From military recruiting and testing in the schools to movies and television, militarism has become a prominent part of culture in the United States. Essentially, militarism means relying on military force for security and glorifying military service and values.
Placing too high a value on obedience, procedure, or ‘the end justifies the means’ tends to foster or support militarism.
Historically, the term has most often been applied to imperialist states such as Sparta, the Roman Empire, imperial Japan, Nazi Germany, and the Soviet Union—but today it is most often applied to the United States, Israel, North Korea, Iran, Syria, and China.
Militarism in Schools
Public schools rarely question U.S. military ventures or link them to militarism or imperialism. Many schools welcome and support the presence of military recruiters, although this may not be in the best interests of the students. Read about Militarism in schools
Military Recruiting and recruiter misconduct
The acceptance and glorification of war increases the pressure on recruiters and reduces public criticism of their methods. Government reports show a dramatic increase in the number of incidents of misconduct by recruiters since 2002, ranging from omitting important facts to helping young people cheat to sexual assault on students. More info.