Stop vb. , to arrest the progress of; to hinder; to impede; to cease

State n. , a gang of thieves writ large; a territorial monopolist of compulsion and
ultimate decision-making (jurisdiction) which may engage in continual, institutionalized property rights violations and exploitation in the form of expropriation, taxation, and regulation of private property owners; the group within society that claims for itself the exclusive right to rule everyone under a special set of laws that permit it to do to others what everyone else is rightly prohibited from doing, namely aggressing against person and property.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Why Do Most Soldiers Join the Military?

By Austin White

January 10th, 2012

I graduated high school in 2008 and now, three and a half years later, I would confidently wager that eventually 20% of my entire graduating class will end up in the military.  The majority of my own high school buddies were snagged by recruiters in less than a year after graduating.

Not a single one of the many people I know who joined the military ever mentioned anything about how excited they were to defend my freedoms, uphold the Constitution, or even defeat the Omnipotent Intergalactic Muslim Empire as they were leaving for basic training.  No, they joined because they were afraid of being in control of their own lives and wanted to thrust themselves into a system that would make all of their decisions for them.  

Young people are more coddled than ever.  Unless home-schooled, young people go through thirteen years of the American public school system where ,for seven to nine hours a day, they are told what classes to attend and when, where to sit, when they can eat, and when they may use the restroom (after you beg for permission, of course).   For the majority of a young person's waking lives they are having their daily lives planned out by bureaucrats.  Before they know it they are graduating and for the first time have the complete freedom to make their own decisions and plan their own lives - and they're terrified of this freedom. 

They're so used to administrators bossing them around all day that they have no confidence in their own decision making abilities.  They've never thought about planning their own lives before; they thought the bureaucrats would handle this task forever.  And so many join the military, where they can go back to the control of the bureaucrats.  Once again they will be told when to eat and what to wear, but now with the additional command of who to kill.

Cowardly people are afraid of freedom because it means they are fully responsible for any bad choices they make.  They're much more comfortable having the option to shift the blame for their mistakes elsewhere.

I would say most military men are cowards.  Sure they're signing up to grab a rifle and run into whatever battle they're ordered to, some will even jump out of airplanes, but this is recklessness, which is very different from courage.  Modern American soldiers aren't rushing into any kind of heroic battle; they're occupying innocent peoples and imposing dictatorial martial law at the barrel of a gun so they can get their college paid for.  How is this a respectable act?  Courage is not blindly and unconditionally carrying out whatever order you're told to; the courageous soldier is the one who questions his orders, speaks out against them, and as a last resort refuses to obey regardless of the consequences.

I do sympathize with military recruits.  They are regularly bombarded with big budget military recruitment propaganda, they see the yellow "Support the Troops" stickers everywhere, country music stars write songs praising the troops, and the troops are always the good guys in American movies - it's no wonder they struggle to see the evil in what they're a part of.  

Once they're in the military all of their expenses are covered.  They're provided with food, shelter, a salary, free college, and healthcare - ALL of which is funded by the government forcefully taking money from us mere civilians here at home without our consent.  It probably is indeed hard to give those welfare freebies up.

But none of this matters and it doesn't matter that the troops mean well, because the same could be said of the Nazis.  Nazi soldiers believed they were doing a good thing, that God was on their side, that their wars were defensive, and that Jews really were an evil force in the world (similar to how Muslims are viewed by modern Americans) that must be stopped.  The great majority, if not all, Nazi soldiers probably had the full support of their families, friends, and neighbors just like American troops do.  

The majority of people in the military are there because they didn't know what to do with their lives and instead of taking a deep breath and facing the opportunity to carve out their own place in the world head on they ran with their tail between their legs into a recruiting office so some guy who doesn't care the least bit about them can make those decisions for them.

Joining the military is not a respectable decision; it is a pathetic one.  It is a cheap and artificial way for young men to gain undeserved respect and admiration. For most men it is no more than a remedy for unemployment. The longer this is denied, the longer it will be before young men stop marching into the recruiting offices.




