Only the Weak Need Military Parades, and Only the Mentally Weak Go to Them
- john raymond
- Jun 11
- 3 min read
Military parades are not about strength. They are about insecurity. They are not about unity. They are about control. They are not demonstrations of national power—they are theater for the emotionally frail. No confident nation needs to parade its guns through its capital. No self-respecting citizen should sit on the curb and clap.
In the modern West, there is no reason—no reason—to hold a military parade except as a form of psychological compensation. For leaders like Donald Trump, a parade is not a celebration of the troops. It is a projection of imagined strength to hide very real fear: fear of losing control, fear of appearing weak, fear of facing the kind of scrutiny that no authoritarian survives. And for those who attend these parades with awe in their eyes and flags in their hands, the reflex is no better. They go to see power on display because they feel powerless in their own lives.
Parades Are for Dictators
Trump has long wanted a military parade. Not to honor anyone. Not to mark a battle won. But because he saw one, and it made him feel something he doesn’t normally feel: legitimacy. He wanted tanks on Pennsylvania Avenue and flyovers above the Capitol—not because America needs the spectacle, but because he needs the affirmation. It is the same reason Saddam held parades. It is the same reason Putin stages them annually in Red Square. It is the language of dictatorship: I control the force. I control the narrative. I control you.
Military parades in this context are not national rituals. They are authoritarian advertisements. They signal not competence, but desperation.
What Kind of Mind Needs a Parade?
Let’s talk frankly: people who attend these parades and treat them like sacred rituals are not patriots. They are political emotional dependents. The kind of people who need to see a missile on a truck to believe in their country. The kind of people who mistake theater for sovereignty, loudness for legitimacy, and uniforms for moral clarity.
They are the same people who think shouting “USA” is an argument. The same people who believe dissent is treason. The same people who watch tanks roll through American cities and feel pride instead of dread. They don’t love democracy—they love the aesthetic of domination.
Because in their minds, democracy is too slow. It asks too much of them. But a parade? A parade is simple. You just show up. You don’t have to think. You just cheer.
The Real Strength Doesn’t March
You want to see national strength? Don’t look at a column of camo-painted trucks. Look at the voters who organize. Look at the journalists who expose corruption. Look at the lawyers who defend the rule of law, the teachers who tell the truth, the parents who raise their kids not to fear difference. Strength is not about how many guns we have. It’s about whether we can govern ourselves without needing to point those guns inward.
Authoritarians hold parades because their people are not allowed to speak freely. In a democracy, the streets belong to the people—not the tanks. And if you need to see a machine of war to believe in your country, then the problem is not your country—it’s your faith in it.
Stop Clapping for Fear
Trump will get his parade. He’s already deploying troops to cities. He’s already transforming FEMA into a loyalty test. He’s already installed loyalists in federal agencies. The parade is coming not because we need it—but because he does.
And when it comes, it won’t be a show of force. It will be a show of fragility. A show for a man who knows he is losing grip on legitimacy, and who believes that with enough flags and enough uniforms, no one will notice.
Don’t go. Don’t clap.
Because only the weak need military parades—and only the mentally weak think they mean anything worth cheering.
Comments