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Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

chrisseaton.com

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Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#171

Post by notch656a »

basisword wrote: post #137
freedomben wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your privilege is showing. Most people can't afford to take a month off, let alone a year. Paying for world travel is out of the question.

In the UK lots of people max out their overdraft and spend some time travelling after uni. They then pay this back when they get good grad jobs - e.g. like the OP. Regardless - if you cannot afford to do some travelling after uni, spending time in a war zone is hardly a sound alternative.

>Regardless - if you cannot afford to do some travelling after uni, spending time in a war zone is hardly a sound alternative.

Depends on the person.

"There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough, and liked it, never really care for anything else."

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#172

Post by soared »

photochemsyn wrote: post #131

The most important thing to realize about military service is that you sign away all your citizenship rights (free speech, etc.) when you sign up for the service. Hopefully you won't be used in ridiculous debacles like the 2003 Iraq Invasion, based on lies about WMDs pushed by Washington (and see British role as well), but you'll have no say in the matter. The other thing to realize is that, at least in the USA, they…

Thank you for the post. I had friends in college who were previously marines, but their entire school was paid for along with something to the effect of “Anything you need to achieve the career you want, within reason”. New laptops, writing easels, etc.

Are there varying levels of educational assistance?

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#173

Post by simulate-me »

barbazoo wrote: post #152
simulate-me wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plenty of developed countries have compulsory military service (South Korea, Israel, Switzerland). If anything, we're lucky that it's a choice.

A quick search determined that at least in Switzerland and South Korea, there is an avenue for conscientious objection, so I wouldn't say that "military service" is mandatory there. Even in Israel there seem to be plenty of options to get around military service. I recommend the Wikipedia articles about "Conscription in ".

In both South Korea and Switzerland you’d still be required to do civilian service in lieu of military service.

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#175

Post by ge96 »

photochemsyn wrote: post #131

The most important thing to realize about military service is that you sign away all your citizenship rights (free speech, etc.) when you sign up for the service. Hopefully you won't be used in ridiculous debacles like the 2003 Iraq Invasion, based on lies about WMDs pushed by Washington (and see British role as well), but you'll have no say in the matter. The other thing to realize is that, at least in the USA, they…

> If you're a teenage with zero alternative options and are completely desperate for a way out of an urban slum nightmare or a poverty-stricken rural life, the military is there as an option.

yeah... I was in DEP for Marines felt like an ahole when I didn't follow through/returned to school. I was desperate to escape my life situation but I had to wait a while before going to bootcamp. I made a dumb choice with what I was going to do, despite getting 90's in ASVAB. I was going to drive trucks. I felt bad for the people that wanted to get into the military but could not pass the ASVAB or they had a medical condition. My education was funded with student loans/aid but I was able to leave my home.

Edit: in retrospect if I didn't go into school (debt) I could have just lived off labor jobs... It was the piling up debt from school that was freaking me out because I was also failing out of it (low 2.0's GPA). Idk if I would have ended up in tech/make the 3-4x labor wage (medium-level dev).

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#176

Post by micromacrofoot »

lkbm wrote: post #136
micromacrofoot wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can you call something a positive and then immediately call it a tragedy? that's not a positive at all!

Do you think homeless shelters and food stamps are a positive? It's clearly a tragedy that we need them, but I'd say they are very clearly a positive.

I don't think gambling with your life is a requirement to get on food stamps though?

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#178

Post by Aunche »

simonh wrote: post #56
Imnimo wrote: post #40

>I think a country absolutely must be able to fight to defend its people and friends. Does this really feel like an accurate description of what the British military has done over the past, say, 20 years?

Yes it does. Was Afghanistan better off before the pull out, or now under the Taliban? Iraq is a mess, sure, but at least nobody is gassing whole cities and we can be immensely proud of the liberation of Kuwait although that was more than 20 years ago. Right now we are providing vital military assistance to Ukraine, and I wish we were doing a lot, lot more. The failures were political ones. Militarily the army did th…

>Iraq is a mess, sure, but at least nobody is gassing whole cities

We didn't invade Iraq because of Saddam's genocide. That occurred while Iraq was allied with the US against Iran. The sudden concern for the Kurds was simply to manufacture consent for the war.

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#179

Post by giraffe_lady »

daedalus_f wrote: post #162
giraffe_lady wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think they were literally looking for an answer for this specific question, but pointing out how unsettling, at the very least, the lack of concrete answers is. Anyway if they won't say it I will: signing up to fight without knowing who or why you'll be fighting is morally compromised at the extreme very best . Modern economic powers like the UK do not use their militaries for self-defense. Someone able to wr…

> Modern economic powers like the UK do not use their militaries for self-defense. Modern economic powers have militaries and alliances that make attacking them unattractive. They have sufficient teeth to dissuade conflict. If you are fortunate enough to live in a Western democracy your safety and security is preserved by the actions of those who you call morally compromised.

Doesn't really matter for this purpose, I'm not arguing that the military is inherently wrong, or that military service is.

I'm asserting that by far the most likely use of a wealthy nation's military is going to be a bad one. Encouraging people to join the military in that context is bad.

People have an incredibly wide range of reasons for joining or supporting militaries, and I would absolutely not universally condemn all of them. Just this one.

---

That aside, just because I benefit from something doesn't make it ok. What kind of first grader ethics is that?

Re: Why I'm in the Army Reserve – an explainer for my friends in tech

#180

Post by adolph »

qiskit wrote: post #110
advisedwang wrote: post #7

The author glosses over my biggest question "Who might you have to fight?" with a informative "Queen’s enemies." Might his squadron be called in to quash civil disturbance? Sent to the next Iraq? Is it reserved for defending the UK from invasion?

> "Queen’s enemies." I can't believe people still fight for royalty. Ants fight their queen's enemies. Free human being should fight for themselves, their families, etc.

Isn't using the literal meaning of that oath similar to claiming that an American oath [0] is to a sheet of paper? It's indicative of either ignorance [1] or lacking good faith.

0. https://history.army.mil/html/faq/oaths.html

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_the_United_Kingdom

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