i'm actually going to state something that everybody knows but people are afraid to come to terms with: americans don't care about veterans.

that sounds bizarre. everybody knows that 'merica is all about war. and, the polling will uphold the point, if you ask facile enough questions, sure. but, it's a lie - they don't care, and you just need to look at who wins office and who doesn't.

bill clinton was a draft dodger, and they nailed him mercilessly for it; if anything, most people seemed to think it was funny.

so was dubya - and he beat a legit war hero in 2004. nobody cared.

nobody cared about john mccain's war record, either.

nobody cared when hillary sent that gold star general after trump, and nobody seems to be caring much about when he called them suckers; if anything, reliant leftists like myself seem to find it a little refreshing to hear, in contrast to the jingoism and chauvinist chest-beating coming from biden (which we find nauseating).

there's other ways to come to this conclusion, as well. they get half blown up protecting an illegal drug shipment, and come home and get subpar health care, and nobody really cares. they kill each other, or their families, and people shrug it off; this is something that should justify major levels of social spending, and people just look the other way. they can't get the psychological care they need, and nobody really lets it bother them.

so why don't they care about veterans anymore, in a country that is built on militaristic jingoism and global hegemony?

i think the answer is tied into conscription. back when people were shipped off to fight (and often die. whatever. actually, i was going to post this on the sole video: kurt vonnegut is dead? so it goes.) whether they wanted to go or not, they aroused a lot of sympathy, perhaps more due to the tyranny of sending them than any legit feelings of gratitude for safety. i mean, most people know better; they have some idea of imperialism, even if it's blurry. they know they're being fed bullshit, and left to generate fungi in the dark. but, when they're sent out at gunpoint, it's kind of not their fault, and it's hard to blame them for what they did, within reason. with a volunteer force, they do it to themselves, and there's good reason to lose sympathy...and even empathy...for people that seem to want to go slaughter others, out of their own free will.

i don't think anybody else has really put this together before; it's just unquestioned that you win elections by rallying the troops.

but, the evidence doesn't really uphold it.

people don't seem to give a fuck.