Summary: As my family washes up on the shores of the Mississippi, homeless refugees from San Francisco, I occasionally dip into the news to see updates on America’s descent into the Crazy Years. It is the collapse of all values and loss of common sense in conducting our lives. Even our most rigid and conservative institutions are affected, as William Lind reports.
The Latest Casualty of the Marines’ Surrender to Political Correctness
By William S. Lind.
From The American Conservative • 25 July 2018.
Posted with the generous permission of the TAC.
Marcus Mainz was relieved of his command in May, effectively ending his career.
Several weeks ago, the United States Marine Corps copied its old Japanese adversary and committed seppuku. It did so by relieving its best battalion commander and most promising future senior combat leader of his command, thus terminating his career. As another Marine lieutenant colonel said to me, “The last light shining in the darkness has been put out.”
The officer relieved of his command was Lieutenant Colonel Marcus Mainz. Some years ago Mainz, as a captain, was one of my students in a Fourth Generation War seminar at the Marine Corps’ Expeditionary Warfare School. He was one of the best – bright, tremendous energy, a powerful personality, and an ability to get results. These are exactly the qualities the Marine Corps needs in its leaders if it is to implement its doctrine of maneuver warfare. Now that doctrine seems to be little more than words on paper.
Mainz, through the innovative training program he implemented in his battalion, had built a substantial and devoted following throughout the Marine Corps. Now many of his admirers are giving up and putting in their paperwork to resign or retire. Their hope is gone. A Marine major said to me, “The second- and third-order effects of his dismissal are massive.”
What led the Marine Corps to devour its young? The answer lies in the moral cowardice the senior Marine Corps leadership (and that of our other armed services) routinely displays in the face of “political correctness,” i.e., cultural Marxism.
Speaking to his Marines, as told to me, Mainz dismissed some of the administrivia that eats up much of their training time, saying something like, “We’re not going to do that faggot stuff.” A Marine understandably objected to his use of the word “faggot,” and a brigadier general ordered him relieved of his command.
Of course it can’t be disputed that this was an unfortunate and inappropriate expression. A proper sanction would have been justified. But to destroy the career of one of the Corps’ best commanders for a lapsus linguae is ridiculous. Should this lapse wipe away all the good accomplished by this highly effective military leader – and all of his potential future accomplishments in a Corps that needs his leadership? And does the Marine Corps really want to put such fear into its best officers that they lose their force and swagger?
Note: The official explanation the Marines have issued for Mainz’s loss of command is that it was due to a “loss of trust and confidence in his ability to continue to lead the battalion.”
Far from being an isolated incident, the relief of this brilliant officer points to the worm that is gnawing away at the Marine Corps’ vitals: preparing for war has become the lowest priority. A new book by a Marine attack helicopter pilot, now out of the Corps, Captain Jeff Groom, ably satirizes that reality. Subtitled “A Marine Remembers a Dog and Pony Show,” American Cobra Pilot points to the Corps’ real priorities: political correctness and “looking good” (which is very different from being good).
Most of the political correctness stems from the absurd social experiment of putting young Marines, men and women who sometimes are not out of their teens, together to work and live in close proximity while saying to the men, “If a single impure thought crosses your mind, if you so much as look at a pretty girl with a twinkle in your eye, you are guilty of sexual harassment.” The monks on Mt. Athos would not subject themselves to such temptation. Nor does the male Marine have to do or say anything sexual. If he gives a woman an order she doesn’t like, if he critiques the way she is doing her job, if he displeases her in any way, she can charge “sexual harassment,” knowing he likely will be considered guilty until proven innocent.
Why are the generals so terrified of “offending” the cultural Marxists? For fear Nancy Pelosi or some other congressional dingbat might go after the Marine Corps’ budget in retaliation. They seem to care about little else. Decades ago, when the situation was less bad than it is now, a Marine friend was in charge of setting up and running the commandant’s new “War Room” in Headquarters, Marine Corps. He said to me, “The only war ever discussed in it is the budget war.” The fact that many generals go to work at princely salaries for defense contractors once they retire (with six-figure pensions) may be relevant.
