RE: Why Do We Value Soldiers Over Scholars?
"In reality the government couldn’t give a shit about a single soldier or what they think. When you join the army you conform to the beliefs of your country and you do whatever you are told without hesitation"
That's exactly why they are valued, they do as they are told to do without hesitation and might die doing it, so that other people don't have to do it (or don't have to be selected to do it... as it has been the case before) and can continue to have a normal life as an ungrateful anarchist. Basically they do the dirty jobs no one wants to do and have chosen to be expandable, so yes I think it deserves a little respect...
That's totally different from scholars, who are also rewarded for their work by the way, are better paid and have little chance to get killed while doing it.
No offense, but it seems from time to time that anarchists live in a wonderful world full of licorns shitting rainbows...
"That's exactly why they are valued, they do as they are told to do without hesitation and might die doing it, so that other people don't have to do it (or don't have to be selected to do it... as it has been the case before) and can continue to have a normal life as an ungrateful anarchist." Name a single conflict that was necessary in the last 50 years? How come there are countries with small armies that per capita have the same quality of living as the US? Our military spending is ridiculous because we are a country that flexes its arms when it wants something. We need diplomats not soldiers, and all these dumb recruits do is make us look like barbarians. We have killed 160k-180k of innocent civilians in Iraq since our invasion. To give that perspective that is more than triple the amount of US soldiers killed in Vietnam which is portrayed as one of the most deadly wars for American soldiers. I feel pity for those who were tricked into believing that they would actually help someone as a soldier, but I feel no respect towards them.
"...We have killed 160k-180k of innocent civilians in Iraq since our invasion." ~ @calaber24p
" .. improvements in combat medicine are a major reason there are so few deaths in these current wars." ~ @blakemiles84
spot the cognitive dissonance. Wars are death.
It is unbelievably troubling to read anybody write "there are so few deaths in these current wars"
military apologist, please stop.
I was responding directly to this, which is not cognitive dissonance, or me being an apologist.
There ARE relatively few deaths within the Allied militaries in comparison to Vietnam as @calaber24p mentioned and it is directly correlated with things like tourniquets and trauma medicine. I know this because I've trained in it.
Stop implying that I'm trying to justify war for the sake of ______, or whatever it is you think I'm trying to justify.
No more blanket assumptions Blake. You are correct Im jumping the gun (its a super soaker though)
But so you know, when you attribute the actions of the military to the current or past or even future presidential admins, realize those top generals, admirals, and bureaucrats are giving the orders, not taking them. Think tanks like whatever the PNAC freaks now call themselves meet at the Pentagram to discuss policy.
If we could vote out top generals, I'd be less critical of those at D.C.'s Pentagram office building. But we can't, they're there til they retire, and that's too long. There needs to be a turnover of fresh blood and ideas, because apparently they stick around so long they believe their own BS.
Here's one that tried like hell to go to war with Russia not long ago, a true "dog" of war. THESE PEOPLE NEED TO BE STOPPED.
https://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2016/07/01/meet-the-general-who-tried-to-pressure-obama-into-world-war-3-with-russia/
Lets keep in mind the pres powers are 1) the veto pen, and 2) commander in chief of the armed forces. If part two was true, they wouldn't have faced down Bill Clinton (no matter what personal judgement call you and I may paint slick Willie as, neither of us like him), when he COMMANDED them to end banning homos in the military.
Instead they said, "we'll cut you a deal..." at that moment, Bubba shoulda said "ok then, all top generals and admirals can now go home... appoint your successor and scram!"
What do you think, seriously, would've happened if he'd done THE RIGHT THING?
(oops, there's another lone gunman...)
We cannot afford to convince ourselves we live in the same land of freedom and opportunity this may have once been.
This former nation now sits atop a GLOBAL EMPIRE and it ain't gonna go too good for very much longer unless the debts are cleared.
That would mean A NEW DOLLAR. A debt free one.
BTW, the Pope wants a global jubilee, rabbis are calling for their uber shemitah jubilee.... the only guys who are resisting are in NYC/DC/LONDON/BERLIN.
NATO is the reason we'll burst into flames rather than start fresh with the proverbial clean slate.
Yeah, that would be because ... DC'c Pentagram office building and the FREAKS that work there.
Not even as a fellow human being?
Also .. improvements in combat medicine are a major reason there are so few deaths in these current wars.
hmm, are you considering the 90% civilians drone bombed?
Nope, that isn't war. We'll agree there, those are war crimes.
Being committed by... military people... obeying orders... and each one of those BOYS in Nevada flying those aircraft over Pakistan should be brought up ON WAR CRIMES as "I was just obeying orders" is not an excuse.
Here's an idea -- stop putting words in my mouth and perhaps we can have a discussion rather than a one sided game of painting me as some sort of war monger as if you a) know me, and b) know precisely how I think.
Do you know my thoughts on using the tactics you mention ? No.
Nothing you've said is a new argument or comment. I've heard all of this before, but you act as if you're schooling me in something new while assuming I disagree with you and want more civilians to die.
@djm from time to time? You mean all the time? Its like they are flying in a plane saying how they hate airtravel.
actually, they are flying in a plane and try to convince everyone in the plane they don't need the plane to fly
I don't know if scholars are better paid, some are but those are the minority. Soldiers are paid pretty well, but they have to be as they are putting their lives on the line on a daily basis.
Scholar's pay really depends on many factors, what they are experts in, what they are studying, how famous they are in their field, ect. Many scholars are only making money from government grants if they are working on something that is important but companies don't want to support it.
This is exactly right @djm34 ! This is the main point everyone misses. Scholars aren't willing to die for another stranger.
I wrote an article about this. Look upon my blog posts, and you'll see one titled "What do you do if you're trying to collect saliva from rabid dogs, and one bites you?"
Click it.