Modern Warfare Issues - Essay Example

Some enlisted in the war, however, research has indicated that the working class often feared being drafted and hence enlisted. There does not seem to be the romanticized notion of patriotism so often heralded by authors within the working class.

This is especially so with respect toconcerning the Vietnam war. In the draft during the Vietnam War, the middle class was almost protected. “Vietnam was more limited, and the military was determined to channel bourgeois and even middle-class youth away from combat” (Appy 1993). Indeed, it has traditionally been the working class that has been convinced that their servitude would benefit them when in fact the benefit fell to the higher classes. Promises such as forgiven student loans, GI Bills, medical insurance, a ten thousand dollar sign-up bonus, promises of training that will lead to promising civilian careers, and a multitude of other benefits seem like a miracle for a group of people who are not economically exposed to such seeming luxuries. Consistently, the working class, already a group accustomed to taking orders is taken advantage of.

The Cold War saw miners in Canada lose their jobs without any benefits. At first, miners were encouraged to retire with the introduction of benefit packages. However as time progressed, miners who were on the edge of retirement had to literally “hang on” in the hopes of receiving their full benefits package. Mines were operating at far less than a five-day week. There was also a drop in the need for railway steam coal.

World War I found the entry of women into the workforce. While not at the battle, women were in operation making clothes, sending supplies, and still supporting their families.  Thus economically speaking, working-class women were able to add to their economic circumstances. During the time between World War I and World War II, there was a loss of markets for what is considered to be stapled industries. These industries included coal, iron, steel, ship-making, and textiles. This loss combined with technological advances which allowed for production increases culminated in the loss of over a million jobs for the working class. The touted gains from these two wars did nothing to balm the suffering of the working class.

In the Iraq war, which still looms, stop-loss (the practice of unilaterally extending a soldier’s stay in his or her station) has been consistently upheld in the courts. Working-class soldiers have seen that contracts are meaningless in their military and civilian world. Perhaps this is why there is not so much shock when a stop-loss tactic is pulled against them.  After all, at home in civilian life, most working-class employees must put in their mandatory overtime hours or they risk losing their jobs. Fairness and promises are not concepts that the working class is accustomed to in either their military or civilian roles. Further, the working class members fail to see any of the benefits that they are promised. Veterans consistently see cutbacks in their benefits. Scandal after scandal results in exposing the utter lack of care or compassion that veterans receive.  This is also so for unemployment in the working class. The New Deal Era brought many programs such as unemployment. However, as the economy now stands, improperly dismissed workers find that their access to unemployment insurance is often impossible and like the military promises, sound great only in theory.

Finally, it is clear to see that all war shapes the working class into a class of deceived people. It is the class of people who are “hands-on” and are treated by the government in a “hands-off” manner, which is, in this writer's opinion, revolting.