I think the war, the humanitarian, quote unquote, interventions in the 90s really help to consolidate that image. The idea of intervention becomes tethered to a selfless act rather than any kind of national self interest. And then there's a sort of constant argument that the military itself is not political,. That politicians are making the decisions and the militaries is carrying them out. I mean, it makes no sense in the middle of these disastrous wars to think that the generals in the room are what will protect American democracy from Trump. It didn't make sense to me at least.
Featuring Nadia Abu El-Haj on Combat Trauma: Imaginaries of War and Citizenship in Post-9/11 America. A truly remarkable book about the unseen ideological foundations of American militarism: American civilians are enjoined to venerate troops, deferring to their traumatized positionality. The first in a two-part interview.
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The Sinking Middle Class: A Political History of Debt, Misery, and the Drift to the Right by David Roediger haymarketbooks.org/books/1879-the-sinking-middle-class