this post was submitted on 10 Jun 2024
923 points (97.9% liked)

politics

19148 readers
1915 users here now

Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!

Rules:

  1. Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.

Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.

Example:

  1. Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
  2. Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
  3. No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
  4. Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
  5. No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.

That's all the rules!

Civic Links

Register To Vote

Citizenship Resource Center

Congressional Awards Program

Federal Government Agencies

Library of Congress Legislative Resources

The White House

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Senate

Partnered Communities:

News

World News

Business News

Political Discussion

Ask Politics

Military News

Global Politics

Moderate Politics

Progressive Politics

UK Politics

Canadian Politics

Australian Politics

New Zealand Politics

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Trump Demands Biden Remove Ad of Him Calling Dead Soldiers ‘Suckers’ and ‘Losers’ - The former president said only a “psycho” or a “very stupid person” would’ve made such statements.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 44 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

The military doesn't attract the brightest minds.

Reminds me of a joke that did the rounds shortly after Finland joined Nato.

Finnish general: "You know, it's difficult, we have mandatory military service, but around 15% are unfit for service"

Other Nato generals: "That 15% is where we have to recruit from"

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I don't know I think that's kind of a shitty thing to generalize about. Not sure where your located, but atleast here in the US there are plenty of folks who join the military at a young age to get themselves out of bad situations and try to correct the course of their life. Obviously there are a lot of people who join because of some dangerous nationalistic or racist ideals, but that structure and purpose can help some folks.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

I went in because it's how poor kids go to college, here.

My buddy went in from Montgomery AL, as his economic alternatives were terrible, and he did report a high numbers of ex-felons attempting self-reform in his Marines unit; some with success, others missing the mark. He leveraged his time to great success by the time I met him, all his boyhood chums dead or jailed by 25.

I've known several members of my nation's armed forces who enlisted as a career and were capable of many other options, but they chose this one. We do choose it like Fireman, even though here it's thankless.

It seems entirely environment-dependent, though. I see one guy on here who claims to be ex-military but talks as if out of an armchair, and definitely has 'outlying' beliefs that would draw criticism from serving members.

I just can't predict it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Yep that's right. I have friends who could've done many things with their lives but they value our armed forces and joined up instead. It's something I hold in high regard. It's not a washout only ensemble.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

To be very clear I am talking about enlisting as a means to an end, not as an embrace of militaristic ideology or worship.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

I feel that. I'm just saying.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Buddy, you do calculus under fire and report back to me how well you do. By the way, if you take too long you die. If you get the wrong answer, your friend dies.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I'm a reserve officer, trust me I have some idea. Also, you're missing the point by quite a margin.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I don't think I am. If you think everyone around you is dumb then I feel sorry for the people you're supposed to lead.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 months ago

You're further proving that you missed the point.