Meanwhile, as Groom’s book lays out, the Corps covers its poor job of preparing for war by putting on magnificent public displays, which Marines call “dog and pony shows.” The book focuses on a particular dog and pony show staged for the South Koreans that pretended to be warlike. But you need not travel far to see one. The Taliban could never put on as splendid a display as the Evening Parade on summer Friday nights at the Corps’ historic 8th and I barracks in the capital. In Afghanistan, the Taliban is winning, but what does that matter so long as the generals who have presided over our defeat keep getting promoted? As one Army lieutenant colonel said in print a few years ago, ending his career, “A private who loses his rifle gets in more trouble than a general who loses a war.”
Generals who show moral cowardice in the face of cultural Marxism – when Donald Trump is their commander-in-chief! – are not likely to demonstrate boldness and daring in combat. Field grade officers who “go by the book” and give their Marines scanty and mostly unrealistic training are failing in their primary duty. The dog and pony shows may look great to the public, but the ponies are wooden and the dogs are dead. The Marine Corps that relieved Lieutenant Colonel Marcus Mainz of his command is a fraud.
—————————————-
Editor’s summary
For 20 years the Left’s hatred of our culture has grown hotter. After generations of their reforms, American might no longer work well. Perhaps they Leftist just want to see it burn.
Putting this incident in a larger context, peacetime militaries often prioritize politically useful or socially approved factors above military effectiveness. Great combat officers have have transgressive behaviors and values, and hence join the military as a refugee from the broader society. In war they are tolerated. In peace, ideologues, bluestockings, and their ilke hut down these men. This is one reason that well-respected and well-funded militaries often suffer catastrophic defeat at the start of wars — even against poorly funded barbarians.
About the author
William S. Lind’s director of the American Conservative Center for Public Transportation. He has a Master’s Degree in History from Princeton University in 1971. He worked as a legislative aide for armed services for Senator Robert Taft, Jr., of Ohio from 1973 through 1976 and held a similar position with Senator Gary Hart of Colorado from 1977 through 1986. See his bio at Wikipedia
Mr. Lind is author of the Maneuver Warfare Handbook
He’s perhaps best known for his articles about the long war, now published as On War: The Collected Columns of William S. Lind 2003-2009
- Posts at TraditionalRight.
- His articles about geopolitics at The American Conservative.
- His articles about transportation at The American Conservative.
For More Information
Ideas! For shopping ideas, see my recommended books and films at Amazon.
If you found this post of use, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. See all posts about William Lind’s work, about the US Marine Corps, about our officer corps, about military reform, and especially these…
- A step to getting an effective military. We might need it soon.
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- Reforming the US Army: can be done, must be done.
- William Lind: a voice from the past explains our broken army.
Years ago, lieutenants map cases and helmet bags were called “fag bags.” Now the term would be “man purse.” An oral admonishment would have been appropriate in this case, assuming Lind has presented all the facts and the context of “he’s never erred before” is correct.
Marcus was one of my finest students (in the Mission Command workshop), and one of the best teachers I observed at the USMC Expeditionary Warfare School (EWS) for captains. This is horrible. So we destroy the career of one of the most promising officers for saying a word. I got picked on a lot growing up, no one get punished, and it only made me tougher and more determined to prove otherwise.
Don,
Thank you for providing your first-person observations of Lt. Colonel Marcus.
“I got picked on a lot growing up, no one get punished, and it only made me tougher and more determined to prove otherwise.”
Me, too. I always lost. But such analogies are, to use TE Lawrence’s phrase, fudge. It’s a prime rule in macroeconomics that microeconomics do not scale up to macroeconomic effects. I increase my savings, which is good. If we all save more, the economy shrinks.
Incidents like the PC hit on Marcus is a defeat. Defeats make us weaker, not stronger.
