Social Deceit: The U.S. Military and Social Paternalism
Abstract
Through social paternalism, progressives within the Federal government have sought to transform U.S. military culture to reform American culture writ large. As a national institution borne of the society it serves, the military has not been insulated from the social evolution of the nation. Just as society and the values, mores, and taboos it espouses are not static, neither too is the military that society employs to serve and protect it. The case examples of racial desegregation, gender and sexual orientation equality, and environmental activism this study offers are but a few social issues in which the military has been or is being used as a sounding board to drive sweeping national paternalistic agendas. The purpose of contextually identifying these cases is neither to champion nor admonish their effects as prognostications for national social reforms. Rather, the purpose is to examine the impact social activism places on the civil-military relationship and test former Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig's thesis that" the military itself shouldn't be a driver but a follower of the consensus of society."
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 27, 2016
- Accession Number
- AD1176140
Entities
People
- Andrew Durning
Organizations
- Marine Corps University