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hellofaniceguy
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Location: On your computer screen!
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 Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 7:40 pm Post subject: |
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We have all heard the stories...war affects everyone in a different way....however, the ratio of those who have no "problems" having served, vs those that do have "problem," far exceeds the negative. The same could be said for most any profession.. incidently, one of the highest suicide rates for professionals is for non military and that goes to psychiatrists!
Those who were drafted really do have a gripe vs those who signed up knowing the history of potential problems. One knows before joining what could happen....and hopefully are weeded out during basic...but obviously, many get through and we now see the results which are bad.
Having to kill someone is not easy, very difficult even when they are trying to shoot you. It affects one for life. Some can adjust and move on.
The idea of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other guy die for his! |
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Oreovictim
Joined: 23 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2010 4:44 pm Post subject: |
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My father's take on the military:
The military's good. They take care of you, pay for your education, give you great benefits, etc. But you just have to remember that you're there to defend the country. Just remember that if a war breaks out.
My mother's take:
Good benefits? The housing was horrible, and your father didn't make much. When he left and looked for jobs, a lot of companies didn't care that he was in the military.
My father was in the Navy from about '66 - '76. So I'm sure that the benefits are a lot better now. My cousin's in the Army and got some sort of resigning bonus. I think it was about 20 grand. (The moron blew it all on a Corvette, too. Oh well.) |
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Reggie
Joined: 21 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2010 1:27 am Post subject: |
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| catman wrote: |
| .......and all the brown people you can rape. |
And all the American taxpayers you can financially rape. |
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Reggie
Joined: 21 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2010 2:06 am Post subject: |
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| .38 Special wrote: |
| If you have a desire to serve your country (instead of to be served by your country as many creatures of entitlement believe today), the military is an excellent choice. |
That is not true. The United States of America has been bankrupted by the military, as have many American families who have had to pay them. They haven't even protected our freedoms, as evidenced by the Patriot Act. We've paid a lot of money and received no service whatsoever from our military. If they really wanted to defend America, they would've confronted Goldman Sachs bankers instead of hapless Iraqi families who never did anything to America. But no American, even our "brave" soldiers, has the courage to confront that twit Lloyd Blankfein and it would conflict with personal financial goals. |
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.38 Special
Joined: 08 Jul 2009
Location: Pennsylvania
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| Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2010 3:11 pm Post subject: |
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| Reggie wrote: |
| .38 Special wrote: |
| If you have a desire to serve your country (instead of to be served by your country as many creatures of entitlement believe today), the military is an excellent choice. |
That is not true. The United States of America has been bankrupted by the military, as have many American families who have had to pay them. They haven't even protected our freedoms, as evidenced by the Patriot Act. We've paid a lot of money and received no service whatsoever from our military. If they really wanted to defend America, they would've confronted Goldman Sachs bankers instead of hapless Iraqi families who never did anything to America. But no American, even our "brave" soldiers, has the courage to confront that twit Lloyd Blankfein and it would conflict with personal financial goals. |
Your perverse political ideology is irrelevant to both this thread and my post.
This thread is about the career and financial opportunities available by serving in the US Armed Forces. This is not about whether you agree with American international policy. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2010 5:14 pm Post subject: |
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| Street Magic wrote: |
| Fox wrote: |
| CentralCali wrote: |
| Sociopaths, huh? Your use of that term to describe the military is quite telling. |
Yes, it is quite telling. Specifically, it's quite telling regarding my opinion of people who will aim a gun at someone and kill them on command. Who will launch missiles into inhabitted areas in order to intentionally kill people on command. Who will torture prisoneres upon command. Who will literally wreck entire societies upon command.
How clear do I have to be? These sociopaths are a liability to the rest of us. Anyone doing more than arguing they're an unfortunately necessary evil is fighting a losing battle from any ethical perspective. |
I never disagreed with your stance on holding intentional killing as a moral wrong regardless of any government validation that might be behind it, but (and maybe I'm just nitpicking here) I believe a sociopath would be someone who doesn't experience empathy, guilt, or even anxiety, while soldiers are pretty well known to go through psychological trauma. You can be right in maintaining that what they're doing is wrong without having to maintain that they themselves are inherently sadistic. Running with your premise that killing is always wrong and given how much the military is based around breaking down the individual and adhering to protocol, it's much more likely that the average soldier is a regular, decent person who's simply been mislead by what you see as an unjust system. You could argue that this argument undervalues personal responsibility, but even then, there's a difference between wanting to do something wrong and not caring that it's wrong vs. agreeing to do something wrong under the assumption that it isn't. |
I'm using the term sociopath in a non-clinical sense as a condemnation. It's precisely because they're not clinical sociopaths that I condemn them so thoroughly. They can empathize with their victims and feel guilt, and that's why it's so horrific that they're willing to become professional killers in return for some sense of glory, or a college education, or a career, or so forth. I agree that they've largely been misled; our culture, like many, has ennobled military service. People are cheered on for joining the military; troops are supported. "Well, I might not agree with what our military is doing, but I support our troops, that's for sure." A totally inane statement, but I've heard things like that quite a few times. If you don't agree with the actions of the military, why on Earth would you support the people who willingly signed on to mindlessly carry out its directives? Because you've been brainwashed into thinking the military is a noble calling, that's why. |
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Jeonmunka
Joined: 05 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2010 3:05 pm Post subject: |
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Zylethe, I met an old soldier and he cried heaps when he got drunk, crying about some men he had to 'blow up with his grenades' ...
What is the difference between his story and your's?
Reminds me of a Iraq War 1 guy had this memorial veterens cup/mug and he proudly displayed it. I asked him what he did in the War. He was in ordinance / supply and far back from any danger.
He in fact never saw even one enemy soldier.
Yet he cheered their deaths. |
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