If you’ve read Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged you know the theme of her magnus opus is the role of the mind in man’s life. The plot describes what happens when men and women of the mind go on strike. Or as the novel puts it, what happens when the Atlas’, those who Rand believes are holding the world on their shoulders like the mythical Greek Titan through the productive work of their minds, shrug.
Putting aside the issue of whether Rand is right or wrong for now, I’ve got another question: what would happen if our military forces (all volunteer right now) shrugged?
They’re fighting one very necessary war (the one on terror) but also engaged in a conflict (Iraq) whose purpose many have come to question (I for one believe the Iraq war was sold to us on false premises but that, since we voted for our representatives and they voted to take us there it would be immoral to leave precipitously and allow mass slaughter to take place; not a pleasant option I admit but we went there; we have to accept the consequences of that choice).
To date, the full blood cost of both wars has been borne by our brothers and sisters in the military. All volunteer. No complaints. Serving tour after tour after tour with equipment, bodies, and minds that are showing signs of wear while we in the homeland enjoy the fruits of their sacrifice.
We as Americans have come to take the all-volunteer force as a given of modern life: they do the fighting and dying; we argue and complain about foreign policy but for the most part, we are not directly effected by our country’s wars and don’t need to worry about actually having to fight them ourselves.
What would happen if the military decided they had enough? What if the military decided it wouldn’t be taken for granted anymore, that they would not, without complaint, serve a society that had come to expect their sacrifice as a right, not realizing that those who volunteer choose to do so because they believe in the fundamental trustworthiness of government officials who send them into battle and the value of fighting (and dying) for the American way of life?
I highly doubt military personnel will start questioning the value of the American way of life and decide not to re-enlist.
I can however, unfortunately, see them start to question the integrity of our elected leaders who pay great lip service to the troops but whom:
- Rarely served themselves (I have not served in the military either);
- Rarely send their own kids into battle;
- Don’t seem to mind that during their tenure in office our forces have been stretched dangerously thin and not supported properly (equipment not being maintained, military hospitals like Walter Reed in grievous shape, wounded veterans being denied benefits when they return to the States).
Atlas Shrugged shows, in great detail, what Rand thinks will happen to American society if men and women of the mind decide enough is enough.
What happens if the military shrugs?
