reporting to basic training tomorrow. can't sleep tonight

[Phyaran]

i'm not saying it's all bad. there are tons of good things the u.s. military does, like humanitarian help after natural disasters and much more. but i still wouldn't join into a military that is very obviously used for illegal invasions, opression of whole nations and is connected to violation of international conventions and human rights. no matter what critaria one has, i can't see how a person that is not umhuman, soulless or stupid can willingly help working towards that.
no insult intended to anyone btw, it's just something i don't understand.

Well I guess the thing is I don't think most people who join up are thinking "great, I get to contribute to oppression and suffering". I'm certain there have been people who have joined up in the last few years purely because they've seen what's been going on, disagree with it and want to try and improve it.

 

[Kathinka]

i'm not saying it's all bad. there are tons of good things the u.s. military does, like humanitarian help after natural disasters and much more. but i still wouldn't join into a military that is very obviously used for illegal invasions, opression of whole nations and is connected to violation of international conventions and human rights. no matter what critaria one has, i can't see how a person that is not umhuman, soulless or stupid can willingly help working towards that.
no insult intended to anyone btw, it's just something i don't understand.

Well I guess the thing is I don't think most people who join up are thinking "great, I get to contribute to oppression and suffering". I'm certain there have been people who have joined up in the last few years purely because they've seen what's been going on, disagree with it and want to try and improve it.

no i don't think anyone joins up thinking "yay, let's bring some injustice to the world!"^^
but most are certainly either ignorant or oblivious to the fact.

about improving it from the inside: hmm i haven't looked at it from that angle, that's a very valid point. good point indeed.

 

[ElPatron]

never volunteer for anything. ever

I volunteered for the Air Force because of the good pay and free college.


At least people in my country are honest and don't pretend I am doing something for them by handing some papers into an office. I was solely interested in myself, my future and aviation. Budget cuts meant that they wouldn't waste money on me.

Mechanical engineering is nearly the same thing as it would be, sans the basic training. It's the only thing I miss.

 

[wooty]

I wouldnt lose sleep over basic training, half of it in my experience was drinking heavily, the other half was being bored shitless.

 

[Khada]

i'm not saying it's all bad. there are tons of good things the u.s. military does, like humanitarian help after natural disasters and much more. but i still wouldn't join into a military that is very obviously used for illegal invasions, opression of whole nations and is connected to violation of international conventions and human rights. no matter what critaria one has, i can't see how a person that is not umhuman, soulless or stupid can willingly help working towards that.
no insult intended to anyone btw, it's just something i don't understand.

Well I guess the thing is I don't think most people who join up are thinking "great, I get to contribute to oppression and suffering". I'm certain there have been people who have joined up in the last few years purely because they've seen what's been going on, disagree with it and want to try and improve it.

no i don't think anyone joins up thinking "yay, let's bring some injustice to the world!"^^
but most are certainly either ignorant or oblivious to the fact.

about improving it from the inside: hmm i haven't looked at it from that angle, that's a very valid point. good point indeed.

I would certainly support anyone with intentions as good as those but I don't think that it makes sense at all. A far more effective way would be for everyone to speak against it and boycott it. Any country would be very hard pressed to invade another land without a military force. Also how would one make a positive change from the inside? Either way you have to follow your orders and they don't go through any kind of moral filter.

As for why I'm in this thread when I don't agree with it: it's because if all anyone ever hears is that people support their joining the military, they will never question whether or not it's a good thing to do and it most certainly is not. Want to make a difference? There are many, many better ways to do that don't involve being a part of a system/structure guilty of so many heinous (and unlawful) acts.

I not entirely close minded to the topic and I understand that most have good (though often ignorant) intentions when joining the military, but I would love to hear some reasons as to why joining is a good thing. I can't come up with any reasons myself but perhaps I'm overlooking something.

 

[THAC0]

Thank you guys.

I'm out.

 

[Xangba]

Well I can't speak for Navy exactly, but from my Parris Island experience my advice is rather simple. Make sure you get your sleep before you leave, and once there shut your mouth, keep your eyes forward, and don't do anything unless told to. Always scream as hard as you can, put out the most you can, and prepare yourself to be thrashed for nothing, because if you don't do anything wrong, they will find something wrong. Just always remember that it's their job to be an ass, I swear they are (mostly) normal people. You're getting paid, and you're doing this for a good cause, so remember all of that and you'll be fine.

 

[Helmholtz Watson]

hey how do you make it that the videos appear? I just keep having a link appear, but I can't figure out how you put the video up. Sorry about it being off topic.

Copy the part of the youtube link that comes after the =.

So for http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7TTk_0XYn4 you would copy the j7TTk_0XYn4 part.

In the Escapist reply section, type youtube=add the bit you copied here .... but put it in [ ]. So it should look like [*youtube=j7TTk_0XYn4*] (obviously minus the 2 *).

And you end up with...

cool, thanks for showing me how to do this

 

[Anthony Wells]

never volunteer for anything. ever

I volunteered for the Air Force because of the good pay and free college.


At least people in my country are honest and don't pretend I am doing something for them by handing some papers into an office. I was solely interested in myself, my future and aviation. Budget cuts meant that they wouldn't waste money on me.

Mechanical engineering is nearly the same thing as it would be, sans the basic training. It's the only thing I miss.

actually it was meant to not volunteer in the us military during boot camp. as in if they ask for volunteers to do something do volunteer

 

[Kathinka]

Have you really looked into military activity, the people at the top of the chain who you will ultimately be serving and the benefits/downsides of a military as massive as the US's?

The military is not something you should willfully join. Violence begets violence and it's not like you're country is being invaded. In fact, it's the other way around. I Suggest you start Googling recent military activity (you might also want to take a look at Wiki leaks, a lot of enlightening information on the military).

Fail the training friend or lose part of your soul in the end.

People joining the forces are not the sheep you believe them to be, we research what they get up to the good and the bad and we make a concious choice whether that life is for us.

what i don't understand though: how can someone research and see all the bad the u.s. military forces are doing/used for by their leadership, and still decide to voluntarely join up. i wouldn't exactly have gone out and signed for the wehrmacht either just because i like the life. not saying the us-forces are the same league as the wehrmacht, but they play the same game.

You know the wehrmacht weren't all a bunch of cruel evil asses right? There were some good professional soldiers in there who were just doing their job and committed no improper acts. German vets march right next to Canadian vets at our Rememberance day events.

And just because you don't agree with every decision of a particular government (and I don't) doesn't mean that being a soldier isn't still an honorable and necessary thing to protect your country.

i do know that. as a matter of fact, one of my two grandfathers served in the wehrmacht (they volunteered him pretty late in the war when they ran short on people. pretty hilarious, since he was a czech jew. but he kept that shit to himself xD )

stil the organisation itself, despite of what their members are like, is in it's core evil, and used for evil things. like conducting illegal wars of agression, vilolating human rights, murder and torture. wehrmacht and u.s. army alike.
of course the soldiers themselves were and are just used as tools in most cases. but there is no honor in helping commit crimes against humanity, or joining an organisation that does. no matter how noble your intentions or how professional you are, nor what your particular oppinion about political decisions is. so no, not honorable.

 

[Psychedelic Spartan]

Well, I don't really know what to say, except thank you for the service you will provide to our country.