The original GI bill of 1944 is a landmark piece of US welfare legislation.... Because 7.8 million men – the ruling class of the next generation – benefited from the GI bill, its drawbacks have been ignored or denied. It had no impact on the bottom of the US income pyramid. It drove female students out of universities. It was the channel through which the hierarchical, macho culture of the military spread into boardrooms and town halls. Its cultural legacy includes the three-martini lunch, Playboy and a lot of soulless public architecture. —Christopher Caldwell in a column for the Financial Times, "Military makes its sacred claim"

The writings of Christopher Caldwell, who has über-Conservative credentials as a senior editor of the Weekly Standard, can also be found in the op-ed pages of the New York Times and Slate.

Caldwell attempts here to establish an historical basis for rejecting Senator Jim Webb's "21st-century GI bill" that was just passed by the Senate in preference to John McCain's stripped-down proposal.1 (McCain wants to offer the veterans something more in line with the generosity of Bush-Cheney and the Pentagon.)

According to Caldwell, the 1944 GI Bill—

• failed to help the poor
• was antifeminist
• was antidemocratic and classist
• instilled militarism and machismo into business and politics
• resulted in tax deductions for the drunken elite
• contributed to the rise of pornograpy, and
• explains the lack of taste in a number of public buildings.

Who knew we'd live to see the day when a conservative columnist would present neo-Marxist arguments against educational benefits for veterans? I felt as if he were trying to tempt me.

But assuming that Caldwell's conclusions are correct (which we shouldn't), there are notable differences between 1944 and now—

• The poor now fill the ranks of the military.
• Ditto for women, double ditto for poor women.
• Militarism and machismo so dominate business and politics that we have little left to fear unless the Bush Administration declares the Fourth Reich.
• The drunken elite no longer need tax deductions since the percent of income they pay in taxes is often less than that of their drivers.
• Veterans can scarcely increase the demand for pornography, but who knows?—a pool of better educated veterans might increase demand for the relatively demure centerfolds of Playboy.
• Future American public buildings will likely be built underground somewhat in the manner of a bunker—as a vital security measure of course, but with the side benefit of saving energy. This should obviate any delinquencies in the architectural tastes of the veteran-survivors.

With these factors in mind I have to support the increase in veterans benefits. But I have a great idea for cutting their costs and for freeing up the money to pay for them: Get the military out of Iraq. Today.

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6/3/08 – The LA Times has issued a correction to the material quoted in the footnote below:

FOR THE RECORD:
GI Bill: A May 30 Op-Ed article about the GI Bill said the 1944 bill offered full benefits to any veteran who served 90 days. The bill paid for 12 months of college or vocational school if a veteran served 90 days, with additional benefits, up to 48 months of school, for each month of military service.

Tags: news and politics GI Bill of Rights John McCain James Webb