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    More: Dumbass, Conscription, Army, Military, Military service, United States Army, Military of the United States, former senior military official, Volunteer military  
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4923 clicks; posted to Main » and Politics » on 03 Jul 2022 at 1:02 PM (5 weeks ago)   |   Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook



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View Voting Results: Smartest and Funniest


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Cafe Threads [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2022-07-03 10:06:25 AM  
Maybe instead of signing up to serve in wars in a world that "needs" soldiers the young folk are instead intent on fixing the world so it won't need them.
 
tfresh [TotalFark]
2022-07-03 11:50:31 AM  

Cafe Threads: Maybe instead of signing up to serve in wars in a world that "needs" soldiers the young folk are instead intent on fixing the world so it won't need them.


Maybe this time they'll get it right.

// No they won't
 
Eat The Placenta
2022-07-03 12:44:38 PM  
Top reasons cited for not wanting to join are the possibility of injury or death

Of course, I try to sign up, tell the recruiter I have a death wish, and they reject me. What gives?
 
edmo [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2022-07-03 12:58:19 PM  
I think it's more than fitness. A lot of youth believe patriotism is just being a Christian Humblebraggist, protesting drag queens, and rolling coal. It's a lot easier to post demeaning memes about gay people than actually serve. And rest assured, there are a million young people at their keyboards who think they are fighting for America that way.

Every so often there is a Fark thread on how people are no longer joiners. Bowling leagues, the Optimists, churches, etc. I think it's fair to blame the boomers for that. I plead guilty. Why not fix it?

Joining something is all about being part of something far greater than yourself. Few people think in those terms these days. We need to somehow teach that to people again. The military is a possibility. I wish more people understood what the military is and how it functions, good and bad, and would just forget about the BS Hollywood tropes. The only way to do that is experience it.

Bring back the draft. We'll all be better off for it.

/lawn
//off it
///both ways
 
iheartscotch
2022-07-03 1:04:28 PM  
Perhaps more people would be willing to sign up if the military actually kept its promises...
 
mongbiohazard
2022-07-03 1:09:23 PM  
A society tearing itself apart with bigotry and superstition, a nation in decline which pretends to be representative but is really just a minority ruled oligarchy wearing a fancy hat, a military force used to protect the profits of oligarchs at the expense of human lives.

Gee, who wouldn't want to sign up and pledge to lose life or limb protecting THAT hot mess? What a mystery...
 
Lady J [TotalFark]
2022-07-03 1:11:42 PM  

edmo: I think it's more than fitness. A lot of youth believe patriotism is just being a Christian Humblebraggist, protesting drag queens, and rolling coal. It's a lot easier to post demeaning memes about gay people than actually serve. And rest assured, there are a million young people at their keyboards who think they are fighting for America that way.

Every so often there is a Fark thread on how people are no longer joiners. Bowling leagues, the Optimists, churches, etc. I think it's fair to blame the boomers for that. I plead guilty. Why not fix it?

Joining something is all about being part of something far greater than yourself. Few people think in those terms these days. We need to somehow teach that to people again. The military is a possibility. I wish more people understood what the military is and how it functions, good and bad, and would just forget about the BS Hollywood tropes. The only way to do that is experience it.

Bring back the draft. We'll all be better off for it.

/lawn
//off it
///both ways


to that, I say huh?  and also

Fark user imageView Full Size


Fark user imageView Full Size


Fark user imageView Full Size
 
Mad_Radhu
2022-07-03 1:12:44 PM  
We can't afford a Girth Gap with the Russians.

Fark user imageView Full Size
 
SMB2811
2022-07-03 1:12:51 PM  

edmo: I think it's more than fitness. A lot of youth believe patriotism is just being a Christian Humblebraggist, protesting drag queens, and rolling coal. It's a lot easier to post demeaning memes about gay people than actually serve. And rest assured, there are a million young people at their keyboards who think they are fighting for America that way.

