Should patriotic Americans join today’s military?

With 20 years of mind boggling ideological insanity and massive destruction in Afghanistan finally coming to a close, it’s time to ask some big questions about the health of our nation and the state of our military. That includes perhaps the biggest question of them all: Would you encourage your family members and closest friends to join the U.S. military as it currently stands today?

As someone who identifies as an unapologetically patriotic American, the answer to this question is both painfully obvious to me, but difficult to publicly acknowledge. Yet the time has come to actively discourage people you value from joining the U.S. military, especially if these individuals are in a fortunate enough economic and societal position to thrive without having to use the military as an entry point for success in life. 

The institution that once manifested the greatest nation to ever exist — and has stepped up to the plate time and time again to defend American sovereignty and freedom — has become an organization that is completely disconnected from its fundamental ideals. To no fault of the vast majority of its service members, the political and military leadership class in our country simply cannot be trusted with people who we hold near and dear to our hearts.

Being a member of the U.S. military used to mean that you represented the army of a free nation. Not just any free nation, but the greatest free nation to ever exist. Today, that same military has detached itself further and further from anything remotely representing what it means to be representative of the idea of America. Our 21st century military and political leadership class in D.C. represents arguably the most corrupt and deceitful Pentagon and White House in our history. There are no signs that things are getting better. In fact, all the signals point to continuing decline. 

The headlines are rolling in. 

First and foremost, the U.S. military is actively embracing institutional wokeness. The Pentagon’s widespread embrace of Critical Race Theory and other far-left ideologies represents a vital threat to our most cherished staples of American life. But the people in charge don’t see it that way. They want to be loved, admired, and cherished by our credentialed elites. For our big, bloated military establishment in the D.C. Beltway, wokeness and political correctness have become the ultimate ideals to strive toward.

Second, the Pentagon will soon subject everyone in the armed forces to mandatory, experimental COVID vaccines. Nothing about it from a risk assessment standpoint makes any sense, leading many to conclude that this maneuver is a blatant ideological purge. We haven’t heard a single major officer speak out for those who could be harmed by this campaign, and that alone speaks to the environment of ideological compliance within the Pentagon. 

And perhaps at some point in the near future, the D.C. politicians and the generals class, fresh from the Middle East boondoggle, may once again choose to send our bravest men into another overseas vipers den of epic, endless war proportions. 

The best and bravest men of my generation showed up in droves after 9/11 to defend our country and commit themselves to what they thought would be a noble cause. Instead, they were betrayed by politicians and a generals class that chose to prioritize lining the pockets of the military industrial complex, stroking their own egos, and hoovering up personal power and prestige, over acting as responsible leaders focused on protecting our nation and our service members. The U.S. military’s leadership class has nothing positive to show for 20 years of post 9/11 warfare. On the negative side, we have thousands and thousands of American casualties, a veteran mental health epidemic, and trillions of taxpayer dollars spent in the service of advancing radical ideologies imposed upon the world, through our military leadership, by our “elites” in Washington, D.C.

Sure, there are still a handful of benefits to joining the U.S. military. The military still serves as a potential force for financial relief and economic opportunity for disadvantaged young people. It can also help young people become more disciplined, but today that may come at a cost of becoming “disciplined” in a dangerous form of ideological indoctrination. 

It’s hard to find an example where the benefits outweigh the potential costs. Sadly, for now, it seems unwise and even dangerous to commit yourself to a once great institution. In this day and age, patriotism means speaking out against the anti-American forces in D.C., even if one of those forces happens to be the group tasked with protecting the nation.

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