America and War

Shadow Wars

The United States may not be in wartime right now, but there are always indirect wars that we are involved in. The state of our country as a superpower and a NATO-supporter makes it so that we feel incredible pressure to intervene in inter-country conflicts. This includes things like sending people, weapons, and money to foreign entities. The most controversial, relevant issue of 2024 is the war between Ukraine and Russia. The United States has sent billions of dollars to Ukraine, in a move that enraged (and continues to enrage) much of the population of the US. 

It is clear that the US has done this in an anti-communist bid to keep Russia off of NATO's door. Europe would be displeased with the idea of Russia on Europe's doorstep, and keeping Ukraine independent is necessary to keep it that way. However, the US is obviously in need of money in other places, as the national debt grows every year. Citizens think it is hypocritical to be giving money to countries completely unassociated with the US billions of dollars while millions of people suffer from homelessness and unemployment. 

Many news articles are released daily that criticize the politics of the United States especially. With an election coming up, more focus is on the Biden Administration than ever. With how polarized the opinions of US citizens are, it is no wonder that there are voices that are less than pleased with the current President's actions. 

Opposing Voices

Some are more radical. Referring to sites like antiwar.com and theamericanconservative.com, which take staunchly antiwar stances. Headlines like "US Admits 'Missteps' in Handling Gaza, Won't Alter Policy" are quite drastic, and it is certain that the US does not want this to be widespread. Antiwar.com uses the word "war" liberally, even if the US is not technically in a state of war. They proclaim that a shadow war (ie. a war that we are not directly involved in but we send weapons or people to) is a war in everything but name. 

It is strange that we do not see headlines like these in mainstream news, or maybe it isn't. Of course, words like these are likely to get people enraged, and many private companies do not want to deal with the conflict that strong voices may cause. In addition, publicly criticizing the government is not something most people are willing to do.

Although it is protected under the First Amendment, that does not stop private actors from facing consequence. In addition, if companies do speak against the government, they would have no opportunity to gain government favor if they are openly criticizing them in the first place. This may sound like a conspiracy theory, but it is a real possibility. 

The Marketplace of Ideas theory dictates that everyone should be able to say anything, and the people will determine who they listen to by themselves. These websites are examples of this, and although they are not mainstream, they do continue to get some amount of attention.