Every so often there is a Fark thread on how people are no longer joiners. Bowling leagues, the Optimists, churches, etc. I think it's fair to blame the boomers for that. I plead guilty. Why not fix it?

Joining something is all about being part of something far greater than yourself. Few people think in those terms these days. We need to somehow teach that to people again. The military is a possibility. I wish more people understood what the military is and how it functions, good and bad, and would just forget about the BS Hollywood tropes. The only way to do that is experience it.

Bring back the draft. We'll all be better off for it.

/lawn
//off it
///both ways


There is no more appropriate answer to this than fark you. Just fark you.
 
groppet
2022-07-03 1:14:07 PM  
Well I guess watching their friends and family get farked over for the last 20 years and then abandoned when their service was up and having to deal with the physical and mental problems on their own might have something to do with it.
 
Tax Boy
2022-07-03 1:14:28 PM  

Mad_Radhu: We can't afford a Girth Gap with the Russians.

[Fark user image image 425x487]


That's not one Russian soldier. That's their matroska soldier technology
 
JRoo
2022-07-03 1:14:32 PM  
Are non-fat sojers a drink at Starucks?
 
DarkSoulNoHope
2022-07-03 1:15:57 PM  
Steve Frost: "If you like dressing up, being abused, covered in mud and shot at; we'll give you the chance to do all that!!"

Whose Line UK 8x01 (2/3)
Youtube rxvyM8SLCz4
 
Madman drummers bummers [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2022-07-03 1:17:59 PM  
What if they held a war and nobody came?
 
Ketchuponsteak
2022-07-03 1:19:09 PM  

edmo: I think it's more than fitness. A lot of youth believe patriotism is just being a Christian Humblebraggist, protesting drag queens, and rolling coal. It's a lot easier to post demeaning memes about gay people than actually serve. And rest assured, there are a million young people at their keyboards who think they are fighting for America that way.

Every so often there is a Fark thread on how people are no longer joiners. Bowling leagues, the Optimists, churches, etc. I think it's fair to blame the boomers for that. I plead guilty. Why not fix it?

Joining something is all about being part of something far greater than yourself. Few people think in those terms these days. We need to somehow teach that to people again. The military is a possibility. I wish more people understood what the military is and how it functions, good and bad, and would just forget about the BS Hollywood tropes. The only way to do that is experience it.

Bring back the draft. We'll all be better off for it.

/lawn
//off it
///both ways


You can also combine the draft with a professional army.

Denmark found that reducing the mandatory draft from 1 year to 3 months, meant far fewer draft dodgers.

And then from the pool of draftees, the people who fits in the professional army emerges.
 
Zeroth Law [TotalFark]
2022-07-03 1:19:28 PM  

edmo: I think it's more than fitness. A lot of youth believe patriotism is just being a Christian Humblebraggist, protesting drag queens, and rolling coal. It's a lot easier to post demeaning memes about gay people than actually serve. And rest assured, there are a million young people at their keyboards who think they are fighting for America that way.

Every so often there is a Fark thread on how people are no longer joiners. Bowling leagues, the Optimists, churches, etc. I think it's fair to blame the boomers for that. I plead guilty. Why not fix it?

Joining something is all about being part of something far greater than yourself. Few people think in those terms these days. We need to somehow teach that to people again. The military is a possibility. I wish more people understood what the military is and how it functions, good and bad, and would just forget about the BS Hollywood tropes. The only way to do that is experience it.

Bring back the draft. We'll all be better off for it.

/lawn
//off it
///both ways


The America in your head never existed. The youth refuse to die for the oligarchs because we know more now. Cut the rot out and maybe they will reconsider.
 
Nimbull
2022-07-03 1:19:57 PM  
If America took some of those sweet sweet military spending dollars and put it towards caring for veterans more after they served so stories like VA backlogs and other things weren't a reality then maybe more people would sign up. Maybe... I dunno.. I'm spitballing here.
 
