Saturday, November 10, 2007

Tank Girl

I happened to see an ex-student of mine the other day. We exchanged small talk up to the point where I asked what she was thinking of doing with her life, career-wise. She informed me that she wanted to join the army...to drive a tank. And go to Iraq oR Afghanistan or wherever the fighting happened to be. I asked her if she knew why 'we' were engaged in combat in those regions. She didn't know. Sadam? WMD? Oil? They all seemed like news to her. This reminded me of an article I had heard on the wireless. One about the army's recruiting policy. About how they target schools in areas of social depravation; enlisting the cannon-fodder from the working-class or underclass. Basically, kids who haven't much of an idea why 'we' are over there. Nothing new there then? But this got me to thinking about the way they advertise the military services to kids. It all looks like so much fun, so exciting - like a wonderful adventure. This reminded me of an advert that I had seen, one that had been modified by a political subversive type. The copy read: EVER THOUGHT ABOUT A CAREER IN THE ARMY? THEN ASK A - here comes the modification - PARENT WHO HAS LOST A CHILD IN IRAQ. Brilliant. More of the same, please. This is the sort of war education that our children need.
Long live dissent.
T.U.M.

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