Kevin Mo - Week 5

Kevin Mo

Week 5

Section A02

“Empire of Death and Plague of Civic Violence" by Darrell Y Hamamoto was a shocking article to read. He related the behaviors of serial killers with modern day racism. It begins with the militaristic mindset that breeds xenophobic hate, especially towards Southeast Asia during the times of the Korean and Vietnam War. When these soldiers come home from war, they bring this emotional baggage against Asians with them, subconsciously leading to hateful events like serial shootings. The article also brings to light the implications of the military-industrial complex that uses this hate to promote war for financial gain. Lobbyists for firearms manufacturers and private military contractors are all deep in politics by donating huge sums of money to politicians that will support war efforts that buy their product. Beyond that, modern day culture glorifies violence and war to no end. Video games, movies, and TV shows all enact shootings and guns as thrilling actions of heroism such that kids growing up are desensitized to violence. The result is the public turns a blind eye to the bloody mistakes of the U.S. government. We can see from today’s politics that both sides, Democratic and Republican, both have strong military support on their platforms. Those who denounce our military are quickly ostracized as unpatriotic. Our culture needs a complete overhaul.

Question: Who is really at fault for the militarization of our society? Politicians? Mass Media? Or ourselves?

References:

1. Militarism [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved October 22, 2017, from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/I_want_you_for_U.S._Army_3b48465u_original.jpg/200px-I_want_you_for_U.S._Army_3b48465u_original.jpg
2. Hamamoto, Y. Darrell. “Empire of Death and the Plague of Civic Violence.” Masters of War: Militarism and Blowback in the Era of American Empire, by Carl Boggs, Routledge, 2003, pp. 277-292.