What you won't see at The Hegemon

It used to be the case that universities were politically liberal, and new universities were resistant to the forces of the state. There was a healthy distrust for the military, especially during periods in which illegal wars were being prosecuted across the globe. Student groups were also particularly active, objecting on pacifist grounds, on political grounds, or on feminist and queer politics grounds.

Not here. I walked into work this morning to find a tank, military truck and hordes of men in uniform wandering round, on a recruitment drive (I might take some pictures later). The Hegemon has aligned itself - apparently without concern for anything other than income - with the military-industrial complex and is content for our students to become cannon fodder for the next invasion. It's a very American model, in which the armed forces are so integral to the economy of every town - along the Roman lines - that a pacific polity is virtually unspeakable in the public sphere.

What a shame we don't have a degree in Farsi. It might come in useful. If this picture was taken here, the caption would be 'gissajob'. Never has 'The Hegemon' been a more apt name for this place.

Update: apparently it's part of 'Armed Forces Day', with the launch of an 'armed forces' degree ('how to torture'; 'spotting an illegal war'; genocide for beginners'?). 

One aspect of the day is that the armed forces have brought some vehicles and equipment with them to show the students. While this was well intentioned, my understanding is that this may have caused offence in some quarters due to the amount of it and its kind. Clearly this wasn't the intention and many apologies if this is so. 

Er… the presence of weaponry-porn is slightly disturbing, but leaving it hidden doesn't exactly address the point: we all know what armies do. It's the fact that an institution of learning has decided to embrace a culture of death as a viable and honourable career path for our students, many of whom are from cultures which are, or recently were, on the receiving end of British military hospitality.

I value our academic differences and our ability to be robust in debating and understanding the complexity of the world and our various engagements with it.

That's all very well, but one side of the 'debate' is heavily armed and one isn't. And they've occupied the staff room: not exactly subtle symbolism.

Cameron's big plan

It all became clear this morning, as I lay in bed listening to Radio 4.

David Cameron had two things to say:

1. We should all 'revere' the military.
2. Soldiers in Afghanistan are to get an extra £30 per day, up from a £15 daily bonus.

Cameron paraphrased the poet Charles M Province, saying: "I want you to think of that great quotation that it's not the politician that brings the right to vote, it is the soldier, it is not the poet that brings free speech, it is the soldier, it is not the journalist that brings free expression, it is the soldier. So I want you to help me create a new atmosphere in our country, an atmosphere where we back and revere and support our military."

Province is a deeply dubious American militarist. The poem Cameron distorts also contains these lines:

It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer

Who has given us freedom to protest.

It is the Soldier, not the politician

Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,

Who serves beneath the flag,

And whose coffin is draped by the flag,

Who allows the protester to burn the flag

Obviously, this is the most total of bollocks. A second's thought about campus protest brings to mind the Kent State Massacre, in which US soldiers shot dead several students, or the Iranian Basiji attacks on students recently. The reference to flag-burning locates the poem in the Vietnam war - flag desecration was a hot topic on the pro-war side, though the Supreme Court has consistently ruled that it's a constitutionally-protected method of free expression.

It's obvious. He's planning a military coup. This stuff about 'revering' the military is little short of sinister. It precludes any critique of military behaviour - despite the UK military being involved in torture (Baha Mousa, for one), repression and assassination (Northern Ireland), and all sorts of disgraceful activity of the sort I discussed in relation to the British Empire a day or so ago. There's got to be more thought, more nuance. If this is the level of Cameron's intellect, I'm very worried.

I'm sure that some soldiers are perfectly respectable, and I feel sorry for those forced into the armed services as the only way out of poverty or difficult circumstances, but I really don't think we should 'revere' those who simply want to kill people. Additionally, there isn't a military regime in the world that promotes freedom of speech, the right to vote or free expression. Cameron's a sinister liar or delusional if he believes this rubbish.

We need a military, but the idea that we should worship them is politically and socially dangerous. They become a breed apart, not reflecting our social makeup. They get away with events like My Lai, Bomber Command killing tens of thousands of civilians in Dresden alone, or the murder of hundreds of fleeing conscripts after Kuwait on the Highway of Death.

This extra money is a shocker as well. The government's spent their whole time telling us that we're all going to suffer badly through massive budget cuts, yet the nuclear weapons budget is untouched and soldiers are going to be paid a lot extra.

There are 10,000 soldiers in Afghanistan. The extra £15 per week works out at £1, 050, 000 per week, or £54,600,000 per year. This is a shocking amount of money in the midst of what they're telling us is the worst financial depression in decades.

Unless you see it as a wise investment in muscle ready for the civil unrest which will follow the welfare, school, health and public service cuts. Then it's always useful to have some happy, violent lads on hand (as demonstrated by the police during the Miners' Strike).

PS. If you're depressed by the Tories' attack on education, get a load of this moron - and the Tory minister who struggles to contain his grin.