Amen to that...+infinity! I think that was the vision the founding fathers had as well...most of the were pretty nervous about having a standing army.
Eric On Tue, Apr 17, 2012 at 4:31 PM, LRS Scout <[email protected]> wrote: > > Well, I served in the infantry, where patriotism was still the primary > motivation, but I knew plenty of POGs that were there just for a paycheck > or an education. > > That being said I think we need major reforms in our military structure. > We have few external threats that can do anything to the U.S., and we > continue to see that our interventionist policies do nothing but cost us > blood and treasure. > > I honestly think that with the SOSUS net, and the DEW line, we could make > an all part time defense force, with a small expeditionary organization > under the auspices of the Department of State to handle embassy security, > with a special operations component to handle hostage rescue and the like. > > Anti missile tech has come to the point of reliability (look at what the > Israelis are accomplishing with it) , our aviation assets can be cut > dramatically, now that drones are viable both as offensive platforms and > close in defense air support. > > I would like to see our national defense apparatus be focused on defending > our nation and not enforcing our will abroad. > > On Tue, Apr 17, 2012 at 5:18 PM, Larry C. Lyons <[email protected] > >wrote: > > > > > Thing about the military is that now its serving much like the auto or > > oil industry used to serve - a way out of a poor rural existence for > > many in the ranks. For the officers, its either family, or genuine > > patiotism. > > > > On Tue, Apr 17, 2012 at 4:30 PM, Judah McAuley <[email protected]> > > wrote: > > > > > > On Tue, Apr 17, 2012 at 1:14 PM, LRS Scout <[email protected]> wrote: > > >> > > >> Now I certainly don't think that restricting people from voting on the > > >> basis of race or gender makes sense, but I could see using other > litmus > > >> tests such as property ownership and military or civic service in > order > > to > > >> grant the franchise to vote. > > > > > > I don't own a house and I've never served in the military. I think > > > that these days, far too many people end up in the military because it > > > is one of the few options open to them rather than out of a sense of > > > duty and patriotism. > > > > > > I really don't think that the franchise is the problem. At the top, we > > > have major structural impediments to change. It is a two party system > > > and money ensures that it is the already entrenched interests that > > > likely to be elected. At the bottom, we have an education system that > > > has abandoned the teaching of civics and economics and that presents a > > > glossy faux history of the founding of the country while completely > > > avoiding recent history as "too controversial". > > > > > > If you want to make elections more rational and educated, change the > > > stranglehold on power and convince the average person that their time > > > and effort to engage will actually be worthwhile. > > > > > > Judah > > > > > > > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:350023 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
