Why is the military so right wing?

[a_majoor]

An interesting commentary which speaks to this issue:

http://www.winface.com/?p=29

New Year’s day

January 1, 2007 on 3:43 pm | In Alberta, General, International politics |
My wife believes that Dick Cheney is a crook, George Bush is stupid, Harper has a hidden anti-progress agenda, and that neither Iran nor North Korea has leaders who deserve to be labelled parts of an axis of evil. This woman has an IQ that goes off the charts, a Ph’d in a very difficult field, and the adoration of her husband - but believes that the Economist is an unbiased news source, that the Americans caused global warming, and that hydrocarbons are a scarce resource.

As in, huh?

As far as she’s concerned the evidence on global warming here on earth is in - and the absence of American SUVs on Mars and Pluto proves that the evidence showing global warming going on there is wrong.

To understand why she thinks this way, you have to peel away the onion like layers of causality. At the top of the list is peer pressure: everyone she knows, knows the same Truths - why? because they read the same newspapers, watch the same news casts, and reinforce their shared perceptions of their intellectual emperor’s fine clothes by perceiving each other as sharing them.

Peel that away and what you get is high octane emotion - it’s not just that most of the media players she responds to have leftist agendas, it’s that those people themselves know they’re mostly wrong and have become correspondingly strident to convince themselves they’re not seeing a lot of naked emperors among their own convictions.

I tried to watch the Air Farce’s 2006 summation last night, but switched to people hurting themselves (aka AFV) in about 20 minutes because the humor, such as it was, was terribly mean spirited: not edgy; vicious; and embarrassing to be part of, even if only in the audience.

But that’s the question for 2007: with so many smart people hanging on to obvious absurdities despite compelling contrary evidence, can we expect a turn-around? or a doubling down of the same?

When Libby goes on trial over nothing will the press finally ask why not Armitage? and tumble to the possibility that Armitage could be keeping Powell out of Clinton’s vice presidency slot? When Iran tests a nuclear weapon, pray God not in Tel Aviv, will the press finally question what Berger was up to? How many dead Americans will it take for the press to stop encouraging the other side just to prove itself right for denying the reality of Saddam’s links to terrorism?

How much more of this can democracy take? I think we can take quite a lot - but when democrats in the United States sue people for putting Bush/Cheney stickers on their cars (alleging illegal donations in kind under McCain-Feingold) and Canadians prepare to vote the Liberals back in knowing that their first act will impose a carbon tax on Alberta - I think we may be reaching a limit; a limit beyond which our present political structures may not stretch.

2007 is shaping up as a race between facing our problems and getting run off the road by them so what can we do? I can’t convince my wife that talking nicely to terrorists doesn’t work, that the Canadian Liberal party is a masquerade run by elitists, or that global climate change is a constant reality with as positive effects off-setting its negative ones.

So who am I to talk?

As GO!!!! said earlier, "we" generally are people who think and work where the rubber hits the road; I can theorize all I like, but events will prove me right or wrong in very short order. Since being wrong often has dangerous or even lethal consequences, I had better be very good at getting and interpreting facts, organizing the data and coming to correct or at least workable solutions. There is no safety in inaction or group-think, we all are individually responsible for our own well being.

A Michael Ignatieff, Jack Layton or Stephan Dion does not have these constraints, and for the most part their followers and fellow travellers do not either. Unfortunately reality continues to work behind the scenes, people who protest our involvement in Afghanistan don't pay the price, but we and the Afghan people do; people who make wish fulfilling pronouncements on the economy might not notice the negative effects on sectors of the economy or understand why (for example) Canada's overall GDP grows at a slower rate than the US while our unemployment remains higher.

Search around, there are many political threads which discuss questions like this, and the posts are fascinating to read.

 

[Trogdor]

I got a question.  Why does it seem that so many people in the military are all right winged and don't like socialist/liberal ideas?  I know that in this forum, i have seen people make fun of people by calling them left wings and communist, i don't see why you cant be in the military and still support left wing parties.

Having gone through my adolescence as a cadet and then my later teens as an Infantry soldier I can certainly acknowledge that my political views have been heavily influenced by the military culture.

At first my preference towards the right in Canada came from the apparent lack of will or lack or understanding from the Liberal and NDP parties on Defence spending.  As a young soldier I didn't want for my army to be neglected either financially, poltically or even morally.  So with the Conservatives talking the talk then and now walking the walk on Defence Spending and support for the military I went for them.