Lind’s “cultural Marxism” is a silly conspiracy theory, on the level of “shape-shifting lizards control the government”. What a joke. It would honestly be a good thing if US generals were actually afraid of budget cuts and civilian oversight. However, considering the defense budget bill before congress and Lind’s penchant for conspiracy mongering, I’m gonna have to go with this being a bunch of hot air.
So Chlen, what do YOU attribute it to? If not political correctness, then what?
“loss of trust and confidence in his ability to continue to lead the battalion” is the official explanation. Speculating is pointless when we have no information. Until there’s more, I’ll go with the official line over the hearsay of a paranoid loon whose claim to fame is reviving a Nazi conspiracy theory.
Chen,
“ind’s “cultural Marxism” is a silly conspiracy theory”
That’s quite a set of blinkers you’re wearing. Ideology is one of the most powerful forces shaping our world.
“considering the defense budget bill before congress”
How is that relevant to this event?
Are you saying you believe in cultural Marxism? How about those shape-shifting lizards? Could I interest you in a Herbalife milkshake?
Chlen,
How to conceptualize broad ideological trends is seldom clear in real time. It is like being in a kaleidoscope, with brightly colored fragments whirling around us.
What is incontestable to anyone paying attention is that the Left has a long tradition, going back to the early 19th century, of hating core elements of western civilization. Marx provided the most enduring formulation of this as the “bourgeois” class, whose values are rooted in economic materialism and philistinism. This went mainstream after WWII, fed by people intellectuals such as Jean-Paul Sartre — supported by hordes of artists, cultural critics, radical feminists, etc.
Since 2000 it has become even more intense and explicit. Many on the Left want to burn our civilization down. It’s a common belief among utopians that our of the wreckage will emerge a better/purer civilization. These people have to be watched like pyromaniacs, despite they good intentions.
General Semantics teaches us to use labels, such as “cultural marxism”, for communication — but remember that they are just labels. “The name is not the object.” “The map is not the territory.”
Quibbling about labels is shadow-boxing.
Dismissing and ridiculing his theories with no explanation of your own is actually nuts. Offer an explanation of why an officer would simply be relieved for using the word faggot and don’t point to the b.s. command environment crap – that’s a catch-all. And if the Corps, my Corps, did relieve this guy for nothing other than using the word faggot – well, that’s just plain gay.
“How to conceptualize broad ideological trends is seldom clear in real time” Translation: I believe an easily debunked conspiracy theory is true but I can’t defend it directly so I’ll dance around the issue.
“Marx provided the most enduring formulation of this as the “bourgeois” class, whose values are rooted in economic materialism and philistinism” Translation: I have no understanding of Marx whose conception of class is about one’s relationship to capital and the capitalist mode of production. When I say Marxism I’m actually using ahistorical propaganda originally conceived by the Nazis and called cultural Bolshevism by them. Please take me seriously!
Since 2000 it has become even more intense and explicit. Many on the Left want to burn our civilization down Translation: I’m aggrieved that conservatives have lost the culture war on a number of issues. I am the real victim and should be pandered to even when the majority of Americans disagree with me. I can’t accept change because I’m a huge baby.
General Semantics teaches us to use labels… Translation: I believe an easily debunked conspiracy theory and I don’t understand Marx and I hope you won’t notice if I say stuff like this.
Chien,
Thank you for our daily trolling. Good-by.
Gute,
Nah, taking the hearsay of a conspiracy theorist seriously is actually what’s nuts. Anyone can speculate but since we don’t know the details, it’s all toss.
Felix_47 I think had the best response.
“Lind’s “cultural Marxism” is a silly conspiracy theory, on the level of “shape-shifting lizards control the government” Really? You sure about that. Go read Antonio Gramsci’s Cultural Hegemeony and how that was extrapolated by many on the Left for decades upon decades. It worked. gramsci was pretty insightful
Astakask77,
“Lind’s “cultural Marxism” is a silly conspiracy theory,”
The phenomenon Lind describes as “cultural Marxism” is quite real. Many on the Left deny it, just as they deny the existence of efforts to enforce political correctness and efforts to suppress conservatives’ speech on campuses. It’s sad, and not worth engaging.
