Thread: I Don't Think Magnets Support Our Troops

Originally Posted by icedog

I said nothing to insult you personally and if you think I did it was certainly unintentional. This thread was originated to discuss stickers on cars in the USA.

Yes, but you brought up the 4 year draft.

Originally Posted by icedog

You made statements that are easily construed as offensive to anyone who has serverd in the U.S. Military. Okay fine I threw in some cheap shots at the Belgian army but I was playing. In this country we depend on an all volunteer military to defend us and anyone else the UN sees fit to involve us with.

We do to. Granted, we may not have anything resembling the US army, but then again, Belgium is the size of new york city. With the same population. and the same tax income.

Originally Posted by icedog

The question of leadership aside, it is an unfortunate reality that the military is not populated with the sons and daughters of society's upper crust. The children of the lawmakers and war starters are not the ones facing the enemy.

True. they go to West point if they choose military at all. But nothing will change that. Certainly no draft.

Originally Posted by icedog

Your statements regarding the interruption of studies are very short sighted. Not all of us have the option to even begin higher education and enlisting in the military is often the only option for advancement. It is painful to listen to elitist statements.

This has nothing to do with elitism, but with pragmatism.
I understand your argument, and an enlistment can be a good choice to get ahead.
But the painful reality of drafting (at least it was here until the 90s) was that there was absolutely no correlation between what your education was and where you ended up.

Suppose I was a computer programmer by education, and then I spend 4 years on commando training.
By the time I sign off, everything I learnt would be obsolete. My education would have been for nothing.
You cannot shelve away math / science skills for 4 years, because they will be gone after that.
4 years is just way too long to be practical. So unless I'd stay on after those 4 years, those 4 years would hamstring me.

Also, the reason I mentioned that the military is not for everyone, is that the structure is simply not suitable for people who chafe at rigid authority, and for people who like to solve things their own way without being told how.
I know that is how you run a military, but many people would hate it and become demotivated by it.

In the event of a war, I already mentioned, this is of no concern. When the draft existed over here, there was a civil service equivalent that you could opt in to if you were a pacifist or otherwise opposed to serving in the army. Just because people are not suitable for serving in the army does not mean they are unfit for other patriotic duties. And it also doesn't say anything about those who serve in the military.


EDIT: I also didn't mean to imply that the army cannot produce thinkers. It can. John Robbins is a brilliant code debugger, works for Microsoft (I think) and has written many great books.
But just because the military CAN be a good environment for thinkers does not mean that it is a good environment for ALL people, and unless there is a pressing need, it is a lose lose situation for both the army and the actual people for force everyone to go through 4 years of it.