Extreme deification of the armed forces..

[vcs]

Why is this a thing? I can never understand it.

 

[harsh.ag]

Because strong myths are required in order for people to voluntarily risk their lives for the sake of others.

A large part of the myth is sustained by intra-army brotherhood. A soldier would loathe to refuse to fight just for the sake of his fellow brothers.

But a part of it is always going to be about the country, which is in itself a myth, of course, and its people. Deification helps because it's a source of validation and motivation.

Extreme deification doesn't help, except maybe during war time. And it's always important to keep the armed forces away from political power.

 

[trundler]

Humans glorify war to such an extent and have done so throughout history that I believe it comes naturally to us. By extension that includes soldiers and the armed forces. Plus the armed forces are central to why country's nationalist myth.

 

[weldone]

Agree with harsh. I don't think army can continue to exist as a disciplined force without very high amount of respect from fellow countrymen. Their pay is miniscule for the risk; respect is their currency.

 

[andmark]

It's an issue which almost certainly has contextual factors. Like, in communist literature I've read, the army is almost always depicted as the revolutionaries who overthrew/are overthrowing the bourgeoisie (I'll never be able to spell that). This is obviously lacking in countries which were never communist, and so nationalism instead becomes a major force for the deification of the armed forces. A problem with the communist example though is that it's debatable to what extent that narrative is/was accepted in the individual countries, although presumably some actually did accept it. How would religion fit into this? Like Iran takes pride in being a Shia Muslim majority-country- does that work its way into the perception of their armed forces?

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Studies show that people tend to go more for the muscle rather than the brains.

Sparta over Athens

 

[trundler]

The Muslim belief in martyrdom has a huge effect.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Does the Crusades have any role to play in the deification we are talking about?

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

It's an issue which almost certainly has contextual factors. Like, in communist literature I've read, the army is almost always depicted as the revolutionaries who overthrew/are overthrowing the bourgeoisie (I'll never be able to spell that).

Bujh-wah

 

[Smudge]

Why is this a thing? I can never understand it.

Thank you for your service to CW, vcs.

 

[ankitj]

This question is too meta to have a simple answer.

 

[Anil]

Thank you for your service to CW, vcs.

damn, i was going to respond exactly like that...

 

[Anil]

genuine respect would mean that you take care of the soldiers in the field and once they come back home and the thing is this deification is often just lip-service used for political ends...

 

[Flem274*]

The hunger to dominate exists in all men to some extent. Sometimes we use it for something positive (winning cricket games) others we use it for less good or crap things

 

[sledger]

I initially read the title of this thread as "Extreme Defecation". That is all.

 

[GIMH]

It’s an extension of the deification of the state.

 

[Ausage]

It’s an extension of the deification of the state.

This. We deify every other component of the state, why not the only arm that gives it actual legitimacy?

 

[harsh.ag]

It’s an extension of the deification of the tribe.

Ftfy

 

[weldone]

Yesterday an important point was raised in a tv debate. This kind of deification has led to the situation in Pakistan where Army has more powers than the government itself. Most other democracies have at least avoided that situation.

 

[vcs]

Yeah, I saw a quote today from Modi also along the lines of "Question me, don't question the armed forces".