Reel Pop

Among the many unforeseen consequences of putting "you" at the center of culture may be the rise of a politically assertive military.

Sound far-fetched? Consider The Appeal for Redress, a soldier's lobby begun by two enlisted soldiers which "respectfully urge[s]...political leaders in Congress to support the prompt withdrawal of all American military forces and bases from Iraq."

Andrew Bacevich, writing in The Atlantic, calls the lobby "a manifest consequence of a disastrous war" with roots in an evolving corps ethos. Bacevich argues that changes in the army's personnel have created a more solipsistic fighting force: Troops are all-volunteer and need to be educated on high technology. "One result is troops who are opinionated, who expect their opinions to be taken seriously; and who are more likely to ask what the Army can do for them." And: Since military service is a matter of choice, the burden of fighting falls unevenly across society; those who don't fight proclaim their high regard for those who do. "This has vaulted America's fighting men and women to the top of the nation's moral hierarchy," Bacevich writes.

But empowering soldiers to join the national debate is dangerous, as Bacevich notes, because it confuses their service-centered and non-partisan role. Agreed. Perhaps that's why I'm not too concerned about the Army issuing new restrictions for soldiers who blog.

But I am concerned about the broader cultural shifts that are putting more focus on the individual as media darling. The lesson of modern media, from daytime talk shows to reality shows to blogs to YouTube, is that you -- the bright, shining individual -- are the most important actor. The History Channel's "Band of Bloggers," which will show video shot by soldiers on the front lines of Iraq and Afghanistan, will be riveting, sure, but do we really want to turn our troops into reporters?

The reporter mindset is at odds with the psychology of a soldier, whose duty is to subject himself to a higher order. Writing in Crowds and Power, Elias Canetti said that soldiers are defined stereometrically. Their existence is predicated by the instructions of others. Once those instructions are disregarded, there is no more soldier.

I don't think YouTube is to blame for the military's problems. But I worry that soldiers, like civilians, can't help but be affected by the media's message that "you" are a precious snowflake. If everyone really is an "army of one," then America will have an army of none.