it definitely screws with incentives. the success of a military or superpower is ultimately in deterrence, but lack of direct conflict makes people think less o

it definitely screws with incentives. the success of a military or superpower is ultimately in deterrence, but lack of direct conflict makes people think less of or think the military is useless. its like people thinking their door locks are useless because they haven't observed someone trying to break in. or thinking a fire extinguisher is useless because they've never been in a fire and had to use it. when social media, and media as a whole, fuels "america bad" rhetoric and with russian propaganda of "american imperialism" combined with no active conflicts where the US is threatened, its no surprise. but I don't think its about people not supporting state-sanctioned violence, because many support US assistance to ukraine and other allies and understand the defensive nature of it. likely it was just the incompetance of afghanistan and iraq occupation that messed people up. the gulf war was a massive success, at home and for kuwait (sans gulf war syndrome due to iraqi chemical weapons). when we are pushed into another conflict, OPTEMPO increases, we are united against a common enemy, confidence will increase.