Here you take it one step farther — One of the defining characteristics of the Left in America today is that it makes stuff up and then attacks that phantom. Lind does not describe, so far as I know, cultural Marxism as a “conspiracy theory.” You lie about this to create a fake rebuttal. Lind does not describe it as a conspiracy, in that it is neither secret nor illegal.
See Lind’s original speech about this, “The Origins of Political Correctness” (I think this version is the first).
Sidenote: The corresponding characteristic on the Right is the creating of fake realities, which they insist are obvious truths. Faux history (eg, the Civil War wasn’t primarily about slavery). Faux economics (cutting tax rates usually increases tax revenue). Faux politics (eg, an armed society is a safe society).
You know you are being somewhat disingenuous, regarding Lind’s “cultural Marxism” crtitique. You know fully well that the Left and this cultural Marxism idea was explained and even bragged about by the Left. Do I need to remind everyone here about The long march through the institutions slogan (coined by Rudi Dutschke).
This was not just in Germany, but practiced and pushed throughout Europe and crossed the Atlantic with the “New Left” in the 60s. So Lind’s observation is quite relevant and far from a “Conspiracy theory”. Look into it more, and you’ll see that he is not that far off the mark. Here is another article as food for thought. This time in England
“The Left’s long march will be hard to stop” by Janet Daily in The Telegraph — “Committed political agitators tell lies, even if with honourable intentions.”
Asta,
Thanks for that helpful comment! I had heard of the “long march” phrase, but didn’t know its history.
This is quite similar to the equally public plans by the Right to establish a plutocracy. See this post about some of their planning docs, describing programs which they have lavishly funded, skillfully executed by people they have recruited, trained, and nurtured.
Meanwhile we have booze, drugs, sports, faux politics. Only one can win. Unless something changes, it won’t be us.
Larry Kummer, I think there was a misunderstanding. that was directed to Chlen. I am in mostly in agreement with Lind’s critique.
Antonio Gramsci’s Cultural Hegemeony and how that was extrapolated by many on the Left for decades upon decades. It worked. gramsci was pretty insightful.
These cultural Marxism ideas were explained and even bragged about by the Left. Here is a reminder about The long march through the institutions slogan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_long_march_through_the_institutions , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudi_Dutschke) This was not just in Germany, but practiced and pushed throughout Europe and crossed the Atlantic with the “New Left” in the 60s.
So Lind’s observation is quite relevant and far from a “Conspiracy theory”. Look into it more, and you’ll see that he is not that far off the mark. Here is another article as food for thought. This time in England https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10625650/The-Lefts-long-march-will-be-hard-to-stop.html
ASTA,
Thanks for the explanation. That’s clear.
Larry,
“Incidents like the PC hit on Marcus is a defeat. Defeats make us weaker, not stronger.”
I hope, that one day looking back we can write:
Incidents like the PC hit on Marcus was a defeat. These defeats made us angrier, weakening us progressively, until one day we got angry enough and stopped being PC.
We know why “they” hit him, he is the type that would dig a ditch to drain the High Command swamp and an effective army might help us get back up as a Western Alliance.
This blow like many childhoods defeats overall ended up making us stronger, so I pray these defeats in our lives will only make us stronger, wiser and more determined.
To use a statement PC’s like “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”, when that was said we were at the pinnacle and the others at the base, now we are sadly heading for a reversal of position.
Man goes mad in crowds and gains his sanity alone as an individual, only when enough individuals wake up, do they form a crowd and start to pull back against the maddening crowds, still infected with PC madness.
(OK paraphrased a couple of people cleverer than me there!!)
Buy American first, than allies, make it a rule you live by, as a simple first step, Do this and spread this idea, I am finding it easier each week,
Pay back debt, to owe your potential enemy money is like putting your b”””””s in a draw and hoping he does shut it fast, when you don’t comply.
Vote against the PC madness, stand for election if you are strong enough.
