No, thanks: Stop saying “support the troops”

[douglas9]

My 16-month-old son was having a bad day. When he doesn’t sleep in the car, he usually points and babbles his approval of all the wonderful things babies notice that completely escape adult attention. On this afternoon, though, he was teething and hungry, a lethal scenario for an energetic youngster strapped into a high-tech seating apparatus (approved and installed, of course, by the state).

When it became clear he couldn’t, or wouldn’t, sleep it out, my wife and I stopped at a nondescript exit, the kind one finds every six miles in the South, with two gas stations and three abandoned buildings (if you’re lucky, you also get a Hampton Inn and Cracker Barrel). While she tended to the baby, I entered a convenience store — one of those squat, glass and plastic rectangles that looks like a Sears & Roebuck erector set — praying it would have something other than beer, cigarettes and beef jerky.

I settled on two Kraft mozzarella sticks, resisting the urge to purchase for myself a shiny red can of Four Loko.

“That’ll be $1.82,” the lady at the counter cheerily informed me. After I handed her two ones, she asked, “Would you like to donate your change to the troops?” I noticed a jar with “support our troops” taped to it in handwritten ink.

“No, thank you,” I answered firmly.

“Well … OK, then, sir,” she responded in subtle reproach, her smile not quite so ascendant anymore. “You have a good day now.”

http://www.salon.com/2013/08/25/no_thanks_i_wont_support_the_troops/

[skippy66]

1. Don't we support the troops through our taxes?

I would be very suspicious of any private donations that our targeted at the troops other than a specific hospital request for orthopedic rehabilitation programs.

[BainsBane]

18. like all the donations for phone calls home at the holidays

during the Iraq war?

[bigtree]

2. “support the troops”

. . . that's not 'compulsory patriotism.' It's humanism.

[oldhippie]

3. I suspect ....

... the change isn't going to any troops. It's going into the clerk's pocket.

I might be wrong, though.

[GP6971]

16. You're probably not wrong. n/t

[MiniMe]

22. I don't know if it goes in the clerk's pocket, but I'm pretty sure

That it won't make it to the troops, it will go to whatever corporate master is trying to get the $$$

[KG]

4. no, I don't 'support the troops'

nothing they're doing is protecting my 'freedoms' or keeping me safe.

[MNBrewer]

6. I support the troops, but not the military.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

5. I support every human being.

And their right to live a happy life as they see fit without harming anyone else. I don't hold anyone higher than myself whether they are clergy, troops, police, firefighters, politicians, etc. Hero worship is dangerous. Part of the reason politicians get away with waging illegal wars is because of the hero worship they have sold. It's considered unpatriotic to not have a yellow ribbon on your gas guzzler.

Ever ask one of these super patriots which freedoms were fought and died for by our military in Iraq? The response won't be pretty.

[madville]

7. They make plenty of money

Military pay and benefits have increased dramatically in the last decade. I would rather donate to the homeless or people with expensive medical needs.

[Jenoch]

9. They do ok if they are single with no dependents.

[madville]

13. Just pulled the numbers for an E-5 in my area

E-5 over 6 years
Base Pay = $2707
BAH w/dependent= $1311 tax free
BAS = $352 tax free
Total = $4370 a month

Only the base pay is taxed so this example is netting about $4000 a month after taxes. No cost health care, free dental, free college with tuition assistance and the GI Bill, etc, etc.

The married ones with kids really bank at tax time as well since they usually qualify for EIC (earned income credit). Tax returns of $6,000 - $10,000 are normal even if they have very little withheld.

So net take home is around 55k typically for this example. In the civilian world counting all the benefits and tax breaks, this would be equivalent to an $80,000-$90,000 a year job, boo hoo.

[Jenoch]

17. My nephew was discharged in 2011 from the army as an E5 after 5 years of active duty

and he didn't make anything close to that much.

[madville]

19. In that case

E-5 over 4 years
Base pay = $2448 (2011 scale)
BAH = $1096 (did fort benning in GA)
BAS = $352
Total = $3896 a month

The Army may or may not allow single E-5 to get BAH and BAS though in which case they would get free meals on base an housing so it would be base pay only. $2448 a month with room and board for free is still a pretty good deal.

[sibelian]

8. This makes me sad.

The appropriation of one human process by another is destroying it.

It makes me very sad.

[LittleBlue]

10. I do not support them

Militaristic patriotism should be rejected.

I'll support the millions of victims of our military aggression. The troops I'm paying for with wasted tax dollars.

[HereSince1628]

20. Jingoism

noun
derogatory
noun: jingoism

1. extreme patriotism, esp. in the form of aggressive or warlike foreign policy.
synonyms: extreme patriotism, chauvinism, extreme nationalism, xenophobia, flag-waving;

"Jingoism comes from the word jingo, the nickname for a group of British people who always wanted to go to war to prove the superiority of Britain. Now we use jingoism for that kind of aggressive, chauvinistic behavior in any country, or for things intended to stir up war-thirst and blind patriotism. If you see a TV show tries to get viewers to support a military cause without a critical look at whether war is necessary, call it jingoism."

