Soldiers suffering much for nothing much at all

This Wednesday is ‘ANZAC Day’ in Australia, a day on which we remember those men and women who marched bravely off to war and especially those who did not return. For those who did, a necessary myth of the unrelenting war machine is that just as young soldiers must be honourably blown to bits by land mines (or whatever), the damaged ex-veterans must carry themselves with quiet dignity. There is little sympathy shown for any solider who comes home and cannot keep his shite together. That war is necessarily horrific and commonly traumatic are deadly facts obscured behind the carefully constructed facade that these deeply troubled men were already predisposed to their now, demonstrable madness. Moreover, solutions to this centuries’ old problem increasingly hinge on building up young recruits to become even more resilient in the face of constantly anticipating or participating in death and destruction. In fact, perhaps the most bizarre solution I have heard about involves using Martin Seligman’s positive psychology approach against soldiers, simultaneously stripping the war machine of any culpability while compelling those hapless soldiers to simply try harder.

It will not work.

War stinks…