Zeroth Law [TotalFark]
2022-07-03 1:21:44 PM  

Ketchuponsteak: edmo: I think it's more than fitness. A lot of youth believe patriotism is just being a Christian Humblebraggist, protesting drag queens, and rolling coal. It's a lot easier to post demeaning memes about gay people than actually serve. And rest assured, there are a million young people at their keyboards who think they are fighting for America that way.

Every so often there is a Fark thread on how people are no longer joiners. Bowling leagues, the Optimists, churches, etc. I think it's fair to blame the boomers for that. I plead guilty. Why not fix it?

Joining something is all about being part of something far greater than yourself. Few people think in those terms these days. We need to somehow teach that to people again. The military is a possibility. I wish more people understood what the military is and how it functions, good and bad, and would just forget about the BS Hollywood tropes. The only way to do that is experience it.

Bring back the draft. We'll all be better off for it.

/lawn
//off it
///both ways

You can also combine the draft with a professional army.

Denmark found that reducing the mandatory draft from 1 year to 3 months, meant far fewer draft dodgers.

And then from the pool of draftees, the people who fits in the professional army emerges.


Not a draft, that's just national service. A lot of countries have that. The issue is the poor quality of the average soldier since a year is hardly enough. Singapore where I come from does 2 years. And yes you can agree to sign on for more money and a career. The nice thing is it's not only military. Includes police and firefighters. So you get a nice broad base of experience and common social touchdowns that everyone can relate to and you don't have to fight if you don't want to either.
 
winedrinkingman
2022-07-03 1:23:08 PM  
The biggest reason people don't want to join the military is not the fear of death or injury, but fear of it's toxic culture.  The number one source of it's toxic culture are the 18 year old kids who barely graduated High School who make up a major part of it.

If you look how western European militaries and the Israelis train their soldiers, they go for quality rather than quantity.  Yeah, there boot camps are not psychological hell zones where they try to break you mentally, but they don't have to be, because they don't put up with dumbs--t hillbillies poorly educated train wrecks who don't want to listen to anyone tell them what to do.  They rely on recruiting young men and women who want to be there, and are not looking to sneak off and smoke weed behind some pallets when they are supposed to be on duty.  It's a smaller military, but it is a higher quality military, and if they ever get into a war, they can quickly expand it with a draft, using the guys they have now as a solid core of responsible NCOs and officers.
 
The Brains
2022-07-03 1:23:32 PM  

iheartscotch: Perhaps more people would be willing to sign up if the military actually kept its promises...


Yeah from what I hear the military practically gets off from denying service members their bennies, VA sucks, etc.

I'm glad I never actually got to leave for the Navy. I don't think I'd have done well there.
 
edmo [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2022-07-03 1:23:38 PM  

Lady J: edmo: I think it's more than fitness. A lot of youth believe patriotism is just being a Christian Humblebraggist, protesting drag queens, and rolling coal. It's a lot easier to post demeaning memes about gay people than actually serve. And rest assured, there are a million young people at their keyboards who think they are fighting for America that way.

Every so often there is a Fark thread on how people are no longer joiners. Bowling leagues, the Optimists, churches, etc. I think it's fair to blame the boomers for that. I plead guilty. Why not fix it?

Joining something is all about being part of something far greater than yourself. Few people think in those terms these days. We need to somehow teach that to people again. The military is a possibility. I wish more people understood what the military is and how it functions, good and bad, and would just forget about the BS Hollywood tropes. The only way to do that is experience it.

Bring back the draft. We'll all be better off for it.

/lawn
//off it
///both ways

to that, I say huh?  and also

[Fark user image 245x200] [View Full Size image _x_]

[Fark user image 300x169] [View Full Size image _x_]

[Fark user image 200x200] [View Full Size image _x_]


EXACTLY
 
foo monkey
2022-07-03 1:25:07 PM  
Every one of their millennial and Gen X parents knows someone who died, lost a leg, or is suffering from crippling PTSD from serving in Iraq 2 or Afghanistan. Better yet, the parents are that person. Good luck recruiting from that pool.
 
