Contrarian Expatriate wrote: ↑December 28th, 2019, 9:32 pm
I disagree. The military is both a proving ground and a doorway into to the privileged government class, as spoiled as it is. Many a young man has gained structure, competence, values, and personal grit in the military.
Military service in the US virtually guarantees "head of the line" preference into any lucrative federal job and into many state and local jobs too. Employers LOVE to employ veterans because they have a better record of professional success than average non-veterans. They also have better discipline, understanding of hierarchies, and teamwork on average.
I particularly recommend military service for b*tch-made men (sons of single mothers). This is where those myriad holes of manhood can be filled.
Yes, you can die or be disfigured in the military, but the odds of that are low and nothing of high value comes without some measure of risk.
The risk of joining the military and getting involved in battle is not just injury or death to yourself. It's a lot worse than just that. See below:
1. It also results in PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder too, which can haunt you for years and incapacitate you mentally. Nothing is worse than losing control of your own mind. Ask vets who have been in combat. They usually all have PTSD. I know some in Angeles City at the VFW's (Veterans of Foreign Wars) that cannot even bear to see or hear a fireworks show, because the sounds bring back traumatic memories for them. It's that bad. Thus, war is not a natural thing, contrary to what you think.
2. What's nearly just as bad about joining the military, is that you may be ordered to kill innocent people who never did you any wrong, and may come from good families raised by good parents, and whom might even be your friend if you had met them under peaceful circumstances. All just because your government and theirs want to make war. What right have you to take innocent lives just because your government says so? That's kind of dumb if you think about it. Especially since the guy you would shoot or drop a bomb on, has nothing against you and never did you wrong. If you think about it, you realize how insane that really is. See these quotes below:
"Can anything be stupider than that a man has the right to kill me because he lives on the other side of a river and his ruler has a quarrel with mine, though I have not quarrelled with him?"
- Blaise Pascal
"What is absurd and monstrous about war is that men who have no personal quarrel should be trained to murder one another in cold blood."
- Aldous Huxley
Now the thing is, just because you were "merely following orders" doesn't make it right or ok. Remember the Nazis at Nuremberg also used that excuse that they "were just following orders" yet that was no defense. Many Nazis were still hanged for their war crimes.
3. Now try this: Close your eyes and visualize yourself shooting another soldier across the battlefield and watching blood spurt out of him as you pull the trigger, and seeing him fall to the ground. Imagine that vividly and ask yourself: How would that make you feel? Knowing you just killed someone who never did you any wrong? And who might have come from a good loving family and raised by wonderful parents who spent many years raising up that fine young man, just to have you shoot and kill him.
Now wouldn't that make you feel like shit the rest of your life?! You may never get over the GUILT and REGRET. Imagine all that vividly, as if it were happening now, and ask yourself, if it's truly worth it, just to get medals and be decorated and get preferential treatment for government jobs back home. Remember that the survivors of wars never feel like a hero and never feel proud of what they did. There's no true honor in it, they usually say. So listen to those who lived through it, they will usually tell you it wasn't worth it and if they had to do it over again, they wouldn't. As they will tell you, in a war, no one truly wins, everyone loses.
Even in movies, a common line that characters often say is this: "Once you kill another man, you are never the same. Even if it was in self-defense. It's like you lose a part of yourself forever." That's very true. So you gotta ask yourself: Is it worth it to lose part of your soul forever, and suffer trauma and PTSD for the rest of your life, just to get military benefits and honors? Especially since you are not truly serving your country anyway, nor are you protecting anyone's freedoms, but serving the interests of corporations that brainwash you and use your sense of patriotism to use you and manipulate you to serve their agenda, against your own interests? These warmongers who profit from war are your REAL enemy, not the men you are sent to fight and kill. Think about it.
4. Moreover, killing innocent people just because your government says so doesn't absolve you of accruing BAD KARMA for your deed too. You're not gonna be forgiven by God or the universe just because you were "following orders". See the movie "American Sniper" about Chris Kyle, the expert sniper who killed dozens of people during the Iraq War for the US military. Not only was he plagued with guilt about it afterward, but he eventually received his karma when back home, some guy he tried to mentor ended up shooting him for no good reason. That's karma for you. What goes around comes around. So don't think you can get away with killing people just because you were "following orders". The universe and God and karma doesn't work that way. The US military and US government are NOT the highest law or highest authority in the universe. Sorry.
5. Finally, serving the military is NOT serving your country or your people, as falsely claimed. This is obvious. Super obvious. I don't understand why most Americans and soldiers do not realize this. It's a no brainer. The American people do not send you to war or battle. They would probably prefer that you not go to war in fact, because in general, the common people do not want their men to go to war. In war, you are fighting for US corporations and politicians and banksters, NOT the American people, and NOT for "your country". In fact, a country is an artificial construct if you think about it, and doesn't even exist. It's just an abstract concept on legal paper. Not an entity or sentient being or life form. So if you think about it, you are not truly fighting for your country or even your people, hence such a notion makes no sense. It's all a sham and fiction to brainwash you into compliance so you think you are serving a good cause when in reality you are not. Think about it.
Thus, since veterans do not technically serve their country or their people, then sorry to say, but that means they do not deserve any "honor or recognition or respect" for "serving their country" after all. I know that's a totally taboo and anathema thing to say, since we are all conditioned to believe that veterans deserve respect and honor for "serving their country". But if you think about it, that's not even technically true and doesn't even make sense. It's just something you are required to believe because it'd be blasphemy not to, and because it's a SACRED belief that is connected to the heart of America, which everyone else believes too. So no one dares to challenge it, despite the fact that it's an illogical statement. To dispute that openly would be to strike at the heart of America, and could result in the most dire consequences, which no one dares to do. Disputing it would also offend the honor of veterans and their loved ones, which could incite fist fights, punches and physical confrontation from veterans who wish to "defend their pride". Thus no one dares to challenge this sacred notion that military service is service to one's country.
All of these points should be obvious to anyone who really sits and thinks about it. I don't know why more people don't realize such obvious points. If you wanna join the military though, to receive discipline, training, jobs skills, free education, and government benefits, then join something like the National Guard or Coast Guard, where you are not likely to be called into battle. Or be a radar operator or navy sailor. But definitely don't join the Army or Marines or Green Beret.
Finally, consider this:
The way to achieve world peace is very simple. All it takes is for ALL MEN, including you, to refuse to participate in any wars or military service, and refuse to obey your government when it calls you to war, then there will be world peace. Very simple. All it takes is for all men to refuse to comply, and no more wars. What can be more simpler than that, if only all men would do that. As Albert Einstein said:
"The pioneers of a warless world are the youth who refuse military service."
- Albert Einstein
For some great movies that depict the above points, I recommend the following:
- Born on the Fourth of July, starring Tom Cruise
- The Good Kill, starring Ethan Hawke
- American Sniper
- Full Metal Jacket
- Hacksaw Ridge
