Warrior Culture

Can we just stop pretending that we like peace, for just a minute? Because we don't.

We've got a war on drugs, a war on terrorism, a culture war and a class war. We're proud of our military, proud of our military history, and proud of our competitive spirit. We love politicians who say they're going to fight - for our rights, for our families, against corruption, etc. It's no coincidence that football is our favorite sport; that it defeated docile baseball for that title. We're pretty excited about guns, too.

Much has been said of our love for violent film and television. Much has been said of human nature being violent at its core; if that's the case, we're not doing much to collectively resist that impulse.

Much has been said, in fact, about all of these things. Many commentators have pointed out that ours is a violent culture, and that's the most telling sign of all: we haven't changed. Brought to face our love of violence, our response has been "So? What's wrong with it?"

In public, we certainly speak of peace. Certainly it would look bad, in public, to support a statement like this: "Trample the weak, hurdle the dead." But the world in which we purchase goods is private, and here is where we show our true colors.