Military Education And Masculinity In The US w/ Jasper Craven | MR Live

The founding fathers expressed deep skepticism towards military imperialism and occupation, yet many were Revolutionary War veterans who, through their own vanity and practical needs (expelling the British, suppressing indigenous people), elevated the soldier as the prototypical American. This laid the groundwork for the military-industrial complex and the equation of manhood with military service.

Many founding fathers, revolutionary war veterans, cultivated images as 'prototypical Americans' while simultaneously expressing a need to keep the military in check. West Point, initially a strategic post, became the nucleus from which the military-industrial complex grew from 'a few dozen guys into what we see today'.

Under figures like Sylvanus Thayer, West Point's curriculum was intentionally stripped of humanities, Latin, English courses, plays, and extracurriculars. This puritanical approach focused on technical skills and brutal punishments for minor infractions, aiming to create a compliant body of cadets rather than developing their individual souls or critical thinking, thereby instilling unwavering obedience.

Sylvanus Thayer 'does away with Latin, English courses, plays, extracurriculars, vacations' and 'really squeezes it all out' to impose discipline and secure specific behaviors, in contrast to his predecessor Alden Partridge who allowed humanities to flourish and treated cadets more humanely.

The West Point football team adopted 'God Forgives, Brothers Don't' as its motto in 1996, unaware (or uncaring) that it was the 'omea code' of the Aryan Brotherhood, a white power prison gang, since the 1980s. This connection highlights a disturbing ideological overlap between elements within the military and white supremacist groups, suggesting a shared appreciation for authoritarianism and a specific, violent form of 'brotherhood'.

The Aryan Brotherhood developed 'God Forgives, Brothers Don't' in the 1980s; the West Point football team adopted it in 1996, seemingly inspired by a movie about a white supremacist biker gang loosely based on the Aryan Brotherhood.

In the early 1900s, a movement called 'preparedness,' astroturfed by bankers, weapons manufacturers (DuPont, JP Morgan), and politicians like Teddy Roosevelt, saber-rattled against a 'coming invasion.' This propaganda manufactured a sense of immediate threat to the homeland, shifting public opinion from domestic priorities to supporting foreign wars like World War I, and establishing ideologies of external enemies that needed to be defeated.

Bankers and weapons manufacturers like DuPont and JP Morgan, along with Teddy Roosevelt, 'astroturf this idea, this movement called preparedness' to deal with the lack of 'immediate threat to the homeland' for most citizens, using 'very explicit language' about a 'coming invasion'.

World War II marked a crucial period where physical strength and bodybuilding became deeply conflated with American manhood. Influenced by figures like Bernard McFaden, a eugenicist who admired Mussolini and Hitler's ideals of the perfect body, the military scrapped old physical standards for new ones emphasizing bare-knuckle boxing, strength, and push-ups. This led to a national effort to build gyms and elevated the status of PE teachers, spiking public engagement in fitness.

Bernard McFaden, a 'mercurial macho early bodybuilding magazine publisher' and 'blatant eugenicist' who 'flirted with strong men like Mussolini and Hitler,' profoundly influenced the military to 'completely scrap its physical standards and rewrite new ones that are emphasizing fighting, you know, bare knuckle boxing, strength, push-ups.'

The Vietnam War, lacking a tangible moral center and riddled with lies and war crimes, profoundly warped military masculinity. It became extremely individualistic, focused on 'violence for violence's sake' and body counts rather than a shared global mission. This era saw the emergence of figures like Rambo, characterized by resentment towards the country and politicians, and a hardening of the military man's identity.

Post-Vietnam, the military entered an 'era of violence for violence sake' due to the war being 'racked with lies and propaganda and such thin morals, often war crimes'. Masculinity 'becomes extremely individualistic' where service is 'mercenary soldier of fortune style' and 'violence becomes a virtue'.

After a brief post-9/11 blip of patriotism, the military's cultural influence on masculinity has significantly loosened. However, figures like Pete Hegseth are attempting to reassert a traditional, reactionary military identity. This involves purging perceived 'wokeness,' gutting sexual assault programs, and welcoming individuals with angry, disaffected, and reactionary views, often blaming women and people of color for the military's perceived decline. This project risks further politicizing the military and aligning it with violent extremism.

The military's grip on culture and ideas around masculinity has 'loosened' since the early 2000s. Pete Hegseth's project is a 'reassertion of an attempted reassertion of that influence,' where he 'blames women and people of color' and is 'welcoming in... people who are angry, disaffected, harbor reactionary views.'