28 October 2010

Life Lesson #5360

I should really not debate conscription with people who are or have been in the military. It will only succeed in making me
a) angry
b) believe people in the military are being trained to be stupid and not think.

Really, this should be expanded to become mandatory military service for all rather than a non-existent draft? And this would accomplish what? Multiply the defence budget by 10 for no apparent reason?

The apparent claim was not the foreign policy wonk position about the public's perceived indifference to the suffering of troops in an all professional army and the emotional impact of military service on conscripts and their take away from the horrors of war as garnering both a level of respect for military service and a level of opposition to casual militarism and foreign policy adventuring (ie, a level of isolationism). No it was something about a lack of responsibility and accountability within the general public and that somehow this failing was only going to be resolved by making everyone line up and conduct drills in uniform. Never mind that people who "lack responsibility or accountability" tend not to be terribly well rewarded in most professions (with the possible exceptions of people who make our policy decisions, particularly in foreign policy or economic regulations, or the people who provide "objective" commentary on such people and their actions). And that people who lack them therefore have very clear signals to go attain some. Never mind that some who are aware they lack for it join the military voluntarily. And never mind that most people who lack these senses find ways to attain it without joining the military in their entire lives. Nope, we need everyone to involuntarily serve in the military. Because that's the only way people truly learn about teamwork and responsibility and other important values (and certainly not through schools, churches, sports teams, jobs, college, marriages, friendships, relationships, raising children, volunteering, teaching, learning, babysitting, having pets, credit cards, mortgages, bills, etc)

It reminds me of the twisted attempts for people to get me to believe that the only way one can be moral and good and decent is to become a member of whatever version of religion they have to sell me on. Nope, there is no way for human beings to become responsible adults without rigid authoritarian discipline and training imposed against their will and at someone else's expense. Clearly.

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