Larry as always articles that make one think clearly about things. Thank you.
You didn’t want to use the word ‘balls’ in your anti-PC rant?
Can you explain what you are attempting to say? Your comment makes no sense.
Yes, this poster rants about “PC madness” but sensors his own comment “putting your b”””””s in a draw [sic]”. He’s irate about someone allegedly getting fired for using the word “faggot” but too bashful to use the far less offensive term “balls”. I thought it was ironic and hilarious.
Lind operates under an older standard of propriety. What is appropriate for speech among soldiers is not appropriate for a general audience article.
Odd that you don’t understand that. But I guess that’s part of the “collapse of all values”.
That makes no sense
Oh so you think it’s OK to use the B-word??? Those are private parts. It is really uncouth and bad to say those things. No manners these days. Liberals don’t have any respect for anything.
Absolutely unfathomable, deplorable, and frightful. Well written … thank you from … The Ole’ Buzzard
When you can easily find tranny service whatevers “serving” in the military what would you expect. Maybe they could start handing out stars for diversity. At some point if a real war happens and things go south the are more likely to start using AI in control rather than stop the SJW BS.
From Wikipedia, “Cultural Marxism is a conspiracy theory. This is where they’re getting the idea that it’s a conspiracy theory. The section sites articles by four Jewish authors calling anyone blaming cultural decline on Jewish Frankfurt School scholars “lunatics” and “antisemites.” Jewish scholars defending Jewish scholars sounds like a conspiracy, I know, but that’s what appears to be happening in Wikipedia. Lind did point out that the Frankfurt school scholars were Jewish.
“Jewish scholars defending Jewish scholars sounds like a conspiracy, I know, but that’s what appears to be happening in Wikipedia”
It sounds like a conspiracy theory because it is, numbnuts. Hmm, I wonder where they got the idea that people who believe this shit are antisemites…
PRCD,
Thanks for citing that Wikipedia entry. It’s exactly the sort of thing that Wikipedia does well, so long as one doesn’t regard these entries as more than pointers.
Screams of “it’s a conspiracy theory” are a useful way to discredit things to the not-too-bright. In the real world all movements for change — economic, political, social — require people working together in groups. These can be loose (early Christianity, vegetarians today), moderately organized (the 1% on the Right, with their network of think-tanks and political fund-raisers), or tight (the Founders, the various Communist parties).
That is, “conspiracy” is used in the sense of working together — relying on the implied (but usually false) implications of secret and treasonous.
The extreme opposite of “conspiracies” is the Long Ranger or Libertarian mode. Bold individuals acting alone to shape the world. It is commonly found in stories written for teen-age boys (eg, comic books, novels). It is rarely found in history, since it quickly fails almost always.
When I first met Marcus Mainz a couple years ago, he knocked my socks off. Not only was he super competent, but extremely innovative and quite inspirational. After seeing his brief on creating “decision rooms” in the barracks where Marines could play decision making wargames in their spare time and talking to him about it, I kidded him that he had converted me to the “church of Mainz.”
He’d also pioneered ways to tag, track, and locate all his Marines in field exercises so he could capture their tactical movements and create videos of those for AARs. They also could convert some of the situations to computer wargames to replay the situation and make different decisions.
You might be tempted to think this guy was a geek, but you had to see him and talk to him; he did everything superlatively — a real Renaissance man.
Misadventuring on WIkipedia: “The anonymized wiki editors misconstrue conservative scholarship on the Frankfurt School.” It seems Lind’s articles on TAC and now here are pursued by a swarm of goons telling us that BILL LIND NEVER SERVED (neither did Martin Van Creveld and I don’t see how it matters) and CULTURAL MARXISM IS A CONSPIRACY THEORY.
These same comments appear in many of Lind’s TAC articles this year. After being ignored for decades except by people interested in military reforms, Bill Lind is suddenly getting a lot of attention.
Here’s a good article on Cultural Marxism. Here’s another one, by Lind.
