How about it's a good place to get a start in a career field,learn
useful skills,be exposed to other people from other backgrounds,get to
travel and see places that they would never normally get to see?
Opportunity is opportunity no matter where you find it. Dangerous? So
is waking up and walking out the door each day. We're all gonna die of
something someday,that's just the way it is. I applaud those who go
in,even if it's for socio-economic reasons. They could be in your
neighborhood selling drugs,robbing and stealing,that would be much
easier than making a commitment to improving their lives.
Terry
*/Michael Redler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>/* wrote:
"the military is keenly aware that the socio-economic realities of
our country do most of the recruiting for them"
Absolutely!
Although the behavior of many recruiters has been an embarrassment
to the uniform, they are only part of the problem. There is the
new draft happening under our noses. Many appropriately call
it the poverty draft.
A significant number (some estimates are as high as 40,000) of
America's frontline soldiers are not US citizens.
"The proportion of blacks in the army was 40%, while in the US
population, the number of blacks was a quarter of that" -- MP
George Galloway
Well, I could only think of three possible reasons why this might
be true -- and a couple of them seem pretty ridiculous:
1.) Blacks and hispanics are more patriotic
2.) Blacks and hispanics are easily persuaded by
a recruiter's slick sales pitch
3.) Blacks and hispanics have fewer options for advancement
Did I miss any?
Mike
*/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/* wrote:
In a message dated 6/3/05 12:45:08 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
<< I agree that a military recruiter will paint as "rosey" a
picture of
service as possible, but no one has to volunteer.>>
sorry, larry, but many, many, many enlisted men sign up
because from their
perspective, at the time they put their name on the dotted
line, that was their
only viable option. the military is keenly aware that the
socio-economic
realities of our country do most of the recruiting for them
(why else do you think
they gave up the draft?). sure, the recruiter may reel in a
few good souls
who were tipping in the other direction, but for the most part
his job is that
of making sure that those who come to his or her office (who
for the most part
have already made up their minds) fill out the forms properly,
and
acknowledge whatever disclaimers/full disclosure statements
the recruiter may be
required to utter.
<
is located. . .w[h]ere discourse and discussion is supposted to
be applauded, but the military which defends those rights are not
allowed to have free expression. . .protesting a member wearing a
Military uniform is dishonorable and violates that individuals
right
to free speech.>>
oh lord. where does this mind set come from? do you not see
the mental
short-circuit necessary to accept this thought process?
yes, centers of higher learning champion discourse and debate,
the exchange
of ideas. and for the military--an institution to which, as
has been amply
discussed in this thread already, free discourse and exchange
of ideas is
anathema--to seek recruits therein is itself an attack on
higher learning and what it
represents.
the concept of a civilian nation, a civilian society, was
central to our (the
u.s.) constitution. civilian, representative government is
clearly and
unmistakably placed in charge of the armed forces. the
military as a culture or
member of society in itself, is in no way recognized. in fact,
implicit to this
formula is that the military has no role, nor right to a
voice, in
society/the civil forum. therefore, to argue that a person in
uniform (in the literal
sense, not figuratively) has a right to free speech, stands on
shaky ground if
you're suggesting that the wearing of the uniform (and in so
doing, acting as
a representative of or spokesman for the military) is itself
the speech or a
central component of it.
furthermore, all this claptrap about defending 'those rights'
is no more than
a political artifact. in reality, not since the war of 1812
has the u.s.
been engaged in a conflict where personal liberties could be
construed as being
directly attacked, seeing that britain was trying to take back
the colonies
which had won their independence and, ion the process had
taken the ideas of
personal and political liberties to a new level (not, i should
add, that the
american revolution was exactly about 'those rights').
this isn't to say there weren't other occasions where 'those
rights' were
indirectly threatened, certainly. but come on, let's be
honest. wwII, for
example, wasn't really about defending personal liberties, not
primarily. if it
were, the u.s would have gotten involved much sooner. it was
really a war
against aggression and economic competition (particularly in
the pacific theatre).
and it takes a mental contortion of titanic proportions to
accept the idea
that slaughtering thousands and thousands of an indegenous
people all the way on
the other side of the globe, as the u.s. did when taking the
phillipines from
spain, or bloodily dismembering a nation, as we are still in
the process of
doing in iraq, constitutes a defense of 'those rights'.
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