In 2023, what does Veterans Day really mean in America? Today, MAGA boomers are flooding social media with Veterans Day graphics. You know the ones I’m talking about – they have a picture of a soldier, probably an eagle, and a slogan like “thank you for keeping us free” imposed over a flag. I have nothing against the MAGA boomers. They mean well, and we are aligned on many important issues. But their line of thinking is based on the myth that the America of today still operates under the original Constitution. The systems our founders set up still work, but those pesky Democrats can’t stop messing things up! The purpose of the military should be to protect home, which truly keeps us free. But the truth is America’s veterans have not done that since 1812.
Veterans Day owes its origins to Armistice Day, which celebrated the end of World War I. A federal Memorial Day holiday already existed as a result of the “Civil War.” Armistice Day was different in that it honored all who served in World War I, living or deceased. Americans celebrated Armistice Day every November 11th until 1954, when the Eisenhower administration officially signs off on changing it to Veterans Day, honoring those Americans who served in all wars.
World War I is a real problem in American history. World War II at least has the convenient good vs. evil layman’s narrative. But if you ask the average man-on-the-street why we fought in World War I, they’ll struggle to give you an answer. That’s because getting involved in World War I really didn’t make much sense to Americans of the time, either. Everyone is familiar with the Monroe Doctrine – European powers are to stay out of the Western Hemisphere. Today, everyone forgets the other part – America is to stay out of European affairs.
Woodrow Wilson knew that American involvement in the conflict was deeply unpopular, and even ran his 1916 reelection campaign on “He Kept Us Out of War!” However, less than a month into his second term, the United States declared war on Germany. This was based on the Zimmerman Telegram, a document that the Germans sent to Mexico, proposing a military alliance, and in turn promising Mexico the territories of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, which Mexico lost in the Mexican-American War.
This is preposterous on its face. The war had been chewing through German resources for three years by this point. How was a depleted Germany, with limited naval capacity, going to sail across the Atlantic, move across the entire continent, and forcefully give back the entire American Southwest to Mexico? Mexico, whom could only be politely described as a highly unstable country? It is a ridiculous threat, only given credibility by the fact that the Wilson administration was running a heavy censorship regime, jailing anyone who criticized his war. How was any of this “defending American liberty?”
The United States had already been tilting towards aggressive militarism. Another reason for entry into World War I was the German’s practice of “unrestricted submarine warfare.” The Germans sunk the passenger ship Lusitania. The Lusitania was carrying 128 Americans, however, this “passenger ship” was also carrying munitions, and there is overwhelming evidence that the ship was deliberately placed in harm’s way to entice America to enter the war on the side of the British. This is almost exactly how the Americans entered the Mexican War half a century earlier, when troops were placed on disputed territory, and unsurprisingly, Mexico fired on them. It is difficult to see how deliberately provoking significantly weaker nations is “defending American liberty.”
Provocation also played a heavy role in the United States entry into World War II. It is obvious to anyone familiar with FDR’s Rainbow Five doctrine that he was planning on getting involved in World War II as early as 1933. The leaking of these documents to the Chicago Tribune all but ensured that the Axis would attack, and days later, that’s exactly what happened when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. This wasn’t exactly how it was supposed to work, FDR wanted to provoke Germany into attacking, however Hitler went out of his way to instruct his officers to avoid striking American ships. He knew that Germany stood no chance if the United States got involved.
FDR’s Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes saw Japan as the easier entry point to declaring war on Germany, and his instincts were correct. FDR, also operating a heavy censorship regime, used the attack to completely discredit the America First “isolationist” movement and presidents who governed over times of peace and prosperity, like Coolidge and Harding. He claimed their inaction led to the rise of fascism in Europe, which is ironic since FDR was clearly putting American lives at risk by sacrificing them to Axis aggression for political gain, while at the same time forming an alliance with a communist dictator that had already murdered tens of millions, magnitudes more than all of the fascist powers combined. Regardless, the America First movement never recovered from FDR’s slander.
And once again, this has to operate under the facade that German or Japanese aggression was a threat to American safety. Just like World War I, Germany had no capacity to wage full-scale war on American soil. The Japanese were starving to death and had no oil to run industry, let alone lead a full-scale invasion of the American west coast. Yes, Pearl Harbor happened, and yes, German submarines did strike American ships off the Atlantic. But these incidents will happen when you make it clear that you are targeting nations for annihilation. Once again, how is any of this “protecting American liberty?”
In fact, war more than anything else takes liberty away from Americans. The Vietnam War was so popular, Americans were forced to fight it, or face jail time. Vietnam, another country that posed no threat to American soil. Our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq operated under the premise that we were rooting out Al-Qaeda, yet neither country had anything to do with the attacks of September 11th. If we were trying to “win” the war against Afghanistan, the 116th largest economy in the world, we should have been able to accomplish that in four minutes, not two decades. Unfortunately, the main goal of the United States military now seems to be spreading a social engineering regime across the globe. What does forcing transgender education to the third world have to do with “protecting American liberty?”
I bring up 1812 because that was the last time we faced an enemy on American soil. America was attacked on Pearl Harbor and 9/11, but these were not full-scale military invasions. Defenders of the status quo will claim that things were simpler back then, and we need an aggressive military in today’s complex world. The same-old: “we have to fight them there, or we’ll fight them here!” nonsense. If anything, times should be simpler now. America is impossible to invade. Amphibious invasions are extremely difficult to pull off. Chinese, Iranian or Russian boogeymen simply don’t have the logistical capacity to execute something like that. Any kind of “invasion” could be easily repelled if we had sensible immigration policies. Which brings me to the sad reality…
Our country is under siege, and it is at the blessing of our government that has sworn to protect us. Our southern border took in at least 2 million migrants in 2022, many of them from hostile nations. This is what a real invasion looks like, it’s not Russian tanks or Chinese battleships. The entire point of the American military is to protect home. This is the Washington way and the Jefferson way. Conscription did exist in founding times, but most Americans then would need no encouragement to take up arms in defense of home. If any American did that today, they would face execution, ironically, by their own military. Once again, how is this “defending American liberty?”
I have no issue with the concept of a Veterans Day. We should honor those who defend our nation, it’s just that those who did have been dead for 200 years. I have no issues with those who serve. Unfortunately, military service is the only option for many impoverished youths that have no chance whatsoever at prosperity outside of it. Ironically, due to our economic policies that have crippled American industry and left so many regions broken and destitute. I just think that we need to start having serious discussions about what the purpose of our military really is.
When we fall into the Hallmark Card way of thinking about America’s military and government, it prevents us from thinking rationally. Throw up the eagle graphic on your Facebook page, maybe some Washington or Lincoln quotes, and keep your mouth shut. Any dissidents are just liberals, communists or effete pacifists. Sorry, but I am anything but. We are a country that is $33 trillion in debt, and a large portion of that is military adventurism. I don’t think it is un-American to want peace and prosperity for my people. America first, America only.
So, when Bud Light takes a break from honoring BIPOC lesbian Air Force pilots and starts showing their love for good old boy veterans in pickup trucks, or when Sean Hannity measures how much of a patriot you are by how willing you are to die for a foreign nation (from the comfort of his studio), don’t fall for it. Our military today is used for almost everything but defense of home. I’m not bowing in blind servitude to it anymore. Blind servitude gives the war machine cover to do whatever it wants, and that’s truly anti-American. Let’s focus on our problems first and let voluntarism and private charity worry about the rest. Let’s start thinking about what Veterans Day actually means in 2023, and how far we have fallen from the intended purpose of our military. The sooner we abandon the Hallmark card version of Veterans Day, the better.