[Lint Head]

11. I support the troops by speaking out against unjust wars and actions that get them killed and

actions that do not support them when they come home mangled and brain damaged. All troops who die should be honored because they're only following their sworn duty. But I do not honor a politician who sends a human being to die for a cause that is total bull shit.

[nomorenomore08]

24. +1

There's no reason to condemn the "grunts" who have to fight these stupid, unnecessary wars. They may be volunteers but most of them have limited options - otherwise I doubt they'd enlist, in times like these.

By all means, all the vitriol in the world should be directed at their superiors. But like I said, don't blame the grunts.

[Adrahil]

28. Serving in the military is a noble service.

We should reserve our disdain for the politicians who misuse our military.

[MADem]

12. What was the charity?

I could have asked how the donations would be used, but no matter the answer I would have kept my 18 cents. I don’t consider patriotism a beneficent force, for it asks us to exhibit loyalty to nation-states that never fully accommodate their entire populations. In recent years I’ve grown fatigued of appeals on behalf of the troops, which intensify in proportion to the belligerence or potential unpopularity of the imperial adventure du jour.

I think Homes for Heroes is a great charity--it helps with adaptive housing for people who need it--everything from ramps to wide doors to lifts for the severely disabled. There are also charities that help defray the cost of "optional" prosthetics, customized for sport and other activities, and I think those are worthwhile. I like college scholarship charities for the children of deceased servicemembers, too.

I don't think it's unreasonable for someone to want to know where that change is going. A dime here, a quarter there, and pretty soon you're talking real money.

Of course, if people do not want to donate, they shouldn't. No one need be guilted into parting with their change. If people want to give, they should give with a willing heart or just not bother.

[tanyev]

21. Yeah, I appreciate good charities like that that are filling in the gaps,

but I can't get on board with something like the Girl Scout ploy to purchase boxes of cookies that they will send to the troops. As if our troops really need cases and cases of Girl Scout cookies.

[MADem]

25. Cookies, I agree, is "guilting." Plus, all that sugar is bad for 'em!

I am retired military, and I freely acknowledge that there are instances where people use the "Support the Troops" card not just to shame people into certain behaviors (like putting change in a jar) but also as a way to gather glory upon THEMSELVES. And then, of course, there's the profit motive! It can be a bit infuriating.

[branford]

26. Whoa . . . Are you telling me that I cannot buy my beloved Thin Mints

and then assuage my guilt by also sending these wonderful cookies to our troops abroad while helping the Girl Scouts?

Say it isn't so . . .

[Skittles]

27. I guess I am an asshole for sending the DVD "Mud" to some Marines in Afghanistan this week

that or maybe that guy is just a snob who would never, ever enlist or assist military folk in any capacity

[backscatter712]

14. I find few things more irritating than those jingoistic yellow ribbon bumper stickers.

They're an empty gesture that does nothing to help the actual people bleeding and dying to fight our wars, but does everything to propagandize and promote the military-industrial complex that makes billions of dollars of profits from those wars.

The yellow ribbon bumper sticker is nothing but guilt-tripping to make those of us fed up with war STFU and sit down, so they can get on with the blood-stained money-making.

In response, well, there's always America! Fuck Yeah!

[WillyT]

15. I Support Them By Pressing To Have Them Brought Home, Healing The Wounded, Educating And Training

Them For Civilian Life/Jobs, Making Sure They Get Their Benefits/Support They Need In A Timely Manner, Etc...

Oh... and NOT sending them to immoral wars based on lies.

[sabrina 1]

23. The only way to really support the troops is to succeed in stopping these

for profit wars for which they are merely fodder. See what happened to the Iraq War Troops when they came home.

Where did all the Yellow Ribbons and Flags and Support the Troops go after the 'mission was accomplished', I mean the mission of getting the war started.

Once they got their war going, I noticed the disappearance of the all the jingoism, especially when troops coming home from Iraq ended up HOMELESS with no jobs and in dire need of treatment. Suddenly none of my Right Wing, Flag Waving, 'Support The Troops' yelling, adversaries wanted to even talk about them.

I remember on another forum a few of these 'rah, rah, right wingers were talking about the homeless, how lazy they were etc. So I found an article which even to me was shocking, about how soon it was that Iraq Veterans had become homeless. I asked what they were going to do about it considering their relentless flag waving 'for the troops' etc.

I asked how many would be willing to take one of them into their home and actually SUPPORT them.

All of a sudden all that 'support for the troops' turned into criticism and judgementalism and the usual attacks on the homeless.

I don't think there will be too many falling for all that phony jingoism this time.

Six thousand of those troops all those yellow ribbons were supposed to be for, are dead. AND FORGOTTEN.

This whole war culture makes me sick and my way of supporting the troops is to talk anyone I know even thinking of joining the military to put that insane idea out of their heads.