I wonder why you’d dismiss the Wikipedia article and the dozens of references to academic critiques of Lind’s conspiracy theory in favor of some alt-right site and another TAC article. You’re. A. Joke. Whining about people rightly calling Cultural Marxism a fringe conspiracy theory doesn’t actually make it any less of one. But thanks for at least not linking to an overt neo-Nazi site to find praise for Lind’s stupid conspiracies.
And sorry to break it to you, but Lind has never served unless you consider stuffing eclairs in your face a patriotic duty. After graduating with a humanities degree from an Ivy league institution, he spent most of his career as a congressional aid and think tank staffer so when he says things like “congressional dingbat” like the term doesn’t apply to him, he should be laughed at. He’s a mean little nerd whose biggest achievement is writing crappy fiction fantasizing about being a better solider than people who have actually served and getting to kill any American he doesn’t like (which is most Americans).
Chien,
“And sorry to break it to you, but Lind has never served”
What is the significance of that?
“He’s a mean little nerd ”
So far you have not made a single substantive comment but hand-waving and insults. If you have nothing useful to say, then say it elsewhere. Nobody cares about your childish insults.
Chien,
I see you were banned once here (as timbabuta) for childish insults (ie, Trolling). That wastes everybody’s time and can trash even the most interesting comment threads. There will no no further warnings.
The LTC is better off out of the Marines. The level of competition for the next two or three promotion steps is extreme and hardly rational. It is a crapshoot and it is completely political.
The Marines may not be better off without him but the Marines will go on. What we can hope for is that this LTC share his experience regarding the US military in general to educate Americans that we do not need a trillion dollar war budget, that we are not doing our nation a favor by focusing so much on war, that taking care of our economy is the most important defense effort there is. Wasting money, time and lives in Afghanistan, Iraq, Subsahran Africa, Central America, and Southeast Asia is bleeding the United States and destroying our nation.
Obviously the punishment did not fit the offense, if it was offensive to someone, but the way Americans spoke to each other thirty years ago is simply not acceptable in today’s society. Since it is virtually impossible to retrain ones entire personality it means that older soldiers probably need to move on. Their speech habits and patterns do not fit with what younger members are used to. And while I may think the LTC is young, from the standpoint of a 20 year old E3 he is as old as the hills and that is his audience.
Americans from the President on down are fooled by the greatest Propaganda machine of the world, DoD’s how great they are. They are not. All they do is outspend the next 20 peer and non peer competitors. The personnel management system, which I have written many books about, is horrible for many reasons, that Larry and I have outlined in many of his posts. But as long as those at the top negotiated it, successfully, there will be no changing it (despite mountains of evidence to the contrary).
So our youth are so fragile, eager to take offense, and disrespectful towards elders and superiors that having a functional military has become impossible.
This is a PC thug hit on a good soldier. This makes me scared for the future!
Lind is a close family friend, my wife absolutely loves him as a brother. Who cares if he served or not, he is a dedicated professional who loves his country. He has a spinal issue that did not let him serve, so he became a Senatorial advisor to top Senators on military affairs. He is a brilliant man graduating top of his class at Dartmouth and Princeton.
To expand on Don’s point:
Many great military strategists has little or no military experience. Some great military leaders stepped on the battlefield with little training and experience.
Sun Tzu (The Art of War), a legendary figure, is in both categories. Churchill, Lincoln (who controlled much of the US’s strategy and operations) and Julian Corbett are examples of the former. Caesar is an extreme example of the latter.
Martin Van Creveld has a cleft pallet and wasn’t allowed to serve either. It’s sickening that people would make fun of a guy with a spinal condition. Sounds like most of the ankle-biters on here have a (((personal grudge))) against Lind.
Larry,
Yes. This perfectly describes the Frankfurt School. It’s interesting how Communism and its derivatives such as cultural Marxism and whatever Ayers and the Weathermen believed made so much progress in the late 19th and 20th centuries as CHristianity was collapsing in the West.