BretMavrik [TotalFark] [OhFark]
2022-07-03 1:25:19 PM  

edmo: I think it's more than fitness. A lot of youth believe patriotism is just being a Christian Humblebraggist, protesting drag queens, and rolling coal. It's a lot easier to post demeaning memes about gay people than actually serve. And rest assured, there are a million young people at their keyboards who think they are fighting for America that way.

Every so often there is a Fark thread on how people are no longer joiners. Bowling leagues, the Optimists, churches, etc. I think it's fair to blame the boomers for that. I plead guilty. Why not fix it?

Joining something is all about being part of something far greater than yourself. Few people think in those terms these days. We need to somehow teach that to people again. The military is a possibility. I wish more people understood what the military is and how it functions, good and bad, and would just forget about the BS Hollywood tropes. The only way to do that is experience it.

Bring back the draft. We'll all be better off for it.

/lawn
//off it
///both ways


I'll accept the nuance a little more than the others who have responded. I think I get what you're going for, especially when it comes to disrupting social stratification, but in the end I'd say that a government which has to force people to fight for it isn't worth fighting for. And there are plenty of other ways to serve.
 
gunther_bumpass
2022-07-03 1:25:42 PM  

edmo: I think it's more than fitness. A lot of youth believe patriotism is just being a Christian Humblebraggist, protesting drag queens, and rolling coal. It's a lot easier to post demeaning memes about gay people than actually serve. And rest assured, there are a million young people at their keyboards who think they are fighting for America that way.

Every so often there is a Fark thread on how people are no longer joiners. Bowling leagues, the Optimists, churches, etc. I think it's fair to blame the boomers for that. I plead guilty. Why not fix it?

Joining something is all about being part of something far greater than yourself. Few people think in those terms these days. We need to somehow teach that to people again. The military is a possibility. I wish more people understood what the military is and how it functions, good and bad, and would just forget about the BS Hollywood tropes. The only way to do that is experience it.

Bring back the draft. We'll all be better off for it.

/lawn
//off it
///both ways


That is the most insane rant I've read this year.

And I've been in a bowling league.

'Joiners' are morons who feel like they need to be in an exclusive club..
 
Dear Jerk
2022-07-03 1:25:48 PM  
There are two USAs now. Half the potential enlistees suspect that if they join the military, they will fighting against America.
 
The Brains
2022-07-03 1:26:16 PM  

foo monkey: Every one of their millennial and Gen X parents knows someone who died, lost a leg, or is suffering from crippling PTSD from serving in Iraq 2 or Afghanistan. Better yet, the parents are that person. Good luck recruiting from that pool.


Or a buddy of mine that came back shoveled into a box
 
stuffy
2022-07-03 1:27:04 PM  
Been hearing this sense 1980s
 
austerity101 [recently expired TotalFark]
2022-07-03 1:27:18 PM  

edmo: Joining something is all about being part of something far greater than yourself. Few people think in those terms these days.


Most people don't think in those terms any more because those terms are BS when the "greater" things aren't worth being a part of in the first place. You cannot credibly claim that the US military is just misunderstood.
 
dbaggins
2022-07-03 1:27:20 PM  

Nimbull: If America took some of those sweet sweet military spending dollars and put it towards caring for veterans more after they served so stories like VA backlogs and other things weren't a reality then maybe more people would sign up. Maybe... I dunno.. I'm spitballing here.


In ye olden days we didn't end up with so many injured veterans.  You either got out without damage, got patched up from a minor injury, or died in the line of duty.      With the huge improvements in trauma care we are bringing back a lot of damaged veterans.

If we can manage to not get into any wars for a decade then things will improve in the VA.
 
Diocletian's Last Cabbage [TotalFark]
2022-07-03 1:27:49 PM  

Madman drummers bummers: What if they held a war and nobody came?


Then the orcs trash your house and screw your daughter (or son, maybe, it's wrong to stereotype).
 
austerity101 [recently expired TotalFark]
2022-07-03 1:29:39 PM  

dbaggins: Nimbull: If America took some of those sweet sweet military spending dollars and put it towards caring for veterans more after they served so stories like VA backlogs and other things weren't a reality then maybe more people would sign up. Maybe... I dunno.. I'm spitballing here.