However, over the last two years my vote has become entrenched the more I hear the ideas coming from the left. 

For example, I didn't much like it when Paul Martin's Liberals suggested that "Canadian Troops in Canadian Cities with Guns" was a bad thing.  I personally believe that it is those soldiers with those guns that have kept this country free for generations. For the Liberal's to suggest that we would allow ourselves to be used as some kind of secret police is just insulting to me.

Another thing that has further alienated me from voting left of centre would be the NDP's policy towards our mission in Afghanistan.  For them to suggest that we pull out now while we are engaged in such a vital mission only to be sent to Darfur to undertake a completely different mission is mind boggling to me.
There is just cause for Canadian troops to be in Afghanistan. It was the home base of Al Qaeda and they used that sanctuary to lash out at us.  They killed 27 Canadians on Sept 11 along with 2,946 people from various other countries, the majority of which belonging to the United States.  As a responsible nation and ally in NATO it is Canada's duty to not only fight the Taliban and Al Qaeda but to ensure that Afghanistan becomes a stable and free nation so that our enemies cannot find refuge in it.
There is a direct relation between our national security and the war we are now fighting in Afghanistan.  Darfur may be a noble cause, however, protecting Canada is the primary responsibility of the CF, acting as an international policeman or peacekeeper will always be second to this mission.
Because the NDP fail to see and understand this, they will not be getting my vote.
This policy of leaving Afghanistan A.S.A.P. has earned Mr.Layton the nickname "Taliban Jack" and frankly I'd have to say he deserves that mantle now.

 

[1feral1]

I got a question.  Why does it seem that so many people in the military are all right winged and don't like socialist/liberal ideas?  I know that in this forum, i have seen people make fun of people by calling them left wings and communist, i don't see why you cant be in the military and still support left wing parties.

Ok, what is YOUR defintion of 'right wing'.

Don't be shy. Tell us, we're waiting.......

I did not know that having a desire to have a safe country for one's family and kids was right wing, and if that included putting a few undesireables in their graves so be it. Or having enough trained troops with kit to get the job sone either was right wing.

I did not know that zero tolerance to drugs was right wing, nor the same for drinking and driving.

I did not know that better vetting of immigrants was right wing either. Gotta keep the baddies out, don't we.

I did not know a better stronger justice system so 'creeps' stay behind bars, not getting out to mollest your child again was right winged, yes again, either.

These are some of my beliefs, and to me, it seems more like common sense, not red neck behaviour ring winged stuff.

BTW, I don't make fun of anybody, I just call a spade a spade.


Wes

 

[cobbler]

Perhaps it's because people in the military don't have time for BS, and can't afford to not be realistic in thier views, assesments and actions.


Now a question for you Adrian, why are such a large percentage of leftists anti-military? (whether it be in the idiotic "baby killing" sense, or the being stingy with the purse strings variety)

 

[Edward Campbell]

Samuel Huntington’s The Soldier and the State will help Adrian_888 and several others.  Any half decent library will have a copy.

‘Library’ – you know, the old building where waaaay to few Canadians spend any time at all.

 

[Long in the tooth]

The lefties seem to have a disconnect between what they 'know' and what they 'want'.  For example, Lloyd Axeworthy introduced 'The Responsibility to Protect' document, a very principled stand on how we should work to improve the good of other people in the world.  A fine piece of Liberal/NDP rhetoric.  When we actually need to use force to remove the baddies to do some good, the lefties disprove of the methods.

No matter that Hussein broke all Geneva conventions.  The lefties still believe that the tabin, sarin and soman and biological weapons he produced and his claims to actually have nukes don't count as weapons of mass destruction.  Huh?!?  Do we need to stick your face in this?

Lefties do remind me of philosophy majors who never have to leave acedamia.  Realists are like engineers and architects (my, Ayn Rand comes to mind again) who are asked to build an apartment by the lefties.  But the lefties just can't understand why the building code makes it sooo damned expensive, like can't we just do the easy parts???

 

[Loachman]

We're "right" because we can't afford to be wrong.

 

[Trogdor]

We're "right" because we can't afford to be wrong.

Ahhhh touche, I'm going to use that next time someone asks me why I'm right of centre. Nice one.

