I really liked this article. I enjoyed the writing style and the subject is one that interests me a lot, as I've also managed to have a lot of fun traveling-and-working by Amtrak. But I guess I'm going to violate the entire moral of the story with the rest of my post. Because I kind of stopped and had to ask myself what the author was thinking with this line:
>> I didn't know how to reconcile his witless alcoholism with his tremendous sacrifice.
You must not know many soldiers. Or just people in general.
I know there are a lot of different people out there and a lot of different experiences, so I really don't need anyone replying with "my buddy did it for such-and-such and has never touched a drop of alcohol in his life". Not interested. But judging from literally every ex-soldier I've met, "witless alcoholism" is what defines and unifies military service. To some extent, that even includes my own parents, who I suspect didn't drink very much when I was a kid specifically because of their experiences in the military. And really, in a lot of respects that's just being young, sowing wild oats and whatnot. What is the difference between kids in the military and kids in college (and do not forget for a second that soldiering is mostly done by adults-in-name-only)? I suspect not much, other than a generally higher degree of physical fitness in the military.
Also judging from these ex-soldiers, joining the military is as much about "serving one's country" and "making a sacrifice" as going to college is about "learning", i.e. that's not really actually why most people do it and it only happens out of circumstance. I can't tell if any of the soldiers I've met had given any serious thought to the concept of injury or death before they volunteered. Because really, how much serious thought on such concepts is an 18-year-old even capable of? As a society, we literally force some of the most life-changing decisions on the people who are almost universally unprepared to evaluate their full set of options correctly. Most people seem to do it (both college and the military) because they're expected to, because they aren't aware of other options, and/or because they think it will be a good time. Or, at least in peacetime, I'd say that was the case.
Today, I don't know. Being 18 year olds, it's probably the same motivations. But we've been in active shooty-stabby-bomby action for thirteen years straight (I also really don't need any pedantic replies about official declarations of war). Living in DC, it's kind of hard to not notice the 11th of September pass by, thus my wife and I tend to avoid being in town on that day. And it's kind of hard to remember what day it is just about anywhere else. It's been a long time. Vietnam was slightly longer and I doubt anyone thinks we'll be done soon. Is this what Pearl Harbor felt like in 1953? Hell, we'd already been into and out of Korea by that time.
My point here is, if you're in the military now, you're volunteering for war. If you're an injured soldier, I'm sorry you got hurt. You didn't deserve it, because nobody deserves war and mayhem. But you volunteered for it. We need to stop saying "support the troops". We need to start saying "prevent kids from joining unjust war".
> My point here is, if you're in the military now, you're volunteering for war. If you're an injured soldier, I'm sorry you got hurt. You didn't deserve it, because nobody deserves war and mayhem. But you volunteered for it. We need to stop saying "support the troops". We need to start saying "prevent kids from joining unjust war".
A thousand times yes! About a year ago I was flying in the US for a conference and I noticed a soldier in uniform getting bumped to business class. Apparently this is standard AA policy.
This led me to ask some questions about the military to some coworkers which turned into some sort of a fight. My position is exactly the same as yours: American society forces its most vulnerable to join unjust wars and then rather than provide them with welfare, social and medical services relies on this kind of obscene corporate brandwashing and cheap respect and support from the public.
I refuse to support the troops, we have to stop kids from being duped into joining the military altogether. But apparently this is a rather unpopular position, especially with those who have family members in the military.
> My point here is, if you're in the military now, you're volunteering for war. If you're an injured soldier, I'm sorry you got hurt. You didn't deserve it, because nobody deserves war and mayhem. But you volunteered for it. We need to stop saying "support the troops". We need to start saying "prevent kids from joining unjust war".
I'm currently serving, and I agree. It gets tiring having complete strangers walk up to me, while I'm in uniform, and saying things like "thank you, for all that you do.", as if I should bask in the glory of their appreciation. Perhaps they really are thankful, but the whole encounter is always awkward. At first I wasn't sure how to respond, but I've settled on saying "you're welcome", even though it sounds arrogant to me. Then you have individuals and corporations who profit on this whole notion that we should donate to "support the troops" at every opportunity we get. Many of us don't deserve support. Some of us may make sacrifices at times, but that doesn't mean we deserve everyone's affection or undue favoritism. We have the same issues as any one else. I'd much rather people pressure their congressmen and women to provide the benefits our service members were guaranteed. For those that feel compelled to give, I'd urge them to do so locally by contacting their local VFW post.
