Is It Evil To Join The Military?
I know, what a blasphemous question.
After all, the troops are what defend our freedom, right?
Surely I'd be entirely unfree, not able to voice my heretical opinions, if not for our friends and family members in costume traveling to the other side of the planet and blowing brown people to scalding bloody bits.
What a piece of shit I must be for even asking it. Nobody should ever question our lord and savior Uncle Sam, or anybody that carries out his holy will.
So, what is a military, exactly?
If you said it's our society's way of protecting itself, then congratulations, your 15,000+ hours of childhood indoctrination were successful, and your training is complete.
In truth, the military does not work for the people, even though the individual troops are taught to believe they do. A military is nothing more than the armed fist of whatever political regime it works for.
Don't believe me? Look at the military's chain of command structure. You'll notice that at the very top of it is not you, it is not I, it is whoever had business sponsors wealthy enough to become the President of the United States; the Commander in Chief of the military.
The job of the Korean military is to point their guns at whomever the Korean politicians tell them to, and the job of the U.S. Military is to point their guns at whomever the U.S. politicians tell them to.
The politicians base their military decisions on the lucrative interests of their partners in the war manufacturing industry - the guys that build the tanks, drones, jets, etc - which receive trillions of dollars that were stolen from you. And yes, if you think about it objectively, taxation is clearly theft. Your instinct to defend taxation is a symptom of Stockholm Syndrome. No, taxes are not necessary to have infrastructural services and defense, and modern wars aren't initiated for defense in the first place.
You think I'm an insane conspiracy theorist, right?
If you believe that a group of people with the power to selectively allocate trillions of continuously stolen dollars, is not receiving a hefty cut of those dollars in exchange for some of the most lucrative contracts on the planet, and that these politicians, of all people, actually have more integrity than normal people would in the same scenario, and that these bureaucrats are actually acting selflessly under the delusion that slaughtering middle eastern people indiscriminately is actually in the interest of the American people, then you're the insane conspiracy theorist.
The parasite class - the politicians - know mass-murder evil. They know it's not at all defensive, and they know they're bathing in blood money. They do not give a fuck. It's mostly sociopaths that are successful in federal politics; it's not a business rewarding to people that are inhibited by things like morals and conscience.
I could rant about the military industrial complex for hours, but let's just get back to the original question; is it evil to join the military?
Well, what happens when you join the military?
You swear an oath. An oath to defend and uphold a piece of parchment (The Constitution) which advocates that one group of people should rob everybody else in order to fund its own monopolistic, socialistic, and virtually unilateral versions of law, defense, justice, and arbitration. A piece of parchment based on the myth that it is okay and necessary for certain people to initiate violence against others, as long as those people were chosen by whatever the political majority of the constituency happens to be. I know, fuck individual rights, right? Fuck being a human being with free will. Let's all just bend over and obey whatever certain individuals tell us, and give them our money, as long as those individuals' supporters outnumber us. What could possibly go wrong?
So, you swear an oath. So what, maybe oaths are meaningless. If that's the case, then ALL the military recruits are doing is signing up to help the fight for the political ruling class, and not even a magical piece of parchment.
- But a lot of the troops are really good people, you asshole!
Yep. That's the sad reality of it. As easy as can be to demonize a huge group of people that specializes in murder, the fact is, they're exactly that....people. I have friends in the military and I've had family in the military. Hell, I tried to join the military myself when I was seventeen. Many of the troops are really good guys. That is the tragedy of the military is that it attracts good people that believe they will be helping their countrymen and combating evil, and tricks them into fighting for the most powerful criminal organization in human history - the U.S. Government. Similar can be said for any military.
Do you think the military of Nazi Germany was made up of evil monsters with horns willing to die in the name of murder and destruction?
Unlikely.
It's uncomfortable to think about, but the Nazi troops were generally just regular guys that believed they were "serving their country", much like our friends and family members in modern American armed forces. Hitler was elected, the Nazis fought in the name of democracy, just as our boys do. I constantly use the Nazis as a rhetorical tool because almost everybody recognizes the 3rd Reich as one of the most evil events in documented history. The American Government isn't exactly Hitler's Reich, but it is the same type of organization - a government; a democratic republic under a constitution, at that - simply with different policies. It's hard to view our own troops in any objective way, because they are our families, friends, and perhaps even yourself, but the fact is that they are manipulable human beings, and so were most of the Nazis. The Nazi soldiers and the American troops bear the same job, just with a different boss. Mob mentality takes no greater of a form than as it manifests in a military, and this groupthink has lead otherwise regular, even good people to commit some of the most horrible atrocities throughout history.