 

[New Brunswicks son]

I would say the military is whatever you make it("left" wing or "right" wing). Theres a lot of people in the CF, and I think it is rather unfair to label all members as "right" wing. I personally I think it is very moderate, if it were right wing we would have gone into Iraq, which I personally think would have been a bad idea.IF it were left wing we probably wouldnt have gone into afghanistan, and as recent polls show, over 70% of afghans want us there.so to try and place a specific political aspect on the CF and its members is rather irrelevant, because the canadian military will do what needs to be done for the canadian people, regardless of ther political affiliation,religon or beliefs. 

 

[George Wallace]

I would say the military is whatever you make it("left" wing or "right" wing). Theres a lot of people in the CF, and I think it is rather unfair to label all members as "right" wing. I personally I think it is very moderate, if it were right wing we would have gone into Iraq, which I personally think would have been a bad idea.IF it were left wing we probably wouldnt have gone into afghanistan, and as recent polls show, over 70% of afghans want us there.so to try and place a specific political aspect on the CF and its members is rather irrelevant, because the canadian military will do what needs to be done for the canadian people, regardless of ther political affiliation,religon or beliefs. 

This has absolutely nothing to do with the Military being "left" or "right" wing.  The military is an instrument of the Federal Government.  The military has no choice in where it goes.  It is the Federal Government who makes that decision and the military's job to carry out that decision.  Absolutely nothing to do with this discusion here.

 

[cobbler]

I would say the military is whatever you make it("left" wing or "right" wing). Theres a lot of people in the CF, and I think it is rather unfair to label all members as "right" wing. I personally I think it is very moderate, if it were right wing we would have gone into Iraq, which I personally think would have been a bad idea.IF it were left wing we probably wouldnt have gone into afghanistan, and as recent polls show, over 70% of afghans want us there.so to try and place a specific political aspect on the CF and its members is rather irrelevant, because the canadian military will do what needs to be done for the canadian people, regardless of ther political affiliation,religon or beliefs. 

Maybe things are different in Canada, but here the military doesn't get to choose which wars to fight.

 

[Sig_Des]

Maybe things are different in Canada, but here the military doesn't get to choose which wars to fight.

What, we get to choose? Damn, I must've missed the meeting where we voted for war in Afghanistan

 

[daftandbarmy]

.... and an excellent example of why it's a long standing tradition in many militaries around the world not to talk of women or politics in the mess. It divides rather than unites us!

 

[aesop081]

.... and an excellent example of why it's a long standing tradition in many militaries around the world not to talk of women or politics in the mess. It divides rather than unites us!

Dont forget religion........

 

[daftandbarmy]

Quite right. That one is so touchy I didn't even want to mention it here.

 

[New Brunswicks son]

To sum up my previous post in simpler terms, trying to place the CF in a political context is irrelevant. Regardless of who is in power, the military will still exist, and will still be needed.I dotn reeally see how you can label it "left wing" or "right wing". Either way, support our troops.

 

[George Wallace]

To sum up my previous post in simpler terms, trying to place the CF in a political context is irrelevant. Regardless of who is in power, the military will still exist, and will still be needed.I dotn reeally see how you can label it "left wing" or "right wing". Either way, support our troops.

I see you really haven't understood the question. 

Let's make it simpler:  The military is definitely not "Left Wing".  It's personnel are more "Center" than anything else, but the military as a whole is looked at as being very much "Right Wing".  It is the mentality of the institution and the people in that institution that makes it more "Right Wing" than "Left".

[Edit to add:  I am sure that had you read the whole topic, you would have understood the question and the arguments put forward.]

 

[CrazyCanuck]

Right wing = $$$$
Left wing = disrespect (ironic as it is :) poor equipment and head in the cloud ideas (though that can be a bit unfair as everybody is capable of those, just more the NDP)

I can easily see why large members of the military would be more likely to be right wing

 

[youravatar]

I'd have to agree that the military is more moderate than right wing. Sure right of center but not as far right as the neocons go.

 

[Trogdor]

I think that the military as an institution is central or slightly right.  But that's probably not because of any social issues.  I started voting Conservative because they seemed to be more capable of providing support for the military and leadership with good foreign policy.  That's because I value Canada's national security above all other issues.  However, more civies or voters of the Liberals or NDP seem to do it because they want Health care, free daycare or recognition for gay rights and so on.  While I don't see these as major issues to vote on, I can acknowledge they are important to some.  I suspect that's part of the reason why more soldiers vote right of centre right now.  Because we see our job as vital to the country and support for our institution being an issue that trumps social policies such as the ones I mentioned.