Stars and Stripes – The enemy can shoot you, but the government will ‘protect’ you from a large soda and candy bar
There’s a reason the military has a recruiting and retention crisis: The work is tough, the pay is lousy, and there’s that pesky possibility of getting shot. But also, as the National Defense Committee unfortunately must point out every day across a broad variety of military and veteran benefits, our government simply does not trust the military to make even the simplest of choices for themselves, and “infantilizes” them with a pervasive attitude of condescending paternalism.
The National Defense Committee commits itself to defend military and veteran civil and legal rights. This should not be necessary, but while our government trusts military personnel with the lives of our sons and daughters, it does not trust them to choose how to balance their checkbook, where to use their earned educational benefits, or, in one of the most inane examples of that condescending paternalism, to choose whether to buy a soda at the local store.
I kid you not. This is a serious proposal from some government leaders, but a stupid one at that.
Such governmental paternalism isn’t unique. As we wrote last November regarding military educational benefits, “The government doesn’t tell me I can only spend my military retirement at the base exchange and the commissary — I’m free to shop at Target and Costco if I want. So why should the government restrict veterans’ educational benefits in that same way?” Little did we know at the time that if we’re a poor veteran, the government does, in fact, want to stop us from buying a chocolate bar.
Again, we are not joking.