Private Fucknuts and the Pyramid Elite

http://archive.sensesofcinema.com/contents/02/21/full_metal.html

This article talks about Full Metal Jacket, and how Stanley Kubrick uses the movie to talk about the way the military crushes the individual identities of everyone in a unit and meshes them together into one Borg-like killing machine (fun fact- in the novel the book is based on, Sergeant Hartman's last words to Private Pyle are "I'm proud of you.").

I think we can look at the unit being trained in the movie as a picture of our country in miniature. Like we and our fellow citizens, the men of Private Joker's platoon must think a certain way, must act a certain way, must BELIEVE a certain way, and they must become like one man, perfectly trained and coordinated to dedicate their lives and deaths to the benefit of men they will never see or know. In their case that means distant generals, some far-off military staff sitting in air-conditioned offices munching Sun Chips and getting blown by their secretary while they get their balls shot off in hell. For us, though, those invisible scumbags are the international bankers and financiers who direct the most powerful institutions of US society- and global institutions like the IMF and often the UN.

Which brings me to my next point. Just like the platoon is socialized through different rituals that build military solidarity- like shaving the head, training and marching together, and finally beating the ass of the handy community scapegoat-Private Fatbody- the American public has been trained be a good little body politic for the benefit of the people who really matter, the people whose families all seem to have European coats-of-arms and give generously to all the right think tanks. it's less obvious- we don't have Sergeant Hartman, we have Ann Coulter (and Al Franken, for that matter). We don't march or sing misogynist and militarist songs together either; we just feast on a nonstop diet of propaganda, sometimes soothing, sometimes hotblooded, a society-wide lullaby pumped like a radio signal out of D.C. and Wall Street. An intoxicating drumbeat of FOOTBALL! WORLD SERIES! I-RACKY TERRORISTS! THE MEXICANS! AAAAY-RABS! and that perennial favorite 9/11! 9/11! 9/11! We don't have Stars and Stripes- that's primitive! we have the New York Times. A peace sign on our combat helmet? The amazing vanishing Pro-Obama antiwar movement. Why, we should be as lucky as that platoon! At least they're taught their chain of command. We act like we learned politics in Disneyland.

Don't be Private Pyle! But don't be Joker either. Don't let the machine crush you, but don't become part of it either. Resist! Remember, your voice is your greatest weapon, and the only liberated territory you need is between your ears! As my honored colleague said in an earlier post, for Christ's sake don't go into debt, and GET INVOLVED. There's usually many more people who believe in something than will actually work for and educate their neighbors about it, but we can't afford the normal ratio. Anyone who understands these issues has taken the red pill and should act accordingly! LIIIIIIVE FROM THE OLD REPUBLIC, IT'S THOMAS PAINE! IT'S THOMAS JEFFERSON! IT'S GEORGE WASHINGTON AND NO FOREIGN ENTANGLENTS! IT'S THE CONSTITUTION! IT'S THE SECOND AMENDMENT AND THE AMERICAN FUCKING REVOLUTION, AND SORRY IF THAT'S JUST A HALLMARK CARD FOR YOU LIBERAL-CANDYASSES AND CONSERVATIVE NEOFASCISTS. The answer to 1984 is 1776, and with that, I take my leave.