Re: Grandma wears Army boots - and boy, is she proud

On Thu, 10 Aug 2006 08:44:10 -0400, "north" <north@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:


It's because people like me are telling their kids what a big mistake
joining the military would be, and how it will destroy their future. Even
one of my cousins who is a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps sat all
three of my kids down and told them how fucked up the military is and the
best thing they could ever do is never consider joining and instead get a
real education and a real job.

The best thing any parent can do is to keep their kids out of the military.

n.


Your country's current problems with military recruitment has
unintended consequences.

1. You are getting low grade recruits with little motivation other
than to do the most mayhem in foreign countries. They are left with
little restraint to create the moral and structural mess you are
facing now. In a draft army the healthy mix soldiers from a broad
section of the population had in the past produced natural leaders and
soldiers with values representative of a moral and idealistic society.
That had in the past prevented or moderated the excesses in the
battlefield and during subsequent occupation.

2. Young Americans, according to your view, should no longer consider
military service as a good idea. That leaves immigrants desirous of
American citizenship a quick route to American citizenship through
military service. One obvious result is the large numbers of
hispanics in the ranks and the officer corp. The minor consequence
is that you have an unintended mercenary army. The major consequence
is that the military, one of the key political institutions of
America, will have its foundations evolve in unknown directions. The
WASP foundations that had guided America's political development since
the founding of America will now incorporate non WASP mindsets
whatever that means.

If America's Afro-Americans feel marginalized they will feel this even
more acutely as they have already ceased to be the largest minority
group. They will lose further as hisapanics in the military achieve
more representation in the officer corp and the elite general ranks,
positions that come with economic and political power.

Your views on military service reflect those of people with a
philosophical bent (aka intellectuals) who used to regard military
service as an honorable profession but now avoid it . This
development affects the makeup of your political institutions too.
People of ability, virtue and good conscience avoid seeking public
office because of "dirty politics" that savage otherwise stellar
reputations. Do Americans trust and admire politicians?
.

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