Chlen’s article from 1986 is a goldmine, and truer today than when it was written in 1986. It agrees with my experience in the Navy and defense industry and everyone else I’ve talked to who wasn’t trying to become a general or flag officer or get a defense industry job after retirement.
PRCD,
Another note about our time — the major forces on the Left and Right, however we label them (I consider the debate about labels to be child-like), are not “conspiracies” in the literal sense.
Neither is secret. Neither is treasonous, as defined by the Constitutional. “Conspiracy” is just another example of the decay of political speech described by Orwell. Racist, sexist, commie — blah blah blah. Attempts to control the thinking of sheep by declaring certain modes of thought to be illegitimate.
Larry,
Further, Barbara Oakley said in one of her lectures that a great many scientific discoveries are made by people outside the field in which the discovery was made. Many working within a field suffer from an Einstellung that prevents them from looking at things differently such that scientific progress can move forward. This same principle obviously applies to other fields as well.
PRCD,
That’s a profound point. Many insights in science, math, and philosophy come from those outside their guilds!
Someone named H D Arnold-Forster once described the British army as “A social institution prepared for any emergency except that of war”. (Quoted in Mr Kipling’s Army by Byron Farwell). I suppose that’s how it will be with us. A lot of armies end up as public jobs programs. Maybe our military will become that, but plus something for politicians and contractors to grift off of, and for the social engineers of the Left to tinker with.
But the British professional army of Kipling’s time came to a bad end. For all the undoubted courage of its men, it died in the mud in France when it met an enemy who was prepared for modern war. The USMC is in danger of becoming “lions led by donkeys.” The British got a painful lesson about modern war in South Africa, and failed to learn from it. The lessons were taught again in France, in a manner impossible to ignore.
I do wonder about the domestic political consequences of the endless complete moral cowardice of every American institution in the face of cultural Marxism. It was a factor in the rise of Trump (Which is not say that he will do anything useful about it, or that he would even know how). I wonder too about the consequences over the political event horizon that will come when an American army is shattered on the battlefield.Because the People In Charge don’t think it can happen.
The Man,
“endless complete moral cowardice of every American institution in the face of cultural Marxism.”
As I said earlier in this thread, describing the big picture of our own time is difficult to impossible. IMO the key feature of our America is that the Left hates our culture, and the Right seeks to build a plutocracy (exploiting us). In the face of these two challenges, we are apathetic and passive. This is, in a sense, much like Weimar Germany — where the fascists and communists fought to rule the sheep in the middle. Now, as then, one will win. Either way, we lose.
Hence the FM website, attempting to help reawaken the spirit of a nation.
Larry
Though I agree with almost all of your article, Churchill did have significant military experience. As a young officer, he was present at the last cavalry charge of the British army. Also during the First World War after accepting responsibility for Gallipoli, he resigned from the Cabinet and went to serve in the trenches of France as a battalion commander. He might not have had a long service record, but those experiences would have been more than want many long serving officers get in their lifetimje.
Yes very good Larry, the first thing weak bastards reply to Bill who disagree with Bill is that “He did not serve!” I go so fucking what, the guy is smarter than most people knows his military history, and wants to help. He makes people think.
Chris,
As you note, Churchill had military experience. It’s what I meant as “light”. You mention two things. First, his experience as a junior officer. His military experience was not what most think of it. He traveled extensively, with long leaves. His only conventional service was 19 months in India, garrison service.
He participated in the Battle of Omdurman; in the battle, the last traditional cavalry charge, as a journalist.
In WWI he served for a few months (2, I think) as a Major on the staff of the 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards (Nov-Dec 1915. Then for about six weeks was the temporary Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the 6th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers (Jan – March 1916). He visited the front often, but there were no set battles.
For much of his career, he was a leader in the Royal Navy — for which he had no formal experience. In WWI he headed Britain’s aerial defense, again with no relevant military experience.
His contributions in tactics, equipment, and strategy in both World Wars were profound — and wholly disproportionate to his brief military service!
