First, What is Patriotism?

Welcome to Command and Signal- a limited run podcast about vets, propaganda, patriotism and other bullshit. Over the next few episodes, we’re gonna look at what some key words mean, why they matter and then we’re gonna look at them in context. We’re gonna explore fascism, nationalism, patriotism, propaganda, fake news, bro vets, Kaepernick, gender, race… we’re hitting all the good stuff.

And, it’s important we talk about this shit because people are dying and our country is pretty pissed off. 

Much like the Greatest Generation, we vets can bridge gaps in ways so many others can’t- we can speak to many different crowds simultaneously via shared experiences of service.  But to do that, we need to take a look in the mirror first.  

The Vietnam Veterans of America commissioned and wrote a report on the campaign being waged by foreign governments, including, YES, those pesky Russians to affect you politically and evoke strong emotions in you . They are locating and using wedge issues to drive a wedge between you and the civilian population. They are doing this via memes, facebook pages, fake news websites and more memes. And the topics they are using? Race, gender, sexuality.  You know… the basics. 

So, that is where this podcast comes in. We’re gonna look at what the report said and then look at those wedge issues. I’m not here to tell you to support some political program. But, I am gonna explain some history and some reality. Why did Kaepernick take a knee? Does Black Lives Matter hate veterans? Are women hurting the lethality of the military? 

You don’t have to agree with everything I say, it really doesn’t matter if you are liberal or conservative after this. What matters is if you recognize how people are trying to affect you by blurring the lines between patriotism, nationalism and (in some cases) fascism.

Randolph Bourne once said,

“War is the health of the state.”

Think about why that is.