How The War Machine ‘Recruits’ Poor, Oppressed Youth, by Richie Merino

Image by Debra Sweet via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

by Richie Merino
Workers World, Dec. 20, 2022
December 21, 2022

A Dec. 11 New York Times report highlighted how thousands of public high school students in majority poor, Black and Brown districts are funneled into the U.S. military’s Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program. Students are automatically enrolled and forced to participate as an explicit requirement without parental consent. Some high schools have saved money by using JROTC, which is ostensibly a feeder system for children to ultimately enlist in the military, as an alternative to hiring physical education or health teachers. (NY Times, Dec. 11)

Culture-Jamming the War Machine, by Rivera Sun

Image by Justin Norman via Flickr

by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
November 17, 2022

In the drizzling rain, I yank up the military recruitment sign and throw it into the tall grasses on the side of the road. If anyone asks, I didn’t “destroy” government property. I merely relocated it. Think of me like a windstorm. A peace-loving, nonviolent windstorm countering military recruitment.

Supporters of Peace on Earth Should Support Free College in the United States, by David Swanson

Image by borderhacker via Flickr

by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Nov. 15, 2022
November 16, 2022

The one nation on Earth that has not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the leading hold-out on basic human rights treaties in general, and the wealthy nation that imposes the biggest hurdles on young people seeking an education has a reason that’s seldom talked about for making college expensive and keeping the chains of student debt wrapped tightly around millions of ankles — and it’s a reason related to the militarized spreading of the Rules Based Order.

The Military to American Youth: You Belong to Me, by Robert C. Koehler

Image by borderhacker via Flickr

by Robert C. Koehler
Guest Writer, Dandelion Salad
September 26, 2022

Ah, the children!

They belong to us, sayeth the Department of Defense. At least some of them do.

Top Gun: Maverick – A Counter-Narrative, by Pat Elder

Image by Official U.S. Navy Page via Flickr

by Pat Elder
Writer, Dandelion Salad
June 13, 2022

I saw “Top Gun: Maverick” yesterday. It was absolutely horrible. The film sets a new standard for state-orchestrated, pro-military, mass indoctrination. Goebbels, chief propagandist for Hitler’s Nazi Party, would be in awe of the shiny death plane and the spotlights and the movie star in his tuxedo.

Do Not Meet With Mike Pence, Go to Jail, or Join the Military, by David Swanson

Image by Mario Klingemann via Flickr

by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
May 12, 2020

We don’t know what the long-term damage is of coronavirus in those who recover. We don’t know who will die among those who catch it. We do know that we each have a responsibility to avoid catching it and avoid spreading it. Here are some ways to do that.

HR 6415: The Dumbest Idea in Congress + Now Do You See How Evil They Are? by David Swanson

Screenshot by Dandelion Salad via Flickr

by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Apr. 20, 2020
April 22, 2020

I know it’s stiff competition, but hear me out.

The threat of nuclear apocalypse is higher than ever. The threat of irreversible climate collapse is higher than ever and massively contributed to by militarism. The trillions of dollars being dumped into militarism are desperately needed for actual defense against these dangers including spin-off catastrophes like coronavirus. But military jobs and weapons production jobs (producing weapons for dictatorships and so-called democracies around the world; the U.S. handles 80% of the globe’s foreign weapons sales) are being deemed “essential” and actually being boosted with more funding.

Will Griffin: Schools of Mass Destruction + A Veterans Counter-Recruitment Presentation

Image by Daniel Arrhakis via Flickr

Updated: Dec. 15, 2019

by Will Griffin
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Peace Report
December 2, 2019

Global Network on Nov 29, 2019

ICAN Report: https://universities.icanw.org/schools_of_mass_destruction

Will Griffin: Comedy for the Antiwar Movement

Screenshot by Dandelion Salad via Flickr
Watch the video below

by Will Griffin
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Peace Report
April 16, 2019

The Peace Report on Apr 15, 2019

Jonny Lewis is the writer and director of Antiwar Comedy Shorts

Chris Hedges: There is Only a Collective Solution to the Exploitation of Women Workers

Image by Martin Thomas via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

RT America on Apr 6, 2019

The fertility rate in the United States has been steadily falling, so much so that without immigration our population would be declining. This is the seventh straight year fertility rates have fallen. In 2017, the nationwide fertility rate was 1,765.5 births per 1,000 women of childbearing age—well below the rate of 2,100 births per 1,000 women necessary to keep the population stable. Only two states—South Dakota and Utah—had birth rates above replacement levels.

Truth in Recruiting

Image by Justin Norman via Flickr

Sent to Dandelion Salad by Antiwar Comedy Shorts

Antiwar Comedy Shorts on Dec 8, 2017

A poster at an Army recruiting office reveals: “You might die, or get your arms or legs blown off.” From a series of 8 antiwar comedy shorts shot in 2016 and 2017. Two of these did the festival circuit, winning 11 awards and being selected in 79 festivals.

Chris Hedges: A Socialist Soldier’s Tale of Resisting the American Empire

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Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

RT America on Sep 29, 2018

Journalist Chris Hedges interview former combat veteran and US Army officer, Spenser Rapone about bravery and morality. The second lieutenant was given an “other than honorable” discharge June 18 after an Army investigation determined that he “went online to promote a socialist revolution and disparage high-ranking officers” and thereby had engaged in “conduct unbecoming an officer.”

Drawing Links Between US Militarism Abroad and Gun Violence at Home + Militarizing US Schools and Society Only Creates More Gun Violence and Police Brutality

Image by Tony Webster via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

TheRealNews on Jun 18, 2018

Boston teacher Nino Brown, of the ANSWER Coalition, speaks with TRNN’s Ben Norton about the links between US militarism, gun violence, and police brutality. He connects the epidemic of school shootings domestically to the endless wars internationally.

Pat Elder: It’s Not A Volunteer Force, Amy. It’s A Recruited Force. + Militarizing Schools, Criminalizing Students

Image by Lorie Shaull via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

with Pat Elder
World Beyond War, Feb. 21, 2018
February 26, 2018

Part 1: Inside the U.S. Military Recruitment Program That Trained Nikolas Cruz to be “A Very Good Shot”

Democracy Now! on Feb 21, 2018

https://democracynow.org – Dozens of students who survived last week’s school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida have arrived in Tallahassee to push for new gun control measures. On Tuesday, the Republican-controlled Florida House of Representatives blocked a bid to bring up a bill to ban sales of assault-style rifles in the state. The Florida gunman, a 19-year-old white former student named Nikolas Cruz, was a member of the Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program before he was expelled from the school. Cruz was also part of a four-person JROTC marksmanship team at the school which had received $10,000 in funding from the NRA. For more, we speak with Pat Elder, director of the National Coalition to Protect Student Privacy, an organization that confronts militarism in schools. He’s the author of Military Recruiting in the United States.

Resistance Against Military Recruiters at Schools by Pat Elder

Image by Debra Sweet via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

Republished with permission from David Swanson at World Beyond War

by Pat Elder
World Beyond War, Oct. 28, 2017
November 1, 2017

More than a hundred mothers have contacted me over the years, alarmed at the relationships their teenaged children were developing with military recruiters at school. They wanted to know what they could do about it. They were angry, and they were worried.