Larry – yes his military experiences were light but they had a profound influence on him. He did actually live at the front line, not just visit He was a lot better towards the men that served under him than the other officers were. http://www.scottishmilitarydisasters.com/index.php/titles-sp-26803/66-churchill-in-the-trenches
With regard to his naval experience. You are right. He had absolutely none. At the start of both wars,he was First Lord of the Admiralty, which is the politician. There was more than a little resentment towards his army background there. The army was always seen as the poor cousin in the military and treated accordingly.
He did spend a lot of his political time fighting against the hidebound conservatism of the military. The did curb some of his enthusiasms (some of which were bad) but also they opposed many sensible changes. Not that different to the current situation the US finds itself in.
chrism,
I agree on all points. That’s what I meant by saying his experience was “light.”
Some of the best are taken out by the weak
William,
Wow. An easy winner for Best of Thread.
William Lind is a nerd who never served says: “Yes, this poster rants about “PC madness” but sensors his own comment “putting your b”””””s in a draw [sic]”. He’s irate about someone allegedly getting fired for using the word “faggot” but too bashful to use the far less offensive term “balls”. I thought it was ironic and hilarious.”
There is a difference between simple common avoidance of the base and PCism. But just for you Nerd “Balls”, happy now!
Some PC madness in the university I work in the with ever more casualisation for us educators, we have a new highly paid full time – Diversity Manager, one finding, we are over represented with male gays and under presented with female gays, that says it all. My best friend at work is gay, he is tenured staff, not for his sexuality, but become he has a Ph.d and post doctoral research publications from a top university with a sting of publications since.
To stop his career in favour of a less qualified lesbian candidate or vice versa, stops a fair meritocracy and will pull us apart rather than unite us. This hasn’t happened yet, but it is the next logical step.
If I was thinking about a way to get even more us and them in the work place and society, to reduce trust, co-operation and belief in the system – a Diversity Manger would be high on the list.
A Guy,
You mention one factor that IMO receives too little attention: hiring by identify group is inherently divisive, encouraging dislike or hatred between groups. That’s probably a feature, not a bug, to the hard-core Leftists pushing these policies.
As they say, “the worse, the better.” They just want to see our society burn.
Larry,
Thank you for your continued work on the many important topics you cover here.
A salute to LTC Marcus Mainz. He is just the type of commander I would have wanted in combat.
The horror, the horror.
Jim
So we don’t have a military anymore, it’s just a bunch of cosplayers using props and dress-up.
On the plus side, when the left tries to deploy them against the citizenry I’m fairly confident in our chances to defeat them.
javier,
“So we don’t have a military anymore,”
That’s quite false. We have an immensely powerful military. It appears to be — perhaps — in a state of slow decay. While capable of smashing any second tier foe (or lower) with ease, it has proven of low effectiveness at dealing with 4GW foes. Which are our primary threats.
We don’t know how well it would do against peer foes. But they have nukes, so any such conflict is unlikely.
Larry,
Change “We have an immensely powerful military” to we have an immensely powerful military that loses wars since the Korean war along with an ethos that is corroding year after year after year.
What is even the point of an American joining the military if he wants to test his manhood for killing for his country when he sees what happens to fighting men get discarded like yesterday’s news year after year?
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The same thing happened to my husband. 24 years and forced to retire, our family was in a worldwind for a year trying to rush and switch gears to retirement seminars and finding a home and new jobs, that the Corps does not assist with.
When you are no longer useful to them, they want you gone like a dirty napkin. My husband bled green for years and it hurt him to his soul. I told him there was no loyalty year after year. All the missed birthdays, holidays, anniversaries and firsts you can’t ever get back. 3 wars, a body that broke from strenuous DI cycles. He doesn’t sleep a lot anymore.
I know in my heart it wasn’t just a job for him. I hurt for him, I pray for his spirit but I believe he is better off not being associated with the “new Corps“.
It’s weak and racist… I could tell you some stories.
Lyn,
Thank you for sharing with us this painful story. Best of luck to your husband and your family.