Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Study: 77% of young Americans too fat, mentally ill, on drugs to join military

americanmilitarynews.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 147 posts

Re: Study: 77% of young Americans too fat, mentally ill, on drugs to join military

#101

Post by CogitoCogito »

hakfoo wrote: post #88
uxcolumbo wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean regarding Ukraine? Do you mean the US should have persuaded Ukraine to give up some of their land? I don’t fully understand what you mean with ‘negotiated settlement’. All I know is these ‘negotiating’ strategies don’t work with tyrannical regimes. Germany tried and failed. Trying to bring in China into the world economy also didn’t seem to make them give up their hunger to swallow Taiwan. The mindse…

I have to think that especially the China/Taiwan issue has quite a bit of historical baggage, because it can be read as the slow-motion failure to finish the prosecution of a very "internal" political process. Can we imagine such a scenario applied to a Western nation? Imagine if the US Civil War ended up with a "stub Confederacy"-- a few counties in Virginia still answering to Jefferson Davis. Or if one German state…

Taiwan was only "unified" (if you can call the China of that era "unified") with the mainland for about 4 years since 1895 and even that ended close to 75 years ago.

> it can be read as the slow-motion failure to finish the prosecution of a very "internal" political process.

This is just propaganda to lay support for irredentism. The Chinese civil war ended long ago and this process is certainly not "internal" by any means. That is just made up to make the PRC's current push to annex the ROC more palatable. It's easier to sell it that way than explaining to the mainland populace the truth that its simply an unnecessary war of conquest.

Re: Study: 77% of young Americans too fat, mentally ill, on drugs to join military

#102

Post by JeremyNT »

friend_and_foe wrote: post #67
htag wrote: post #8

1. "Drug use" probably includes soft drugs like cannabis. 2. Basically any diagnosis of a mental health condition, like ADHD, will block military service. This is true even if symptoms are well managed without medication. The rise of diagnosis of these conditions combined with digital records means a lot of people are prohibited to join due to mental health that would have been overlooked in previous decades. 3. This…

I think the decade long wars in the middle east are a huge part PR wise, but theres more to it. The military is a shitshow. The messaging alienated it's core recruitment base, namely white and black teenagers and young men. It alienates young American men in general, but those demographics in particular are historically the core of America's fighting force. Having to balance domestic recruitment PR to be politically…

> Having to balance domestic recruitment PR to be politically correct while also wanting to reach tough young men and entice them is an impossible task.

Can you explain what you mean by this? I feel like you're referring to something obliquely but I don't have the context.

Re: Study: 77% of young Americans too fat, mentally ill, on drugs to join military

#103

Post by rascul »

photochemsyn wrote: post #39

Joining the military means giving up most of your civilian rights laid out in the Bill of Rights, in exchange for pay and training. Historically, this has often been a pretty good deal for those without other economic options. However, if you think the country's leaders are going to send you off to get killed in poorly thought-out and reckless adventures for dubious reasons, then giving up those rights starts looking…

> Joining the military means giving up most of your civilian rights laid out in the Bill of Rights, in exchange for pay and training.

This isn't true. I didn't lose my rights when I was enlisted. There are more rules and responsibilities but the rights weren't removed.

Re: Study: 77% of young Americans too fat, mentally ill, on drugs to join military

#104

Post by rascul »

Standards to join the US Military are flexible. When I enlisted, my recruiter explained that I could get a waiver for just about anything short of murder. I did get a couple waivers. How willing they are to give waivers depends completely on their recruitment goals.

Re: Study: 77% of young Americans too fat, mentally ill, on drugs to join military

#105

Post by hotpotamus »

nebula8804 wrote: post #63
primitivesuave wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regarding #1, you can get a waiver for past cannabis use if you weren't a habitual user (by self admission) and never faced any legal action (distribution, possession, etc) in regards to cannabis. If you have ever distributed any drug (even so far as splitting the cost of drugs with a roommate) you cannot enlist. The enlistment screeners are surprisingly effective at getting people to admit things they did over a dec…

>If you admit to ever using LSD or psychedelics, even one time, you will be automatically disqualified from serving in the military or law enforcement (go figure). Is this documented anywhere? I have gone on a psilocybin retreat and have considered a career in the air force in the distant future.

A quick google search says the Air Force's max enlistment age is 39, so I don't know how distant in the future you mean, but it's probably something to be aware of.

I'd be curious about some documentation too, but I suspect it's one of those things where a person who enjoys the odd psychedelic now and again is a poor cultural fit for the military, though the Air Force is by all accounts the least militant branch of the military from what I can tell. Certainly my grandfather had a good career there and he was about the least disciplinarian or serious person (personality speaking I mean; he did a good job as an officer and electrical engineer by any account) you'd ever meet. He certainly spoke highly of the Air Force and said on a few occasions that it helped him to meet one of his major life goals; to make more money retired than working.

Re: Study: 77% of young Americans too fat, mentally ill, on drugs to join military

#106

Post by hotpotamus »

bnjms wrote: post #10
htag wrote: post #8

1. "Drug use" probably includes soft drugs like cannabis. 2. Basically any diagnosis of a mental health condition, like ADHD, will block military service. This is true even if symptoms are well managed without medication. The rise of diagnosis of these conditions combined with digital records means a lot of people are prohibited to join due to mental health that would have been overlooked in previous decades. 3. This…

Re: #2 that’s ridiculous. Diagnosis like ADHD might as well be diagnosable personality traits.