5 comments:

  1. Wow-how... That's an interesting theory, a terrible and baseless theory however. Terrified of freedom - Okay, so maybe thinking about your future after you're out of school is scary. I admit it I was worried myself about my future but there isn't many who aren't. But saying that fear completely trumps the terror of being in the military is laughable.

    Being in the military is not reckless as you claim it is. It is in fact courageous whether you like it or not.

    You dare compare our American Military with Nazi's, comparing them is one thing, but saying their so incredibly similar. That is disgusting.

    I quote, "Courage is not blindly and unconditionally carrying out whatever order you're told to; the courageous soldier is the one who questions his orders, speaks out against them, and as a last resort refuses to obey regardless of the consequences."

    Are you seriously that stupid? They don't teach you to follow orders blindly, in fact they encourage individual judgement. Are you completely unaware of military laws? If one is ordered to do something that doesn't follow said laws, they're supposed to question it. However, in your case you would be hesitant to do something that is most practical. You would be questioning like an idiot only to die like an idiot.

    Speaking of which, the idiocy in your statement about how military benefits are "welfare freebies". No, welfare from the government is money or financial aid for people who can't work. Being in the military is a profession just like anything else, i.e other heroic professions - Firemen and police officers. Which if I may add, the military is grossly underplayed for their job

    It seems to me an any rational person for that matter that you are the pathetic coward. They're out fighting to keep the peace here, many of them dying. And you have the ignorance and pure stupidity to disrespect them from your cozy computer chair as you leisurely type this abomination up.

    Take a good look in a mirror and ask yourself if you have even a trace of courage any single soldier does, I'll answer that right now. No, you don't. You are one of the worst excuses for life and I'm sure very few would spare any tears if you were to be shot on sight, while hardly any will have few words to say in your honor, the others will rejoice.

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  2. I think Austin's right. But I also think most military men/women also enlist is because there's no other place for them where they are.

    They don't want to have a shitty low wage job, they can't afford the money to go to college, they don't want to be forced to join a gang in the ghettos they may have been raised in.

    Or they might just want to get the hell away from where they were raised.

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  3. Hi Austin

    I don't think you really know much about military service. You are making a lot of assumptions about service members and veterans. Are you aware that only about 25% of young people in the US are even eligible to serve? http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/PDF/unable_to_serve.pdf

    Have you interviewed any service members or veterans in any systematic way?

    About me. I am a veteran. I served pretty much for the same reasons Motopac describes, above. I'm also a socialist and a pacifist. I have PhD and an MPH. I want to value the 5 1/2 years of my youth I spent in the Army, but it's hard when I encounter ant-veteran sentiments such as yours, and those sentiments are very prevalent in the Academy. It wasn't like I was in prison! I suggest you try to understand before you denigrate, and then work to eliminate the perceived need for a military.

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  4. "Joining the military is not a respectable decision; it is a pathetic one. It is a cheap and artificial way for young men to gain undeserved respect and admiration."
    This is about one of the dumbest things I have ever read. You keep talking as if you know so much about the military. Did you serve? I highly doubt it because you wouldn't be talking like that. First of all yes there are students that join the military for lack of finances BUT at least they are willing to WORK for it and not give up. The majority of people that join don't know what to do with their lives?! That is bullshit! My boyfriend joined the Army because he wanted something different in his life, he wanted to travel, and he has a huge amount of pride towards his country. I am 20 years old and I am currently going to college . I received my Associates in Science this past summer before turning 20. I am working towards my Bachelors in Interdisciplinary Studies (EC-6) Bilingual Certification while working in a Corporate office as a Clerk before that i worked as a substitute teacher when I was 19. I am in the process of joining but before I join I have to remove my neck tattoo since it's again regulations. I know what I want to do in my life I HAVE GOALS sweeties and I have been working towards them but now I want to join the Army which is something I have been wanting to do since High School. SOOOO your "theory" is a pretty stupid opinion. Nevertheless it you're right as an American but regardless if you want to see it or not there have been people dying since before you were born keeping that FREEDOM ALIVE!

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