The Military..what do you think?

I know some people are truly patriotic, but does anyone else here feel that the military is our country's way of exploiting those that don't have money? I always felt that it was. I live in an upper-middle class town and barely anyone around here went into the military. The only people I know that have are people whose families didn't have $ to send them to college. I was really worried about them taking my dad when there was talk of the draft starting once again. I was actually told that he was too old and also that he would never have to fight because of his high education level! Of course, I'm glad about him not having to be on the front line, but what about people who have great family members that aren't highly educated! I bothers me that our government thinks educated people have more valuable lives than those that aren't! Also, I don't believe in the draft....that's my random thought/question.

 

I fucking hate that shit i am anti war anti military and anti US government fucking arseholes

 

its a joke
they deserve to die for working under the newage nazi capital

 

no i know how you feel, i even considered it considering all the "benefits" they give you.... today my mom showed me the obituary and one of my ex boyfriends was in there with a comflage hat on, said he died in germany in an automobile accident, he had a wife and daughter,,,, its so sad. makes you wonder what they are dying for.

 

THEY ARENT DYING FOR JACK SHIT

anyone who joins the us military in a time of war has a death wish plain and simple. they are no longer people theyre bodies are just tools used for combat and they are just as disposable to the government as a kleenex

its sad though. my neighbor came home with both his legs blown off.

 

They do a job not many of would do. I'm not sure about 'exploitation' i do not think that occurs here. Maybe people who are 'middle class' want to earn shit loads of money and don't want to be in the army because that does not pay. That means the less wealthy people end up there.

It is slightly John kerryesque to assume that 'stupid' people join the army. I do not think that is true. Of course the IQ levels are varied but calling all those in the military 'dumb' is stupid in itself.

littlelily i think your post is one step below being insulting.

http://www.armyjobs.mod.uk/RegularArmy/Education/

http://www.armyjobs.mod.uk/

http://www.army.mod.uk/

I think your dad could have joined the army if he really wanted too.

 

Some Guy I Opened up to Last Night Suggested I Should Join the Military...

Heh...

But I Did Say I wasn't Afraid to Die...So maybe that's Why he Suggested it...

 

The short answer...yes, I agree with you. I think it is exploitation on the government's part. After all, their way to get people in right now is to convince them that they will get a bunch of money when they are finished. No one rich enough to go to school will sign up for the military, unless, of course, they have a death wish...or believe in this horseshit.

BUT, unlike one person who has posted in this thread, no one deserves to die fighting in an unjust war. Some of the people have nowhere else to turn...especially if they live in the inner city...or in the rural areas (like where I live) and they want to see the world...

In the documetary Fahrenheit 9/11 Michael Moore shows two recruiters in Flint Michigan trying to sign up some kids. Flint has some of the worst crime rates and the highest unemployment rates in the country...they hit the jackpot signing kids up....

I think that shows it right there....

 

Fighting is silly.

 

I never said or thought that military men and women were stupid. Underprivledged maybe, but not stupid. If you're insulted by my post maybe you should join the military ....haha.

 

Well maybe i took a liberty with your words.

'' but what about people who have great family members that aren't highly educated! I bothers me that our government thinks educated people have more valuable lives than those that aren't!''

I'll apologise for that.

It does come across that way imho.
Who cares if they are 'undeprivelaged' what does that matter ?. Imho that is sometimes the case but not alway. A multitude of differeing people go join the army.
Like i said i imagine your dad could have joined if he wished. He may have been advised one way or another. If he wanted to he could have joined. Maybe in a more senior position.

It was just your tone that bothered me. If i am insulted by your post, why should i join the military ?. What do you mean by that ?.

 

I joined the army when I was 19. Right before I started posting here.

I had been living around Texas for two years, I had a GED, I couldn't get any position above minimum wage, and couldn't ask my parents for any help.

The military offered grandiose promises. (which they would live up to pending a few years of my life)

Boot camp was a good time. I enjoyed it actually, but in the back of my mind I couldn't get things like our bayonet cry (Kill Kill Kill an Iraqi) out.

I didn't want to kill an Iraqi. In medic school the realism set in. Not only would I be going to Iraq, which I knew, but in Iraq, the assistance we could offer to civilians blown apart by war was minimal. If they weren't dying, we could not help.

I ended up catching bronchitis early on, and didn't take care of myself. I stopped eating much and eventually got a medical discharge.

There really isn't a lot out there for young poor kids, I didn't grow up poor, but I didn't have a family by the time I was 17.

I got off easy. I'm glad I didn't have to go to Iraq. On the other hand, I would have liked to help out soldiers and Iraqis who have been injured by all this crap.

I'm not anti-military. I just think it should be used more wisely, and much less frequently.

 

Do you think it is true that the army gets the 'undeprivelaged' do you agree with the initial poster. I don't think it rings true here [uk]. I'd like to know if it does in the US. Having had first hand experience.

 

Perfectly stated, Lodui...thank you for sharing your first hand experience.

 

There are all kinds in the military, but yeah, especially for infantry and combat jobs, there were lots of bonuses being offered for people who signed up infantry too.

There were a lot more African Americans in the Army then there are in the US average. Most of the people in boot camp came from middle of nowhere places where there were no jobs.

It was a divrese place, no doubt, but the army was if not targeting (which it was) was certainly a better offer to underprivileged 17 and 18 year olds then to the kids from Hogan Knows Best.

 

That's all I was saying with my post. Also thank you for sharing your experience. Sorry to hear that you lost your family.

 

.......................................................................................................
I could die in a car accident just as easily as die in Iraq or Afganistan.

50,000 Americans die on the highway each year.

Big big cities can report a thousand murders each year.

It might be safer in the Army?

 

While I disagree with the army's current big plans and whatever, there's not a minute that goes by that I am not truly and forever grateful for the fact we have a military and there are "underprivileged" people willing to go out there and do the shit I'd NEVER have the guts to do. Because of those people, I can sit here and freely express my opinions to you guys, in the language I choose, and no one can persecute me for doing so. I am able to walk outside every day, wearing what I want, and go wherever my life can take me. I have my freedom because there are people out there, willing to give up theirs.

So, I may disagree with the goals the military may have in mind, but I will never for one second stop supporting them, because I still have a little bit of peace.

 

i have friends in the military (canadian and american) and i support them...i do not support the military, or war, or our fucked up governments...but i do support the people that are in it, for whatever reasons they have, whether it be for money or education or simply the experience..i still support them
i agree that the majority of people in the military are being exploited and it has been the poor and uneducated that have always suffered the most at the hands of the 'military'

 

beautifully said ramona