In ye olden days we didn't end up with so many injured veterans.  You either got out without damage, got patched up from a minor injury, or died in the line of duty.      With the huge improvements in trauma care we are bringing back a lot of damaged veterans.

If we can manage to not get into any wars for a decade then things will improve in the VA.


We could also try actually fully funding them.
 
Conservative Evangelical Millennial Cyclist
2022-07-03 1:29:43 PM  

Mad_Radhu: We can't afford a Girth Gap with the Russians.


Fark user imageView Full Size


He's full of tinier Generals!
 
Commander Lysdexic
2022-07-03 1:30:13 PM  

edmo: Bring back the draft. We'll all be better off for it.


Chug bleach, Boomer.
Kids don't need to die because of your war boner.
 
Karma Chameleon
2022-07-03 1:30:27 PM  
Ask not what your country can do for you, because you know it's nothing.
 
Lady J [TotalFark]
2022-07-03 1:34:13 PM  

Conservative Evangelical Millennial Cyclist: Mad_Radhu: We can't afford a Girth Gap with the Russians.

[Fark user image image 425x487]

He's full of tinier Generals!


lol, skillz
 
mononymous
2022-07-03 1:34:29 PM  
Who needs soldiers when you have drones? Start recruiting gamers with mAd sKilLz....

/git gud, noob
 
Gaythiest Elitist
2022-07-03 1:34:45 PM  

Conservative Evangelical Millennial Cyclist: Mad_Radhu: We can't afford a Girth Gap with the Russians.

[Fark user image 425x487]

He's full of tinier Generals!


Oh lawd he comin
 
Conservative Evangelical Millennial Cyclist
2022-07-03 1:35:14 PM  

Commander Lysdexic: Kids don't need to die because of your war boner.


Fark user imageView Full Size
 
Lady J [TotalFark]
2022-07-03 1:36:24 PM  

edmo: Lady J:
to that, I say huh?  and also

[Fark user image 245x200] [View Full Size image _x_]

[Fark user image 300x169] [View Full Size image _x_]

[Fark user image 200x200] [View Full Size image _x_]

EXACTLY


Fark user imageView Full Size
 
Huggermugger
2022-07-03 1:36:31 PM  

Mad_Radhu: We can't afford a Girth Gap with the Russians.

[Fark user image 425x487]


Damn...he makes Herman Goering look svelte.
 
hlehmann
2022-07-03 1:36:54 PM  
Start drafting conservatives. They're always talking about how much they support our troops, after all.
 
DaMannimal
2022-07-03 1:37:22 PM  

edmo: I think it's more than fitness. A lot of youth believe patriotism is just being a Christian Humblebraggist, protesting drag queens, and rolling coal. It's a lot easier to post demeaning memes about gay people than actually serve. And rest assured, there are a million young people at their keyboards who think they are fighting for America that way.

Every so often there is a Fark thread on how people are no longer joiners. Bowling leagues, the Optimists, churches, etc. I think it's fair to blame the boomers for that. I plead guilty. Why not fix it?

Joining something is all about being part of something far greater than yourself. Few people think in those terms these days. We need to somehow teach that to people again. The military is a possibility. I wish more people understood what the military is and how it functions, good and bad, and would just forget about the BS Hollywood tropes. The only way to do that is experience it.

Bring back the draft. We'll all be better off for it.

/lawn
//off it
///both ways


Dude you must be old as fark.  The reality is that the vast majority of us that served the last 15 years are absolutely disillusioned by our mission today.  Who do you think the young people are talking to when considering serving? It's always those that came right before them.  It's kinda why I got misled because I was talking to guys 10 years older than me and things had seriously materially changed by the time I saw my recruiter (2009 didn't even get in till 2011)

And I can't speak for the other branches, but the work loads are countering what they were when ships actually sailed.  It's why you read about all these incidents now.  Plus the military is much less lenient on punishments now as they try to corporatize the environment.  Imagine living in a corporate environment that doesn't end at your 9-5 but 24/7/365.  I joined in 2011 and people that been in a minute where complaining about it then and many that planned on their 20 just up and left halfway through.

