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Armchair warrior is a pejorative term that alludes to verbally fighting from the comfort of one's living room. It describes activities such as speaking out in support of a war, battle, or fight by someone with little or no military experience.
Typical "armchair warrior" activities include advocating sending troops to settle a conflict, lobbying to keep defense jobs to make outdated military equipment as part of the military-industrial complex, or to make political messages on radio or television talk shows in favor of using armed forces in a conflict over trying diplomatic channels.
An early example of the term "armchair warrior" appeared in the 1963 Twilight Zone episode No Time Like the Past, in which a time traveler to the late 1800s uses the term in a speech directed towards a banker who is calling for sending young soldiers to fight a war against American Indians. The show's director, Rod Serling, had received a Purple Heart for injuries incurred while serving as a paratrooper in World War II.
This differs from "slacktivism" in that no action needs to be done by an "armchair warrior" beyond stating a point of view versus an act to give the appearance of making a difference from a "slacktivist". It is more of a variation of "chickenhawk", which was originally a slang term used during the Vietnam War to describe a superior officer that was not on the frontlines.
Don Henley refers to "armchair warriors" in his song "The End of the Innocence".
See also
- Anonymous (group)
- Armchair general
- Armchair revolutionary
- Armchair theorizing
- Back-seat driver
- Champagne socialist
- Chickenhawk
- Gauche caviar
- Internet petition
- Limousine liberal
- Narcotizing dysfunction
- Slacktivism
References
- "No Time Like the Past". IMDb.
And I take offense at 'armchair warriors' like yourself - who clearly don't know what a shrapnel, or a bullet, or a saber wound feels like... or what death smells like after three days on an empty, sun-drenched battlefield... who've never seen the look on a man's face when he realizes he's lost a limb, and his blood is seeping out.
- Robert Baruch (January 19, 2020). "Armchair Warriors". Santa Barbara Independent. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
Mr. Paul Driscoll travels back in time to the 1880s where he gets drawn into a dinner conversation with a man (Mr. Hanford) who considers himself to be something of a "virtual" patriot. He talks tough, but lets others do the fighting (and dying).
External links
- "An Epidemic of Fear and Loathing". U.S. News & World Report. April 30, 1995. p. 4. Archived from the original on October 16, 2012.
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