Obama’s state of the union speech opened and closed with paeans to America’s soldiers, and hopes that the rest of America could be more like them. This is a symptom of what Pete Kofod calls “The Rise of the Praetorian Class.”
The ranks of the uniformed enforcers — in military, law-enforcement, and imprisonment — have grown, and the resources they command and the political influence they wield have grown as well. As Kofod puts it: “The Praetorian Class is formed and grown to defend the Political Class and in time becomes the dragon that rules its master.”
For instance, in my state (California), the prison guards’ union more or less owns the legislature. Nobody has the courage to cross them, and so they always get their way. This is self-reinforcing political feedback, since much of what the union demands is more power, legal impunity, influence, and resources.
