This poem was written as a response to the MOD's 2016 'Become a Better You' advertising campaign (see one example here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGSAKuRAjWY). This distasteful recruitment drive could only objectively be viewed as a cynical attempt to manipulate the most positive impulses of impressionable young people - and I think you'd be hard pushed to find a more textbook example of contemporary governmental propaganda.
Sadly, the UK military has recently compounded this disgraceful behaviour by sponsoring a series of TV programmes aimed at young people/older teenagers in a bid to present its operations as noble, worthwhile and character building (these institutions have even gone so far as to use a quote from Mahatma Ghandi - arguably the world's most famous pacifist - to justify their agenda - https://www.thecanary.co/uk/2016/12/07/new-advertising-campaign-from-army-cadets-seen-believed/). Needless to say, there is no shortage of evidence revealing this representation to be highly disingenuous, but having encountered many mentally scarred and socially disenfranchised ex-forces personnel as part of my extensive work with the homeless, I can personally attest to its deceitful nature.
It is very sad that in this day and age, Western governments are both willing and able to so brazenly manipulate the young, inexperienced citizens that they claim to protect; but it is also quite heartening to note that they are being driven to adopt such extreme measures because young people appear increasingly reluctant to participate in their needless campaigns of violence - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/armed-forces-army-recruitment-crisis-mark-francois-report-filling-the-ranks-navy-raf-lack-of-a7929411.html.
Nonetheless, with Conservative MP's calling for school-age children to be subjected to military propaganda in the classroom, it is essential that peace campaigners remain vigilant and proactive in their ongoing pursuit of demilitarisation. If you like what you see and would like to experience more, check out my youtube channel - The Rising Tide: Poetry and Polemics.