Soldiers disobeying their superior is usually pretty unheard of, but during the Vietnam war it started to happen more often than you think especially because the Vietnam war is a direct example of imperial aggression. The years 1966 and 1967 saw the first acts of resistance among GIs. Given the general passivity within the ranks and the tight control exercised by the brass, these first acts required a clear willingness for self-sacrifice. After this many more started to follow. The majority of these early instances of resistance were actually simply acts of refusal; refusal to go to Vietnam, to carry out training, to obey orders. They were important in that they helped to directly confront the intense fear which all GIs feel; they helped to shake up the general environment of passivity. But the military was quite willing to deal with the small number of GIs who might put their heads on the chopping block; to really affect the military machine would require a more general rebellion. The period from 1968 to 1970 was a period of rapid disintegration of morale and widespread rebelliousness within the U.S. military. There were a variety of causes contributing to this development. By this time the war had become vastly unpopular in the general society, anti-war demonstrations were large and to some degree respectable, and prominent politicians were speaking out against the continuation of the war. What we can learn from the Vietnam war is, Don't get involved in something you don't have a plan in place to get out of. We cannot basically unilaterally invade potentially unstable countries and expect worldwide support to maintain stability after a sweeping military success.
the world is divided into three types of countries or areas, core, periphery, and semi-periphery. Core countries are dominant capitalist countries that exploit peripheral countries for labor and raw materials. They are strong in military power and not dependent on any one state or country. They serve the interests of the economically powerful. They are focused on higher skill and capital-intensive production. Core countries are powerful, and this power allows them to pay lower prices for raw goods and exploit cheap labor, which constantly reinforces the unequal status between core and peripheral countries. The periphery countries are those that are less developed. These countries usually receive a disproportionately small share of global wealth. They have weak state institutions and are dependent on and sometimes exploited by more developed countries. These countries are usually behind because of obstacles such as lack of technology, unstable government, and poor education and health systems. In some instances, the exploitation of periphery countries' agriculture, cheap labor, and natural resources aid core countries in remaining dominant. It is important to note that through colonization and exploitation of smaller countries, America was able to establish itself as a world leader along with other large countries focused on becoming leaders of the control of production. A great majority of the world’s peripheral countries include places found in South America, Africa, and Asia. While the flow of trade is supposed to be equal and help peripheral countries build stronger economies, there is a substantial difference between the influences that center and periphery countries have. There are fewer center countries which means that the competition between them is much less intense and gives them more chances to expand their range of production. On the other hand, peripheral countries have a much greater number of areas included leading to very intense competition in several areas of the world. This process is called unequal exchange and is one of the large factors of why the repeatitive cycle of an unfair distribution of wealth will continue.
From when you are brought into this world you are taught to be obedient and to listen to authority. People will comply with the questionable demands of authority figures, but only if they strongly identify with that person, and buy into the rightness of those beliefs. We’re not unthinking automatons. Nor are we monsters waiting for permission for our bad sides to be unleashed. However, we are more susceptible to psychological manipulation than we may realize. To a world still reeling from the question of why so many Germans obeyed orders and carried out Nazi atrocities, here was a clear answer: We are predisposed to obey authority figures. Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process. Moreover, even when the destructive effects of their work become patently clear, and they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with fundamental standards of morality, relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority (Milgram). Within religions we are taught to obey our God. In Christianity I was taught that if I don’t obey God I am unable to go to heaven and will rot in hell. All throughout my life I’m supposed to do good things in the name of God. In school you are taught that you need to be a good student to learn to be smart and intelligent. We are taught that if we do not succeed in school we will go nowhere in life. We are taught many things within our lives and being obedient without thinking about disobeying is one of them. But why should we?
Schools teach us far more than reading, writing, and arithmetic. They also socialize us to cultural norms and expectations.
From the moment a child is born, his or her education begins. At first, education is an informal process in which an infant watches others and imitates them. As the infant grows into a young child, the process of education becomes more formal through play dates and preschool. Once in grade school, academic lessons become the focus of education as a child moves through the school system. But even then, education is about much more than the simple learning of facts. Our education system also socializes us to our society. We learn cultural expectations and norms, which are reinforced by our teachers, our textbooks, and our classmates This socialization also involves learning the rules and norms of the society as a whole. In the early days of compulsory education, students learned the dominant culture. Today, since the culture of the United States is increasingly diverse, students may learn a variety of cultural norms, not only that of the dominant culture. School systems in the United States also transmit the core values of the nation through manifest functions like social control. One of the roles of schools is to teach students conformity to law and respect for authority. Obviously, such respect, given to teachers and administrators, will help a student navigate the school environment. This function also prepares students to enter the workplace and the world at large, where they will continue to be subject to people who have authority over them. Fulfillment of this function rests primarily with classroom teachers and instructors who are with students all day.