The state of the American military mind

Tragic incidents involving US servicemen in war zones like Iraq and Afghanistan have become a not-too infrequent affair now days. Incidents from the torturing scenes of Abu Gharib to the Kandahar massacre have dogged the imaginations of the World conscious in the process in the process of shattering the reputation of American servicemen. A lot of soul searching has gone into the process with analysts from all hues and colors have chipped in with their views which include from stress related disorder due overworking to family problems. The cause behind the violent acts involving American service men let us try to have a look at the status of American family. The status of American family has gone through a tremendous transformation whereby a majority of women under the age of 30 now give births to their children as single moms. As a result many kids will be living under single parents with either mom or dad in the role of playing both parents’ part as well carrying the burden of being the only bread earner in the family. Many prominent psychologists opine that all of our important character traits generate from the subconscious section of human mind and two fundamental parts of human subconscious i.e. anima and animus actually play important parts in helping the child develop important character traits such as sympathy , love , responsibility and fighting spirit. Now the anima is the aspect which is grown inside a Child’s subconscious mind from 0 to 6 years of age and this aspect is developed primarily by the influence of the mother. Anima helps a child grow qualities such as sympathy and love. The aspect of Animus which helps a child build character traits of responsibility and fighting spirit is developed from the 6 to 12 years of a child and this particular quality is developed by the influence of father. So by the science of psychology the biggest negative effect of children who come from single parents or broken families is that they do not sufficiently grow their anima and animus which in later years may prevent them from developing important character traits such as love , sympathy , taking challenge and taking responsibility for own actions. Another prevailing situation in the USA is that abundance of items which bring quick gratification and pleasure. Now day’s kids from a very early age have access to various electronic gadgets and mobile phones of all different hues, providing a very quick gratification. As the child grows up in age they tend to develop a tendency to find out quick and simple solutions to problems in general and at times at very small inconveniences. This habit can tend kids to treat problems in a very simplistic manner and find out solutions also in a similar way. This character trait can be attributed to the habit of a child to satisfy himself with objects of quick gratification from his child hood. The absence of anima and animus also could be attributed to a child’s inability to find other than simplistic and temporary solutions. In an wartime scenario, for a young man who does not possess sufficient amounts of anima and animus due to a troubled childhood and who is prone to seek simplistic solutions to his problems may find himself taking the painful but sudden and abrupt decisions which ultimately leads to tragic incidents such as Abu Gharib , Fallujah and Kandahar. Another significant factor which could be considered as vital in addition to the above two reasons is the reluctance of the American military authorities to hand down tough sentences to servicemen found guilty of disturbing acts. Normally after a tragic incidence a familiar ritual can b observed whereby senior American officials apologize, an investigation commission is formed, and the families of unfortunate victims are compensated, media claims “these are works of a few rotten apples and we are not like these” and then the perpetrators of the act gets the maximum penalty of being discharged from the service. In a country like the USA which still boasts of carrying out most number of death penalties is yet to hand down a single capital punishment to any perpetrators of these tragic acts thereby creating an impression to some of these would-be perpetrators of these terrible acts that they would at most be discharged from the service. This is a very interesting dilemma for the Americans. The mindsets which lead people to commit horrible tragedies at places like Kandahar and Fallujah, do not leave them when they come back home. After all Timothy McVeigh was also a psychologically troubled veteran also.