Patriotism is at an all time low among the youth as the shine on this turd is starting to fade.  That means essentially only the super poor and desperate and they often can't hit ASVAB requirements and are grossly overweight.

So let's say your a recruit and looking to get college.  Only 75% of people that enlist end up being eligible for the GI Bill.  And let's say your looking to do something else.  Military quals often don't translate to civilian world for comparable jobs. The military only makes sense these days if you do 20 and if you are doing that, might as well be a cop.

The reality is most people just don't want to be a pawn in a country where all the gdp growth goes to those that could give two farks about you and will send you to die or be extensively away from their family to protect their wealth.  Create a more egalitarian, fair and just society and these attitudes may change, but young people have more information than ever and it doesn't paint a pretty picture for your average American.
 
Snort
2022-07-03 1:40:39 PM  
Peacetime draft!  W00t!

Mount up kiddos.
 
The Dog Ate My Homework
2022-07-03 1:41:34 PM  
Only 23% of Americans aged 17 to 24 are eligible to join without being granted a waiver. This is down from 29% in recent years, according to Pentagon data.

Wait, it was only 29% to begin with? How can THAT many people in that age range be unsuitable for military service? Let's not kid ourselves. It's not exactly a high bar.
 
chitownmike
2022-07-03 1:41:50 PM  

Eat The Placenta: Top reasons cited for not wanting to join are the possibility of injury or death

Of course, I try to sign up, tell the recruiter I have a death wish, and they reject me. What gives?


But did he set up a 28 day "vacation" or refer you to a therapist? Of course not
 
Conservative Evangelical Millennial Cyclist
2022-07-03 1:42:26 PM  

Gaythiest Elitist: Conservative Evangelical Millennial Cyclist: Mad_Radhu: We can't afford a Girth Gap with the Russians.

[Fark user image 425x487]

He's full of tinier Generals!

Oh lawd he comin


Fark user imageView Full Size
 
Shaggy_C
2022-07-03 1:43:13 PM  
Draft, rampant inflation, protests in the streets...it's like the 70s all over again, but with worse music.
 
groppet
2022-07-03 1:44:32 PM  

Snort: Peacetime draft!  W00t!

Mount up kiddos.


I suspect that won't go over well, people heading to Canada, draft riots and worse morale.
 
Hey Nurse! [OhFark]
2022-07-03 1:45:36 PM  
I joined. 40 years ago. Needed money for college. Got to see Central America and Europe. Good times. My son will be a senior this year. He mentioned the military. Told him not no, but fark no - then explained why. We have a decent 529 for him and he gets good grades. Told him if he runs short at the end of college on cash, I'd fill in the gap if he stays away from the military. It's a different world than it was in 1982. I'm not letting my son get killed so some asshole oil baron has plenty of 100's to light his cigars with.
 
Snort
2022-07-03 1:46:50 PM  

winedrinkingman: The biggest reason people don't want to join the military is not the fear of death or injury, but fear of it's toxic culture.  The number one source of it's toxic culture are the 18 year old kids who barely graduated High School who make up a major part of it.

If you look how western European militaries and the Israelis train their soldiers, they go for quality rather than quantity.  Yeah, there boot camps are not psychological hell zones where they try to break you mentally, but they don't have to be, because they don't put up with dumbs--t hillbillies poorly educated train wrecks who don't want to listen to anyone tell them what to do.  They rely on recruiting young men and women who want to be there, and are not looking to sneak off and smoke weed behind some pallets when they are supposed to be on duty.  It's a smaller military, but it is a higher quality military, and if they ever get into a war, they can quickly expand it with a draft, using the guys they have now as a solid core of responsible NCOs and officers.


So, um, where do they get their cannon fodder?
 
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