'
Here's another uncomfortable fact: most of the people in the Middle East shooting back at our siblings, children, parents, cousins, uncles, aunts, and friends in the military, are not Islamic extremists, and are not terrorists. Most of them are regular people, just like our troops, defending their homes from foreign invaders.
Sure, there are plenty of actual Islamic extremists too. What do you think pushes people to such radical ideologies? If it's merely the content of their holy books, then Christians would be burning anybody to death who has sex outside of marriage, or stoning anybody that speaks against Jesus. There must be something more. Might have something to do with the fact that our troops have been slaughtering their people by the hundreds of thousands (some studies estimate millions). War radicalizes people.
I don't know about you, but if Chinese soldiers kicked in my door and started waiving guns around, or invaded my city and started bossing around my neighbors, I'd shoot them. Yeah, I know, cops already do that. The only reason I don't shoot police officers when I see them kidnapping and threatening my neighbors, is that most Americans would fight the Chinese alongside me and it would be strategically sound, whereas defending people from local cops would just make most Americans see anarchists as demons, because most people see evil as justified & legitimate when it is their own elected political masters ordering it, and anybody that fights back as a terrorist. Guerrilla insurrection would enable the state to further restrict liberty and ultimately harm the cause of freedom. I digress.
The people that join the politicians' military are certainly not inherently evil people, they are normal people deceived into signing up to do evil things. Whether they're painting the streets of Iraq with the blood of children, burning Vietnamese people alive with Napalm, or filling Native American families with musket balls, the people that carry out the will of the politicians are complicit victims of a mob mentality culture
designed to serve the interests of evil.
Is it evil to join the military? probably not. (yes if you pull the trigger)
Is it evil to vote for the same criminal politicians year after year? Absolutly YES!
btw I don't want to think what would happen if there were no "good guys" in the army(in any army)
I'm waiting to hear what the answer to that one is as well.
A response and a challenge
I look forward to more than crickets in response ... :P
Thanks for providing a link to a place for my vote to go.
Here you go
https://steemit.com/life/@jakemccauley/video-rebuttal-to-response-on-is-it-evil-to-join-the-military
I'm inclined to agree with you intuitively; however, the more I learn about people who were in the military, the more I respect them. I highly recommend listening to the Jocko Podcast and Martyrmade Podcast.
I think the average person is incredibly gullible and naive compared to people who have been in leadership positions in the military.
Also read this: https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@blakemiles84/i-m-a-former-green-beret-and-here-s-how-i-would-bring-down-bitcoin
There are some kinds of wisdom that you simply cannot learn as a civilian.
--from Blood Meridian
Some critiques simply aren't valid unless you have experienced the warrior lifestyle. I've never been in the military, but I tend to respect military people far more than keyboard warriors who don't understand the full scope of the situation.
I'd like to say that an army isn't necessary in an utopia, but in the current moment, it is absolutely necessary. Note that this does not mean that I support wars at all. Smart commanders are very good at maneuvering to avoid conflicts while accomplishing their objectives. This is why they are often sought after in the business world.
Thank you for adding some balance to this conversation. I'm dating a man who used to be full time in the military now is part-time and he works in law enforcement. He is the most admirable, kind man I have ever met (never mind really fucking hot and 14 years younger ;) But, I have never trusted a man and I trust him. He's studying to be a child psychologist.
Check out the response by @blakemiles84
https://steemit.com/life/@blakemiles84/response-is-it-evil-to-join-the-military
His other posts are also very insightful.
What happens when someone disobeys the man you're dating when he is on duty?
Well said @limitless. I would add that the SealFit podcast is a good one too.
http://sealfit.com/sealfit-podcast/
It is a sad truth. I regret my seven years in the Navy. It was awesome traveling the world on the taxpayers dime and feeling special whenever I strolled around town but I now know how false my perception of myself was.
Years and years of TV, Movies, School and family Patriotism gave me a false sense of American elitism. Thank goodness I moved abroad and woke up.
This gif sums up how stupid I used to look.
![](https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://media.giphy.com/media/AT6nNPRQSVS1i/giphy.gif)
You ignorant fool. You think its evil to join the military? - Some people love and respect their country and are willing to put their lives down on the line so nerds like you can type this shit out all day and speak your mind. I would join the military in a heartbeat if the country really really needed my help. I do not like the direction our government is going right now and dont want any part in what is going on overseas, however, if America needed to be defended I would defend it. The Muslim Religion preaches hate, its a disgusting religion. Yes Christianity does preach some "hate" you could argue but not on the level of ISLAM. I am a SIKH, my family is from INDIA. You need to look up 1947 Punjab. Musims VS. Sikh people. They massacred so many of my people. Punjab was broken up into Pakistan and half stayed in Punjab. Muslims bring nothing but war and negative energy with them. It IS engraved into their religion.
