DYSPEPSIA GENERATION

Navy Matters.

Where does perception come from, if not from reality? How is someone’s perception formed? Well, it comes from many sources: one’s own experiences, media news sources (you can instantly see, here, the danger posed by a biased media that presents an altered reality as true reality, but, I digress), social networks, etc. If those various sources are not constantly presenting and explaining the true value of a navy then the perception quickly becomes that the navy has no value.

I can’t address the UK situation specifically but I can note that the US Navy makes almost no effort to talk to the citizenry and present its accomplishments and value in terms that the average person can understand and relate to. Instead, the Navy resorts to blocking the media, circling the wagons, hiding behind bogus classification labels, misleading Congress and, generally, looking down at the general population.

The Navy’s actions off Yemen involving missile attacks and defense should be made into near-movie type adventures to be presented to the public. The exploits of our fearless sailors, fighting off relentless missile attacks so that Americans can get their oil and goods should be the stuff of growing legend. It almost doesn’t matter how precisely true the accounts are. That’s not the point. The point is to present the Navy’s value to the public.

Once upon a time, moviegoers were routinely treated to newsreel highlights of our armed forces. We need to bring back the updated version of that on TV, streaming channels, social media, podcasts, influencers, etc. We need to continuously show the public the value of the Navy. If we do that, the Navy won’t have to beg Congress for ships, the people will do it for them. If we do that, the recruiting problem will solve itself.

Don’t hold your breath.

On a related note, if the US is providing the security for global shipping, then what true value does the RN offer?  Why should the UK citizenry pay for a navy when the US is providing their security for free?  One could see this as a powerful argument for the US to stop providing global security which would, in turn force other countries to increase their naval forces to fill the gap and result in an increase in their true (and perceived?) value.  Thus, one could make the argument, it is in the UK’s best interest for the US to stop providing international shipping security.  Interesting perspective, huh?

Indeed.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 15th, 2025 at 12:02 and is filed under Your tax dollars at work - and play.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.