Combat Ineffective

Don't mention the war! 
--Fawlty Towers,
Basil Fawlty 

I'm what you'd call a teleological existential atheist.
I believe there is an intelligence to the universe,
with the exception of certain parts of New Jersey
--Sleeper (1973)
 ___________________

When a combat unit sustains 30% casualties, historically such a unit is considered "combat ineffective". Upon this designation the unit is reconstituted by filling it with replacements.

Now consider the following:


-- 47.7 million Americans receive food assistance (a 50% increase since 2009). 

-- 15%, or 46.5 million Americans, live in poverty

-- 49 million U.S citizens suffer food insufficiency

-- The poverty rate for unemployed Americans is 33%

-- 45% of U.S households headed by a single mother live below the federal poverty guidelines


If the United States were a combat unit, it would be approaching combat ineffective status.

In my NorthFlorida county, 30% of the total population lives in poverty. Does this mean that our social structure is ineffective? Have we lost the ability to fulfill our mission -- the  pursuit of life, liberty and happiness?

While becoming a warrior nation, we have ignored the plight of our people. When did this happen, and where? Why does the taxpaying public accept this gross miscarriage of democratic thought and action?

This essay was prompted by a United States Marine Corps ad which stated that the Corps was "defending the American way of life." The American way of life is being degraded by our focus on other efforts in other places which conveniently take our eyes off the ball. The "American Way of Life" being defended should not include hunger, homelessness, poverty and despair.

If the U.S. were a combat unit, we would be stacking arms and headed for the Prisoner of War compounds.