disruption's first act — the crash and its resulting unemployment, combined with two wars seemingly without end — is creating something new. New and unsettling.
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