281–290 of 608 posts
Thanks, this is really great. I'm in the US Navy reserves and it's fun comparing the similarities of our experiences.
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I will never view military service as a bad thing in totality. Locally evaluated, it's a good option. Putting aside the more heady concepts of public service and sacrifice, it is one of the last remaining conduits to change your stars and "make a man/woman/adult out of you," *although it is certainly not without faults and has certainly caused horrible experiences for people who served*. It is an imperfect organizati…
As the son of a son of a father who wouldn't have gone to college without WWII-era tuition assistance, can confirm it changes entire family trajectories. My grandfather had the work ethic and intelligence in him, subsequently proven, but was born dirt poor with a snowball's chance in hell he could have afforded college without the GI Bill. The military is an option which largely accepts you if you say "Yes" and can p…
Nearly 300,000 families also had their trajectories changed because their loved ones died.
The military as a class on-ramp disproportionately harms the poor, and ethically that's wrong. It's almost literally a lottery where you're gambling your life in exchange for basic needs.
This is one of the qualities the military me with, and it has been so important to me that I constantly challenge my kids to do the same.
These are all valid points everything you said resonates with me. I was in the US Navy myself and have been out for 11 years during which time I've finished a Bachelors (thanks GI Bill), will be finishing a Masters here shortly (also in CS), and have been in tech the entire time. While the pay is great and intellectually fulfilling, a part of me certainly misses having contact with a broader cross-section of society…
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Then don't say it period. Also, isn't the british queen still the head of state of australia? Every time I bring this up, it's always australians, canadians, british, etc making excuses.
What do you mean excuses? It's just history. It's said for the same reason, because history. I'm sorry it offends you but nobody in Australia is overly motivated to change something that has no practical impact and given you don't seem to be from a Commonwealth country I don't think you are entitled to complain about it either.
It's why some people freak out when someone "disrespects" their flag, why judges wear special clothes and why courthouses/government buildings are so frequently built to look impressive.
Such symbols perpetuate attitudes of deference and subservience to what the symbols represent... not for everyone, but they are effective on a lot of people, which is why they're still being used.
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> A lot of people talk about Mỹ Lai, and they say, 'Well, you know, yeah, but you can't follow an illegal order.' Trust me. There is no such thing. Not in the military. If I go into a combat situation and I tell them, 'No, I'm not going. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to follow that order', well, they'd put me up against the wall and shoot me. ~ Lawrence La Croix, a squad leader in Charlie Company in Mỹ Lai
Soldiers claim they arw willing to die as part of job. If one brags he is ok to go on super dangerous missions, he should be OK also to die in order to not commit attrocity
My point isn't to defend the actions of war criminals, but instead point out that relying on foot soldiers to become conscientious objectors at the spur of the moment against the structural pressures against that is well documented to not be a great strategy for reducing war crimes.
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> He therefore believes he can fight on its behalf based on what the democratic leadership determine. This is, at best, a naive portrayal of how London and Washington start wars. See the infamous Downing Street Memo [1]. In Washington, which often leads the rest of the West in military adventurism, Congress hasn't approved a military operation since 2002, despite a US-led coalition destroying sovereign Libya in 2011…
It might be naive but doesn't make the statement any less accurate or true. Some people have a strong belief, and faith, in democracy and democratic leaders. To the point that they'd join up and go fight if called upon. It's not for everyone but that's ok in a democratic society. Implying that people who do believe in the system are stupid or "lesser," is perhaps something you should consider not doing.
People with blind faith in leaders because democracy are not demonstrating critical thinking.
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https://news.gallup.com/poll/186527/americans-government-hea... > Americans' satisfaction with the way the healthcare system works for them varies by the type of insurance they have. Satisfaction is highest among those with veterans or military health insurance…
> Americans' satisfaction with the way the healthcare system works for them varies by the type of insurance they have. Satisfaction is highest among those with veterans or military health insurance… Sounds about right to me. The VA health care system has problems [1] but on the whole doesn't seem worse than the rest of the US healthcare system, maybe better. Anecdote: when my dad retired, my parents lost their insura…
I can't imagine living in a country where you loose health care when loosing a job or going into retirement.
I have to admit reading posts like yours makes me realize how lucky I feel with the German system.
And yes. I am well aware of the monthly costs that brings in terms of around 14% of my salary for health insurance. And of the limitations.
But to me this still sounds better than the risk of loosing everything due to an accident.
I am glad your parents found a way with your mom's benefits.
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As the son of a son of a father who wouldn't have gone to college without WWII-era tuition assistance, can confirm it changes entire family trajectories. My grandfather had the work ethic and intelligence in him, subsequently proven, but was born dirt poor with a snowball's chance in hell he could have afforded college without the GI Bill. The military is an option which largely accepts you if you say "Yes" and can p…
It's rare that survivorship bias gets to be used quite so literally. Nearly 300,000 families also had their trajectories changed because their loved ones died. The military as a class on-ramp disproportionately harms the poor, and ethically that's wrong. It's almost literally a lottery where you're gambling your life in exchange for basic needs.
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> Americans' satisfaction with the way the healthcare system works for them varies by the type of insurance they have. Satisfaction is highest among those with veterans or military health insurance… Sounds about right to me. The VA health care system has problems [1] but on the whole doesn't seem worse than the rest of the US healthcare system, maybe better. Anecdote: when my dad retired, my parents lost their insura…
Wow. I am always stunned reading accounts like this. I can't imagine living in a country where you loose health care when loosing a job or going into retirement. I have to admit reading posts like yours makes me realize how lucky I feel with the German system. And yes. I am well aware of the monthly costs that brings in terms of around 14% of my salary for health insurance. And of the limitations. But to me this stil…
In general when someone retires they're old enough to be eligible for Medicare (government-sponsored health care). My dad was. But my mom was just enough younger that she wasn't eligible for Medicare when he retired. There were (and still are) all kinds of weird gaps like this.