Now, I don't want to seem ungrateful. There have been instances where I felt I experienced actual appreciation. Once I was out enjoying sushi with some family and friends and a stranger paid the bill. They left without us ever having known who they were. I'm grateful for what they did.
My wife volunteered at a live-in home for emotionally disturbed boys in Pasadena (i.e., suburban context). They treated the kids decently, but there is only so much low paid help can do to remedy not having parents who care, or, having evil or disturbed parents.
Most of them were decent kids, but not educated and with impulse control problems. After years in the system, they were so far off the path that they were just being babysat until they turned 18, at which point they were set loose. When you've lived in an institution like that for so long, where do you go?
Right, the military. That was one of the main destinations for these kids. My wife began to see the whole juvenile system as a pipeline for future grunts. There was a reason why the place was underfunded, and no serious plan was in place to place these kids in society at 18. Society seemed ok with having an assured supply of young men for the war machine.
"As a society, we literally force some of the most life-changing decisions on the people who are almost universally unprepared to evaluate their full set of options correctly."
Well said, but maybe part of the solution here is to stop treating teenagers the same way we treat infants and acknowledge they have an active and capable mind which we too often fail to encourage.
I think you could make your point much more clearly by starting with "support our troops". And then start with some uncontroversial points about the disgraceful way the veterans are supported, then make some jabs about the military-industrial complex, dying for oil, et cetera as you feel them out and find out what their sore spots are as you move the conversation towards more controversial topics. I bet you could have a lot of people agreeing with you that the system should be dismantled using this approach. The point is that you actually do support the troops, the troops as individuals, but not as a system.
As for what you're advocating for, how about raising the minimum enlistment age to 21? I think that would have a huge impact, and I bet you would be able to get support from both sides for that one, with arguments like "today's military requires not cannon fodder but highly skilled individuals capable of making sound moral judgements quickly".
We need to start saying "Dude, not everyone has the all-encompassing power to know everything that you know and it's wrong to judge people, their opinions or their life experiences."
>> I didn't know how to reconcile his witless alcoholism with his tremendous sacrifice.
You must not know many soldiers. Or just people in general.
I know there are a lot of different people out there and a lot of different experiences, so I really don't need anyone replying with "my buddy did it for such-and-such and has never touched a drop of alcohol in his life". Not interested. But judging from literally every ex-soldier I've met, "witless alcoholism" is what defines and unifies military service. To some extent, that even includes my own parents, who I suspect didn't drink very much when I was a kid specifically because of their experiences in the military. And really, in a lot of respects that's just being young, sowing wild oats and whatnot. What is the difference between kids in the military and kids in college (and do not forget for a second that soldiering is mostly done by adults-in-name-only)? I suspect not much, other than a generally higher degree of physical fitness in the military.
Also judging from these ex-soldiers, joining the military is as much about "serving one's country" and "making a sacrifice" as going to college is about "learning", i.e. that's not really actually why most people do it and it only happens out of circumstance. I can't tell if any of the soldiers I've met had given any serious thought to the concept of injury or death before they volunteered. Because really, how much serious thought on such concepts is an 18-year-old even capable of? As a society, we literally force some of the most life-changing decisions on the people who are almost universally unprepared to evaluate their full set of options correctly. Most people seem to do it (both college and the military) because they're expected to, because they aren't aware of other options, and/or because they think it will be a good time. Or, at least in peacetime, I'd say that was the case.
Today, I don't know. Being 18 year olds, it's probably the same motivations. But we've been in active shooty-stabby-bomby action for thirteen years straight (I also really don't need any pedantic replies about official declarations of war). Living in DC, it's kind of hard to not notice the 11th of September pass by, thus my wife and I tend to avoid being in town on that day. And it's kind of hard to remember what day it is just about anywhere else. It's been a long time. Vietnam was slightly longer and I doubt anyone thinks we'll be done soon. Is this what Pearl Harbor felt like in 1953? Hell, we'd already been into and out of Korea by that time.
My point here is, if you're in the military now, you're volunteering for war. If you're an injured soldier, I'm sorry you got hurt. You didn't deserve it, because nobody deserves war and mayhem. But you volunteered for it. We need to stop saying "support the troops". We need to start saying "prevent kids from joining unjust war".