Reply #10: 230+ years

[zipplewrath]

The influence of the military on our country has been there for 230+ years. It predates the DoI. It is rooted in the militia, which was as much a political activity as a military one in most places. The Sec. of State was the first cabinet office formed by congress in 1789. But the path to the White House is more commonly through the DoD than through State. Washington was the first president because of his role as General of the Army, he wore his uniform when he traveled around. He raised one of the first armies to respond to the Whiskey Rebellion. The Lewis and Clark expedition (under Jefferson) was a "military" expedition. Jefferson created West Point because he wanted an "national college". The westward expansion was enabled by the military. They would establish outpost which became "guarded" locations for commerce to be conducted. "Manifest Destiny" was achieved predominately through military means.

Truth is, that alot of our culture that we have today is defined by its interaction with our military. West Point educated generations of "engineers" that ultimately build the roads, bridges, canals, and railroads that fueled much of our early economic development. WWI brought in a whole host of cultural changes that can be traced back to the military. Short haircuts became common then because the draftees often came in with head lice. Pershing had to set up "schools" in europe to teach our troops enough reading and math skills to be able to accept written orders, read maps, and read army manuals. The end result was that this level of education (what we'd consider high school today) became considered "normal" and ultimately the next generation was encouraged to actually go beyond the 6-8th grade level all the way to roughly the 12th year.

WWII was credited with teaching men to wear watches, and use zippers on their pants instead of buttons, as well as "safety razors" to shave on a daily basis. The subsequent GI bill then made college, not just high school, as the "new normal". It also redefined our international policy, and the Pearl Harbor attack changed our attitudes towards a standing military ever since. And it virtually defines the nature of our international cooperation, switching from a society of people worried about "entangling international treaties" into one that depends upon the alphabet soups of NATO, SEATO, and the UN as integral portions of our defensive system. And it made the defense department (no longer the "war department") onto a par with the state department in defining and managing our foreign policy.

And along the way, weapons development (something that started around the time of steel) was one of the driving forces behind economic and industrial development and advances, ushering in our entire "space program" complete with astronauts chosen from the military services, riding on top of modified ICBM's.

The MIC is a recent development in many ways, and is in no way the sole, nor driving, reason behind the nature of our military structure or influence. It merely knows how to leverage it.