"World Peacekeepers"
Today is my fall break, so I'm not working! So, in my free time, I decided to go to Kroger to go shopping. (Wait, I'm still introducing the topic....) When I pulled into the parking lot, I saw Dollar General, and decided to look in there while I was around to see if there were any fun pencils or anything else cheap I might want to have around at school. I didn't find anything to buy, but while walking out of one aisle, an action figure caught my eye. It was a pretty normal-looking GI Joe -type character, and I probably wouldn't have given it a second thought, had I not caught the name on the box: "World Peacekeeper".
There were actually two different "peacekeepers" in the aisle. Both had military uniforms and helmets. One came equipped with body armour, a pistol, and what looked like some kind of automatic rifle. The other came with a rifle, hand grenades, and some larger bomb-looking things.
When I got home, I googled it to see if this is an actual existing toy or if it's going out of the market. (It WAS at Dollar General.) On Amazon.com, I found the following set you can buy for $19.99 complete with action figure, and 99 other pieces of military paraphenalia. The blurb runs like this:
"It's Power Team Elite to the rescue with this 100-piece playset. You can stage your own battles and rescue missions with this massive collection of military equipment. Includes weapons, map and other military necessities. Also includes one 12" action figure with a super articulated body and highly-detailed military uniform."
So....we are teaching our children that "peacekeeping" involves carrying weapons and blowing things up? I probably would have been struck by this toy at any time, but the discontinuity hit me particularly hard as I'd taken a shopping break from watching the movie Gandhi, depicting the life of one of the most progressive leaders for nonviolence in the history of the world. (For the record, I think his teachings and leadership in nonviolence are the most revolutionary (that I've heard of, anyway), since Jesus.) As I was watching the movie, I was thinking about the real power of nonviolence and how organized, peaceful resistance can be so much more effective. I really think that more people are beginning to see this, and it is the best way of resisting injustice. That's why toys like this are so unfortunate, because they only reinforce the dominant culture of violence and try to endue themselves with moral superiority by invoking the word "peacekeeper". And people wonder why our children today are killing each other.
Today is my fall break, so I'm not working! So, in my free time, I decided to go to Kroger to go shopping. (Wait, I'm still introducing the topic....) When I pulled into the parking lot, I saw Dollar General, and decided to look in there while I was around to see if there were any fun pencils or anything else cheap I might want to have around at school. I didn't find anything to buy, but while walking out of one aisle, an action figure caught my eye. It was a pretty normal-looking GI Joe -type character, and I probably wouldn't have given it a second thought, had I not caught the name on the box: "World Peacekeeper".
There were actually two different "peacekeepers" in the aisle. Both had military uniforms and helmets. One came equipped with body armour, a pistol, and what looked like some kind of automatic rifle. The other came with a rifle, hand grenades, and some larger bomb-looking things.
When I got home, I googled it to see if this is an actual existing toy or if it's going out of the market. (It WAS at Dollar General.) On Amazon.com, I found the following set you can buy for $19.99 complete with action figure, and 99 other pieces of military paraphenalia. The blurb runs like this:
"It's Power Team Elite to the rescue with this 100-piece playset. You can stage your own battles and rescue missions with this massive collection of military equipment. Includes weapons, map and other military necessities. Also includes one 12" action figure with a super articulated body and highly-detailed military uniform."
So....we are teaching our children that "peacekeeping" involves carrying weapons and blowing things up? I probably would have been struck by this toy at any time, but the discontinuity hit me particularly hard as I'd taken a shopping break from watching the movie Gandhi, depicting the life of one of the most progressive leaders for nonviolence in the history of the world. (For the record, I think his teachings and leadership in nonviolence are the most revolutionary (that I've heard of, anyway), since Jesus.) As I was watching the movie, I was thinking about the real power of nonviolence and how organized, peaceful resistance can be so much more effective. I really think that more people are beginning to see this, and it is the best way of resisting injustice. That's why toys like this are so unfortunate, because they only reinforce the dominant culture of violence and try to endue themselves with moral superiority by invoking the word "peacekeeper". And people wonder why our children today are killing each other.
Labels: culture
posted by mennorose @ 2:40 PM
3 Comments:
At 11:15 AM,
Anonymous said…
My instinctual reaction to the concept of military "peacekeepers" goes back to 3rd grade when my teacher talked about how Canadian military forces are some of the most effective peacekeepers in the world. I don't remember all the details, but somehow I got the impression that they actually were less combative and agressive than the average soldiers--more like police. Since I haven't heard any mention of "peacekeepers" recently, my mind jumped to this old memory, entirely sidestepping any associations with the current war in Iraq.
At 4:47 PM,
mennorose said…
Well, I kno that I've heard of UN troops referred to as "peacekeepers" many times...I think that's their actual name, too. But that's not the same as a military soldier; it's nebulous in many ways, since they are still attempting force, but often they have been incapable of preventing atrocities. But I digress....I still think it's distasteful to sell peacekeepers who come with a full arsenal. It also conjures up in my mind the common phrase of the US being the "world's police".
At 6:53 AM,
Anonymous said…
It's interesting to me, and something I've been thinking about.. the whole idea of the military as "peacemakers".. I now live in this country where if something does happen, I'm going to be very grateful for the US military stationed here who will be picking me up in their helicopters and taking me to safety! My church is by the base, so a lot of people I now know are in the military. I spent time on base last weekend, and will be again next Sunday. I've been going back and forth with how I feel about all of this, not being a supporter of wars... but the military does so much other stuff, too. Confusion, confusion, questions, questions!
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