Hear, hear!!!
I am a European living in Europe. I have watched so many attacks in the last couple of years by extremist Muslims and I am at the point where I am enraged. I am watching these refugees flood in from God knows where, and then have NO respect. Rape has gone up by over 1000% in some countries, crime in general is skyrocketing. It pains me to think these people were welcomed in with open arms once... now they just come in and impose their presence like an unwelcome visitor knocking on your door in the middle of the night. I feel powerless in my position... just a meer spectator as they kill us with bombs, axe us on trains, plow into us with trucks, shoot us on the streets and then have the cheek to brag about it on youtube like it is a great thing. This is one of the reasons I am signing up for the army when they are next taking people in...
We're in total agreement with regards to the sad reality of the military meat grinder. But I have to disagree with your statement about the content of Christian's holy book leading to burning and stoning people. That's not a true statement. The content of the Bible teaches its believers that they should be loving servants to all people, including their enemies. The Old Testament exists for background of how God worked through people to bring them back around leading up to Jesus finishing up the ultimate redemption for humanity. Was the OT pretty brutal? Yeah, it was. But God ain't no pansy. As for Islam and the Quran, that same message of love and servitude doesn't quite exist in the same measure to my knowledge. There are seemingly similar, but very different reasons for their extremism at the theological level.
If and when people use the Bible to commit atrocities, they're taking scripture out of context and bastardizing entire stories and contents to their will. What's the best way to turn people from the truth? Tell people the same truth with a few lies added in. When the lies are exposed the truth gets squashed with them. Which is basically how government propaganda works. Sounds like the same evil people to me. "In God we trust", right? Their god might be from a holy book, but it's the bad guy in the story.
You may enjoy this presentation from Mark Passio:
The alternative to a military-backed rulership by the rich elite is rule by the people (for about 3 seconds until somebody else with guns and money takes over). And normal people are stupid. That's why they do things like vote rich people with nice hair into office and join the military because guns are cool and chicks dig uniforms.
If not the rich elite in America with the military, somebody with guns and wealth is going to rule you. It's not like normal armchair internet dudes would have any power if the ruling class went away.
This makes sense until you realize that the rich elite in America that control the military get so unbelievably wealthy because they are legally able to steal from 350 million people through government. If you take those same rich people and remove their government apparatus of theft those 350 million people aren't going to be willingly handing over 50% of their paychecks anymore.
Whether it's the current rich elite taking a chunk of every paycheck or a bunch of thugs with guns breaking your windows, stealing your clothes and food, and raping your wife, somebody is going to rule you.
I'm a little sick of internet anarchists badmouthing the government just because they identify as anti-establishment. Sure, it's interesting on an academic level to discuss how messed up various systems are, but in the real world, if the system went away, it's not like all of these internet blowhards would suddenly have more power, control, and independence. Some other dudes with wealth and guns would just step in. Honestly, things would probably be a lot worse for some armchair internet anarchist if some private mercenary force was walking his neighborhood streets. "Welp, at least it's not the government" would be the last thing on his mind.
Your opinion regarding how the real world would be when legalized/ institutionalized theft is no longer considered legitimate, is entirely conjectural and lacking factual support; and frankly its sad to hear that you fear freedom so much. Whereas the history books are replete with examples of the reality of the evils of government and it's ability to stack cords of dead bodies in its wake.
I struggle to craft a reply that recognizes your candidness while offering some thoughts in counterpoint. Perhaps a quote to start, "As Ronald Reagan said in his farewell address to the nation, 'I've spoken of the Shining City all my political life. …In my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still." While this quote may be the prime example of the things you despise about all governments and the American government in particular; Where is the 'guiding light' speech for anarchism? I despise utopianism almost as much as theism, but, they make people feel secure. Sure, they are illusions that lead to delusions, and a perfect model for sociopaths to attain power, but they seem to be part of the human condition at this point in our evolution; What body of marketing can drive the illusions into the dark? How do you make a social species - only beginning to leave behind a tribal past - see a bright future as an individualist?
I see many, many, anarchists who can and do dissect the current world; Who is building the next one?
Cheers.
"Who is building the next one?"
I am. As I type this, I am taking a short break from literally building a piece of privately funded and privately constructed energy infrastructure intended not only to serve the society I'm in now, but also the next one, and located, designed and built to survive the transition. I'm not the only one.
Voluntaryists
In the perfect world the development of diplomacy between all nations will lead to the decrease in the need for an army to use against other humans, however there will still be wars.