"The idea, in a nutshell, is that when a unit orders, condones, or allows dysfunctional behavior (particularly racist, overly brutal, etc.) in the small things, this can metastasize into much larger violence including war crimes." →
Dr. Waitman Beorn, the Iraq vet and Holocaust studies expert who blew the whistle on Marines’ use of a Nazi SS flag in Afghanistan, explains how poor moral judgment can snowball in a military culture.
this week in my personal journey through neurotic fascism-centered alarmism.
I think this gets to the heart of why, for me, thinking critically about military issues is difficult. On one hand, people who go to war will experience more mortal danger and other mind bending shit before they’re 25 than I probably will in my entire life. On the other, there are things like this (that apparently happen all the time?), which speak to confounding levels of naiveté and a stunted, sheltered relationship to the real world.
Or maybe this is another case of “I don’t understand masculinity”.
