<War propaganda is powerful stuff, and not many people can resist it. >
With a parade, drums beating and bagpipes playing. Young women cheering the young men on. Calls to courage and proof of manhood. Speeches about the homeland, motherland and the glory of God.
Contempt of the frightened, abuse of the conscientious objector, rewards for the heroes.
By crikey, where's my gun? I gotta shoot some varmints before they rape my sister, mother, wife and daughter and destroy our lives.
All for one and one for all. Death or glory.
You are right, propaganda works a treat and it's quite natural. Working up a head of steam and going on a territorial defence is as old as chimpanzees, who do just the same, as seen on tv. Other animals do it. We are also just animals when we do it. Smart animals, but just animals. Which is demoralizing, given our self-aggrandizement to a supernatural stature.
<The sacrifice isn't shared, either; drafts generally target a narrow slice of the population (e.g. young men).>
That's for sure. Check out President AWOL for example. No swampy, leech-infested jungle for him with sharpened bamboo stakes in holes in the ground. Plenty of people found a way out. No way out for the Louisville Lip though! He didn't have friends in high places. He was shown who was boss.
Mqurice |
