The Men Who Stare At Goats follows the ups and downs of the use of paranormal and New Age concepts by the US military since the 1970s to Today, mostly focusing on their resurgence after 9/11. The title comes from the Ronson’s search for a man who allegedly has been able to learn how to harness his psychic ability to kill a goat, and other mammals simply by staring at them. The cast of characters is deep and to imagine Ronson tracking them down is part of the fun. Who is the man who actually killed the goat by staring, did it even happen? Who was it that learned Matchbox 20 was the best way to send out subliminal messages? Who took the proposed taking elements of the New Age peaceful measures and distort them to be used in events that lead to Abu Ghraib, Waco and Guantanamo?
The intentions early on seemed so earnest. What if we could take New Age ideas about peace and harness them non-violently in our military? Our military could carry ginseng and could stop their enemies not by firing weapons but by surprising them with hugs and Jedi mind tricks. The violent and disturbing outcomes appear as misunderstandings and distortions of the original intent of the First Earth Battalion, the proposed group of supersoldiers who encouraged nonviolent conflict resolution.
What is clear from reading this book is that parts of the military and intelligence want alternatives. While some of these alternatives are crazy schemes like invisibility and walking through walls, it certainly seems that the military is not about to slow down on them anytime soon.
The Men Who Stare At Goats By Jon Ronson