I remember I once got into an argument in a forum, where I said that from my observation on how the US military is revered and treated (both parties agree in two things: keeping the neoliberal order and funding the military), there is a very, very real possibility that in the not too distant future the military might just say “fuck it” and dispense with the whole pretense or democracy, or more likely, make it a supervised “”“democracy”“” (like the Concordancia here in Argentina, or Frondizi who had his hands tied and when he went too far he was couped)
The Usamericans* argued back with me with an argument so silly that I was baffled it was their main one: that soldiers in the US ~make an oath~ to ~defend the Constitution~ and so they wouldn’t do a coup, ever.
I can’t even start to tell how stupid that was but newsflash, EVERY military around the world swears an oath, and most coups happen when they, in fact, use it as an excuse to “save the nation” from some enemy. Which the US military already does all the time, under “democratic” “supervision”. If tomorrow, a bunch of generals decided they don’t even care about the whole democracy thing anymore, every single soldier would fall in line, because that’s what soldiers do. There won’t be a Hero Moment where they would realize The Error Of Their Ways and try to stop the Bad General, they will obey orders. Because that’s what soldiers do.
Armies, if they exist at all, should be strictly controlled by a democratic goverment accountable to and serving the people. The US army is way beyond that, it only serves itself and someday, it will decide that it doesn’t even need the whole pretense any longer. And if people don’t resist now, it will be even harder when they take control.
*some of them ex-military, so they apparently really believed this
And yes, this will affect us down south and everywhere if it happens. Because the US military is the military branch of the US neoliberal and imperial project. And if (hopefully not when) it takes charge, it will be pure, undiluted imperialism.
So anytime you can, say it: fuck the marines, fuck the army, yankees go home.