Is it a good idea to join the military.... In need of advice

[Certaindeaf]

Well, all this talk about what folks got up to in the military, I guess I'll just have to admit that while I was in






following day, and then





they were unable to


trumpet



fell down the

whistling as


Which




Nevertheless, it was

windmill, and

otter


never been.

Good eh?

tac

Married to Brown Bess..
I like that old saying.

 

[bbbass]

Be that as it may be my opinion hasn't changed in these two years; I feel that joining the military is a great idea. Further, I kind of wish that a minimum of two years of military service was mandatory for all graduates right out of high school.

I'd say two years of service, either military or something else. But get all younguns used to the idea that life is not just about themselves. A life of service to country, community, others, is a life well lived.

 

[Rocklock]

...so whatever happened with zerocool319?

Last seen 16 Oct, 2014 so it doesn't appear he's enjoying the benefit of all this wisdom.

 

[No_Regerts]

Last seen 16 Oct, 2014 so it doesn't appear he's enjoying the benefit of all this wisdom.

 

[The Heretic]

I'd say two years of service, either military or something else. But get all younguns used to the idea that life is not just about themselves. A life of service to country, community, others, is a life well lived.

I volunteered for four years in the USCG - in part because I wanted to help others. So in part, I agree.

In no small part, I vehemently disagree with the idea of mandatory "service" because that is not service, it is slavery. Forced labor is slavery, even if you get paid for it, and doubly so when it is the government forcing the labor.

I own my life - if I do not, then I am not free. I am free to spend my life how I see fit (at long as I do not infringe on the rights of others). That includes "wasting" my life doing pointless things I enjoy doing.

Freedom is not freedom just to do wise or productive activities, nor is it freedom only if it is an activity in service to others. If I want to be a couch potato, or waste my life smoking pot, then that is my right and it is your right and no one else has the right to force you to do otherwise.

I have had it up to here



With people trying to tell others that I must do this or that, much less forcing others to do something "for their own good", or even worse "for the good of society" or "the good of the whole".

Also, as a side issue, if you have ever been in the military with someone who really did not want to be in the military, but was there nonetheless, you would *KNOW* that you were much better off without them. I had to serve with such people, and other people who simply should have been given a general discharge instead of trying to bring them in line. Pot heads who showed up for duty stoned. Drunks who showed up for duty drunk. People who refused to do their work and so on. Any organization is better off just letting go of the "dead wood".

Forcing people to do something, rarely, if ever, results in a better person.

 

[JRuby]

I am kind of tired of people willing to take advantages this country of our provides without paying any of the dues for those rights. I do not want to tell others what to do or think heck I have problems with that at times myself. How ever as John Kennedy stated ask not what your country can do for you but rather what you can do for YOUR country.

 

[bbbass]

@The Heretic

Seems to work for Israel.

Note that I wrote of choices. Admittedly not everyone is cut out for military service.

BTW, as a fellow Coastie I think you need an attitude adjustment. Nobody here is trying to tell you to do anything!!!

And another thing, I never served with anybody like that. You musta been a black shoe.

 

[The Heretic]

I was an MK3 - spent most of my time in at Yaquina Bay on '44s and a '52 (the Victory) in the late 70s and early 80s.

We had a guy who would spend most of his time in his quarters refusing to do any work, protesting "toxic chemicals" and other things he invented. After a year of that he finally got sent up to Seattle where they kept people like that until they had served out their enlistment.

My first night at Newport a seaman showed up for duty drunk.

Another couple of guys at Kennewick (I was there for most of my first year) were pot smokers who would often show up for duty stoned.

Maybe today they would give such people general discharges, but back then they just kept them.

 

[The Heretic]

I am kind of tired of people willing to take advantages this country of our provides without paying any of the dues for those rights. I do not want to tell others what to do or think heck I have problems with that at times myself. How ever as John Kennedy stated ask not what your country can do for you but rather what you can do for YOUR country.

There are no "dues" for your rights.

Your rights are "natural rights" - i.e., you were born with them.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

 

[The Heretic]

As for Israel, conscription might work to a degree for them, in no small part because they are surrounded by countries actively trying to eliminate them.

That does not make it right nor necessarily desirable.

Also, they do have exemptions and only two thirds of eligible populace participate.

Exemption from military service in Israel - Wikipedia

 

[JRuby]

There are no "dues" for your rights.

Your rights are "natural rights" - i.e., you were born with them.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Sorry if you want to keep your rights it requires diligence or they will be gone. You live in a different world than I do
If rights cannot be removed how come we are spending so much time trying to protect the 2A. Yes it requires diligence and or dues.

 

[The Heretic]

Sorry if you want to keep your rights it requires diligence or they will be gone. You live in a different world than I do
If rights cannot be removed how come we are spending so much time trying to protect the 2A. Yes it requires diligence and or dues.

You always have rights - everybody does.

There is a difference between having a right and having the freedom to exercise it.

 

[JRuby]

A right doesn't exist if you can't use it.

 

[JRuby]

That's like saying you can't own a gun but we have the 2A so you have the right.

 

[The Heretic]

A right doesn't exist if you can't use it.

Some people take that view. The founders of this country did not.

unalienable. What's unalienable cannot be taken away or denied. Its most famous use is in the Declaration of Independence, which says people have unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Freedom on the other hand can be taken away.

There is a difference between a right and freedom to exercise.

Yes - you have to fight for freedom.

"Paying a due" for a right does not include being conscripted for military service - you do not owe anybody any part of your lifetime for your rights. Taking away one right to pay for another right is not freedom or right.

 

[The Heretic]

That's like saying you can't own a gun but we have the 2A so you have the right.

You have the right, but others can infringe on it by restricting your freedom to exercise it. It may seem like semantics, but words mean things and it is important to understand their meanings.

 

[JRuby]

Again if the right is infringed you have lost some of your rights. You either have the right or you don't. If it is infringed in my opinion you have at least partially lost that right.

You have the right, but others can infringe on it by restricting your freedom to exercise it. It may seem like semantics, but words mean things and it is important to understand their meanings.

It's not semantics you either have the freedom to exercise your right or you don't. Pretty simple. Any restrictions on that right reduces your freedoms.

 

[The Heretic]

Once again, to keep within the context of this thread, you cannot assert that I do not have a right just because I did not "pay" for it - e.g., you cannot correctly assert that I do not have the right to own a gun if I did not serve (voluntarily or involuntarily) in the military.

Everyone has certain inalienable rights. Sometimes you have to "fight" for the freedom to exercise the right, but the right does not disappear just because someone or something is not letting you exercise the right.

 

[The Heretic]

Some assert that natural rights do not exist because they can only be granted by governments willing to let you exercise them. But the founding fathers did not believe that and neither do I. Everyone has certain rights, regardless of where they are or who governs them. A law cannot eliminate a right, it can only take away your freedom to exercise it.

Natural Rights are part of your "nature". You have them because you exist. They cannot be taken away. Some entity can restrict your freedom by force - either a government or a criminal - but you still have that right.

 

[JRuby]

I would be the last person to say anything about your rights and never did. I don't think I know you. What I stated is that cost of our freedom is to be forever vigilant and there are costs for our freedoms.