ADHD is the weirdest diagnosis out there in my opinion. I know I can certainly concentrate better when I'm taking amphetamines of one sort or other. Does that mean that I have ADHD or does it just mean that that's what amphetamines do?

Re: Study: 77% of young Americans too fat, mentally ill, on drugs to join military

#107

Post by photochemsyn »

caskstrength wrote: post #93
photochemsyn wrote: post #39

Joining the military means giving up most of your civilian rights laid out in the Bill of Rights, in exchange for pay and training. Historically, this has often been a pretty good deal for those without other economic options. However, if you think the country's leaders are going to send you off to get killed in poorly thought-out and reckless adventures for dubious reasons, then giving up those rights starts looking…

> the same neocon ideologues who are vigorously opposing a negotiated settlement in eastern Ukraine Please stop pushing absurd Russian propaganda talking points about US "preventing" Russia from signing peace agreement in Ukraine. If you are incapable of finding continuous statements of Russian officials that goals of "special military operation" remains the same (including "demilitarization" and "denazification" of…

The actual prize in the conflict is access to the European energy market, economically speaking. It's about Russian pipeline gas vs. US LNG tanker gas, and it's about where the money spent on those fossil fuels will be deposited - London & New York banks, or Moscow? This is why the Saudi war on Yemen has been ignored.

The reality is that if Putin had taken the deal offered in 2003 (Exxon buying >50% of Russian oil production) or had even signed onto petrodollar recycling, then the US media and Congress and the White House would be no more interested in a Russian land grab in eastern Ukraine (with the support of the Russian-speaking population) then in Yemen, they might even call it 'a justified intervention against neo-Nazi militias' or something like that.

The solution for Europe is of course to take neither Russian nor US gas, but instead eliminate fossil fuel dependency by massive investment in renewable energy (which is possible if more difficult than many realize). I don't think that's a "Russian propaganda talking point" though, and the US propaganda machine doesn't want this outcome either.

Re: Study: 77% of young Americans too fat, mentally ill, on drugs to join military

#108

Post by photochemsyn »

uxcolumbo wrote: post #80
photochemsyn wrote: post #39

Joining the military means giving up most of your civilian rights laid out in the Bill of Rights, in exchange for pay and training. Historically, this has often been a pretty good deal for those without other economic options. However, if you think the country's leaders are going to send you off to get killed in poorly thought-out and reckless adventures for dubious reasons, then giving up those rights starts looking…

What do you mean regarding Ukraine? Do you mean the US should have persuaded Ukraine to give up some of their land? I don’t fully understand what you mean with ‘negotiated settlement’. All I know is these ‘negotiating’ strategies don’t work with tyrannical regimes. Germany tried and failed. Trying to bring in China into the world economy also didn’t seem to make them give up their hunger to swallow Taiwan. The mindse…

If the Russian-speaking population of Crimea and eastern Ukraine doesn't want to be ruled by Kyiv, how is that any different from Texas not wanting to be a part of Mexico?

> "The Mexican-American War was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1845 American annexation of Texas, which Mexico still considered its territory..." (wiki)

Of course it's equally clear Ukrainian-speaking western Ukraine wants nothing to do with Moscow, so this points to where a negotiated settlement could draw a new geopolitical boundary.

Meanwhile, the USA has military forces in Syria supporting the Kurdish population, which doesn't seem to want to be ruled by Assad. How is that really any different (the geopolitical economics in that case appears mostly about not allowing Syria and Iran to cooperate economically and militarily, incidentally).

Let's try to have an adult-level understanding of these conflicts, not the propaganda-for-gullible-children version of events and motivations.

Re: Study: 77% of young Americans too fat, mentally ill, on drugs to join military

#109

Post by macintux »

photochemsyn wrote: post #107
caskstrength wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the same neocon ideologues who are vigorously opposing a negotiated settlement in eastern Ukraine Please stop pushing absurd Russian propaganda talking points about US "preventing" Russia from signing peace agreement in Ukraine. If you are incapable of finding continuous statements of Russian officials that goals of "special military operation" remains the same (including "demilitarization" and "denazification" of…

The actual prize in the conflict is access to the European energy market, economically speaking. It's about Russian pipeline gas vs. US LNG tanker gas, and it's about where the money spent on those fossil fuels will be deposited - London & New York banks, or Moscow? This is why the Saudi war on Yemen has been ignored. The reality is that if Putin had taken the deal offered in 2003 (Exxon buying >50% of Russian oil pr…

If the Mexican army raped and bombed their way across Texas towards California, should we just shrug and point out those lands were taken under historically dubious circumstances and we should let them have the U.S. Southwest?

Re: Study: 77% of young Americans too fat, mentally ill, on drugs to join military

#110

Post by carlmr »

rcarr wrote: post #98
xk_id wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is nothing particularly “soft” about cannabis. As mounting modern evidence shows, it suppresses REM sleep (and by extension the consolidation of procedural learning undertaken during the day) and it lowers executive function, concentration and motivation. These effects also persist for some time after use is stopped, even if they are eventually reversed.

Minus the concentration and motivation parts, so does does coffee, tea and other caffeine based products but you don’t see anyone clamouring to ban those.

Throughout history there were many coffee bans, so it's not like nobody thought about it.
Post reply on HN