US military and socialism

Nicholas Kristof, in his op-ed Our Lefty Military, makes an observation that has long been known by politically astute veterans: the US military is socialist. We even highlighted that aspect of the military in our civil-military advocacy at Columbia.

Kristof, however, leaves out four key features of the military that deter the military's socialist model from scaling up effectively to the entire nation. One, the military is bounded by strict membership standards, regulations, and population caps tied to available jobs. Two (and related to one), the military is a socio-culturally homogenous, hierarchical, even insular, tribal community, which America as a whole is not. Three (and related to one and two), military values are ascetic, austere, and selfless, unlike the drive to prosperity and other self-centered values that characterize civilian life. Team and And four, the military performs necessary services for the nation, but one fundamental thing the military does not do is generate direct economic value or capital, ie, the military does not pay for itself. A nation must be able to pay for itself.

In other words, socialism can work for the military because of its specific set of conditions, culture, and absence of need to generate capital. The same conditions, culture, and absence of need are not shared by American society at large.

I agree with Kristof (and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga of the Daily Kos) generally that the military embodies important values and provides positive examples for society. I believe the Heinlein Starship Troopers notion that veterans have a great deal to offer as leaders to shepherd America in uncertain times. But I don't agree with a wholesale application of the military's socialist model to all persons and parts of the nation. The costs and benefits calculation of socialism for and within the military is not the same as the costs and benefits calculation of socialism for the entire nation.

Moreover, applying a militaristic socialist template has been tried on a mass scale already. Mao Ze-Dong, likely motivated by the same admiration for the military's team culture, attempted to remake China with a militaristic socialist template. It didn't work.

Military service is right for men culturally. Veterans who have internalized military values and live by, lead using, and teach those values are good for society. But - big but - imposing a militaristic socialist template onto all of a large diverse nation with different cultures and conditions, while an attractive idea for many progressives, has not worked.

Eric