We need both

I love being a veteran and that my career allows me to keep working with them. It lets me stay connected and it checks my biases. And anyone that thinks we’re a monolith is sadly mistaken. But with what I want to write I know I run the risk of gross over-generalization.  But I’m not sure how else to express the ideas rolling around this noggin. There’s two groups of service members; those who serve because they love society and their institutions and those who are running away from them. And neither is wrong for serving. And we need both.

I’ll be up front and say I’m the institutionalist at heart. I used to think I was the rebel at heart. But I’m not. I’m the institutionalist. That doesn’t mean I don’t support change. It just means I think that we need to improve and revamp the systems in place. Not start fresh from the whole hog.

Then there are those that want to leave society and the majority of its institutions whole hog. Start new. Start fresh. In a place full of absolute isolation and camaraderie. 

We need both. And this isn’t a political assessment. That's because the political spectrum isn't really tied to this. There are liberal hippies and conservative preppers who accomplish a lot of the same things for reasons at opposite ends of the political spectrum, all through anarchist ideals. Then are masters of the courts and legislative houses equally represented as well often with deep and abiding love of our institutions.

Just like society needs both so does the military and it does a better job than most of society by recognizing the vitality of it all. We need soldiers who are aware of the social standing of the armed forces as much as we need those pushing for its autonomy. They’re both vital to completing the missions and purposes before it. And it’s one the few places where both sets of people can unite around common goals and actually bond over it. 

I mean this sincerely. 

With common facts and experiences we take highly disparate individuals and forge them into actual units. It becomes about your buddies more than anything else. And that goes for both groups I’m talking about here.

Everyone likes to think of the military as a higher calling and I am sure there are plenty who enlist or commission with that in mind from the jump. But the majority of us were just interested in paychecks and benefits. But you don’t go through that without developing into someone more committed, to something, and more sure of what they stand for.

For a variety of reasons, those things we commit to and those things we prioritize during and after service vary from person to person. And they should.

The idea that some vets want to hermit out in the woods and others run for both of our primary political parties should be celebrated. 

When this nation was established we guaranteed through constitution an unprecedented amount of individual liberty. One the signatories realized after trial and error required a strong and powerful state. It’s that inherent tension that is vital to continually our nation’s greatest potential and possibilities for all of us. These two groups of veterans personify this.

I feel lucky and blessed to count close to me people from both political parties who fall into both categories of statist and anarchist. At the route that’s what they are. One wants to support a government. One wants to be left alone. And thankfully we can coexist.

As we move through a contentious election season I hope that we remember that we need everyone. And passionate debate is necessary for this nation to be who it’s meant to be.

Often our current political climate will leave us feeling homeless as we make the essential compromises that are votes. As we weigh our priorities we may feel we’re leaving some of our ideals behind.

I feel that. I feel sure in a vote this year. But it’s not without compromises and differences in policy preferences. And they often fit more along the lines of institutionalism or not. And I feel I need to articulate them moving forward. At least what matters for me.

So thanks to the vets I love, and vehemently disagree with at times, that helped shape me. I need all of you.