Giant Voice of ribald totalitarianism

Quoting from the Warren Sentinel, June 30, 2006 (emphasis added):

Warren [Air Force Base] now has a “Giant Voice” system that will be used to play reveille, retreat and taps. The sounding of these honors is a special part of military culture and all base personnel will be expected to follow tradition and protocol.

Monday through Friday, reveille will be played at 7:30am and retreat will be played at 4:30pm. … Taps will be played at 10pm. The following outlines what both military and civilian personnel should do during reveille and retreat:

… At first note, all personnel in uniform and not in formation should face the flag or the music (if the flag is not in view), stand at attention and render a hand salute. Hold this position until the last note of the music has been played.

When not in uniform, personnel should, at first note, stand at attention facing the flag for the music (if the flag is not in view), remove headdress, if any, with the right hand, and place the right hand over the heart. Hold this position until the last note of the music has been played.

All vehicles in motion should stop at the first note of the music and the occupants should sit quietly until the music ends.

This scares me. Oh, and more than that, infuriates me.

As to the first– just the idea of a “Giant Voice,” that commands the absolute obedience of an entire group of people– eesh. The wording of the article is very specific: “will be expected to follow tradition and protocol.” This isn’t a voluntary sort of thing. The article doesn’t say personnel are encouraged to honor this “special part of military culture” (a sarcastic side note: ah, yes. The military! And culture! Age old allies!). No. You “will.”

And I shudder to think of the repercussions if one fails to meet expectations. I mean, is it so inconceivable that failing to stop and salute could place me in a secretive, illegal military prison under suspicion of terrorism or subversion? Could I be beaten and tortured and held indefinately without trial? Is our military above this? And if so, what really happened in the American military controlled Iraqi prisons? What’s really happening in Guantanamo? … I digress.

As to my fury– am I not a free individual? What right has any government to dictate to me what I will or will not do, and which hand it will or not will be done with? What do I care if they choose to play their favorite patriotic cheer? I’m sorry, but no. No! I will not stop. I will not remove my headdress. I will not hold my right hand over my heart. Only by the use of physical force will you master me. And even then, you’ll not have mastered my heart, and I’ll spit in your face as you force my hand over that very organ which you cannot control!

How Orwellian is this? How like a totalitarian state?

On a completely unrelated note, allow me to quote another source– this time, Chen Village, an account of a rural Chinese village under the Mao Zedong regime. From a section titled “Broadcasting the New Order”

Henceforth, to reinforce such thinking, two or three nights every week the peasants were required to meet with the team or brigade level Mao Thought counselors to learn new revolutionary songs and Mao quotes. …

These counselors had a powerful new medium of communication to help in their proselytizing. This was the production brigade’s wired broadcasting system, set up when the village acquired electricity in 1966. The system consisted of thirty loudspeakers positioned throughout the village, with four large ones installed in the village’s main meeting places. The volume was tuned loud enough that even while indoors people could hear the announcements. …

The new broadcasting system altered the peasants’ lives on more than one way. … About half the broadcasting time was given over to music and reports from the provincial radio station. The other half was devoted to brigade news and pep talks composed by the brigade broadcaster with the help of the Mao Thought counselors.

How is this different? And how is this the same?