On my campus today they were setting up for some sort of military/patriotic related event. There were plenty of marines (or were they another branch) and rows and rows of foldout chairs. As a friend and I were walking by, she said something along the lines of not caring about it. I agreed. I don't get the whole nationalism thing, and I never have.

It always bothers me when people support something without basis. Usually, this is religion that I speak out against, but nationalism is little different. The parallels to religion are certainly there. People pledge their faith to the country to guide them to prosperity and good times, without properly questioning why they're doing so.

To say that you don't support the military in these days is essentially suicide. Most people, conservatives and liberals alike, will jump down your throat. These people protect your freedoms, fight for you, free people, etc. While I might respect that some people are willing to lay their life on the line for what they believe is correct, that doesn't mean I have to support the military or (and especially) its actions.

What should a military be, and what should it be used for? A military should be made up of volunteers and be used to defend our country as a collective from outside forces that wish to do us harm. I would also extend the right of our military to help other groups of people that ask for our help and are seeking a freer society.

How does this not fit the mold today? Our military isn't used for these purposes. We have not fought a war of defense since WWII. Our actions in getting involved there were legitimized by the bombing of our territory. Vietnam, Korea? Our intentions there were to stop the spread of communism, not help liberate a group of people who requested our help. Iraq was likewise not a war of good intentions. It was an excuse to oust a dictator we no longer liked and try to get a foothold to mold the Middle East into something more favorable to us. Afghanistan wasn't a justified war either. If the gov't really wanted to go after the supporters of terrorists, they would go to countries like Saudi Arabia that funded them. It was again an excuse to get rid of a regime we no longer liked in the attempt to hunt down a person that WAS responsible, but, might I add, has still not been caught. The military should only exist to preserve our liberties. I don't support the military's actions, because it is not to meet this aim.

The conditions in America, due to technological advancements and laws prohibiting citizens access to equal arms has also created a great imbalance between the gov't/military and the citizens. The 2nd ammendment of the constitution is supposed to protect our rights to have weapons to defend ourselves against the gov't if it gets too powerful. However, in this day and age, such an effort to fight a government gone awry would be very difficult. The military is the power of the government, and is used as intimidation and forces people to submit to the will of the government, no matter how it infringes on people's rights. A strong, gov't controlled military is the enemy of the people. A strong military controlled by the people would be more trusted. But because we cannot trust the government to fight for our best interests, the military must be watched very carefully.