I talked to a recruter for the U.S. Army today. As a fascist and a patriot I believe it is my duty to serve in the armed forces. I had planned to enlist in the army reserve at age 20. I told the recruiter that I have Asperger's, and I was told, as long as I have an official diagnosis of such, I will be rejected if I enlist. The country is in a war, recieves threats from Iran, Venezuala and North Korea on a daily basis, and faces a billion strong communist menace, and I am told that they do not need me. They are reducing combat standards all around, lowering IQ requirements, raising age limits, and they are told they do not need me. I have always aspired to the stories of soldiers of the greatest commitment, like Yukio Seki and Hiroo Onada, and I am told they do not need me. It is the highest purpose of anyone to serve there country, and a life lived for ones own is not a life truely lived, and I am told they do not need me.
Now I see why you are so vehemently anti-communist. Onada hid in a Phillipine jungle for 29 years because he thought WWII had not ended.
http://www.wanpela.com/holdouts/profiles/onoda.html
You have to admire a man who is so dedicated to his cause.
A life lived for one's own is indeed a life lived to the full. A life wasted on sacrificing yourself for your country is the complete opposite.
A country is firstly a collective of people, I'm advocating altruism. A soldier is just one way of achieving an altruistic life. It is my belief that if someone does something in service of his fellow man, whether it be protecting lives in the army, saving lives as a fireman etc. etc. you are serving a purpose more important than ones self. The individual is not thrown away by sacrifice, he is brought to his rightful state. This doesn't have to be on a battlefield, Ghandi, MLK, Solzhenitsyn and others have sacrificed in order to serve a greater purpose and lived a life of true meaning.
You have to admire a man who is so dedicated to his cause.
No, you don't. Not when the 'cause' in question is complete shite.
If you think that a life spent licking boots and murdering people is serving 'the highest purpose', then I think you're better off hiding in the jungle for 29 years (or however long it takes you to come to your wits).
And if you think that serving your country is complete shite, I suggest you move to Iran and see how you do without men like him protecting you.
I agree. We have the right to post and say things we want because people in the military (like my dad, step dad, hubby, 2 uncles, grandfather, great grandfather......) have all made sure we could. At least here in the USof A. It is not for everyone. But at least we have that right because of them.
My cousin had a tough time in the army but another person I knew really believed in it, I think it depends on the individual and the culture of the part of the military that person enters. I am interested in other things so I have never considered joining.
Personally, I don't have a problem with people who serve in the armed forces - but they shouldn't delude themselves into thinking it's some kind of sacred duty to fight "for your country". Freedom of speech didn't require military action to gain by the way - it's written into the US consitution and the UN declaration of human rights
A peice of Paper in no way gives nor garauntees freedom of speech.
Freedom of Speech, did require military action to gain, it was a little event called the american war of independence.
Denmark had freedom of speach in their constitution, but did that precious peice of paper protect them from the Geheim Staats Poleizi? The UN declaration of human rights is ignored by members of its own security council.
A person will high ideals can sometimes be disillusioned when they find corruption in the system. You will find out when you join, people just have a whole variety of reasons why they are there. In combat (should you qualify) all that idealism can go away and you are there just to survive. With all that disillusion and disappointed, you still have to obey orders. So do not join up unless you think about that.
I have thought about it, and I do disagree with the war we are in, however I want to do what I can to rectify the situation. If reformation is to come to our government, it will come through the armed forces.
"I would prefer change through a democratic system. That way people do not have to die for change."
You misunderstand me. The Military is the only respected part of the government remaining. If the military and/or veterans were to politicize, they would be a powerful political force.
I'll let a famous Einstein quote Explain my point of view:
That a man can take pleasure in marching in formation to the strains of a band is enough to make me despise him. He has only been given his big brain by mistake; a backbone was all he needed.
Oh. did you know that I am a member of a marching band? I do enjoy it. Were you intending on insulting me?
I think Einstein (and me) was referring to the military :roll:
stop bullying please
Odd, on most internet forums I get labeled a troll, or spammer, or the one who needs to die to stop the voices, but 'bully' is a new one :wink:
Who was Einstein talking about? Hitler?
The miltaristic in general, although he did severly hate Hiter and Nationalism.
How do you feel that other parts of the government are disrespected?
Their credibility has reached essentially zero. As it should. It spends vast sums of money, with little or no result. It has been shown to be inneficient, wasteful, and unconcerned with the public welfare and that applies to both major parties. The only branch of government that works by an effecient and reliable method. If you ask the man on the street who he respects more, his politicians or the american fighting man, it will always be the same responce.
We have military draft in Denmark and I was exempted from service even without the need to show up to the medical exam.
I just got a letter where I had to register. Then I got a letter back that told me that I did not have to meet up to the examination because I would be declared unfit no matter what because of aspergers.
So somebody tell me again, how is killing for ANY political reason a good thing? Because I've never understood it, and I've lost a lot of family members to one war or another over the years, none of which have ever come to our shores here in Australia.
Alison
You mention New Guinea. If New Guinea fell Yamashita (thats him <-----) would have landed in Australia.
Whether you think we need martyrs or not doesn't change the fact that statements such as that will come back to haunt us. A recruiter from the Marine corps talked to me, and I gave him as big of a chance as I could, but in the end it was the moral question that decided me.
There is no question in my mind that I could have performed the duties required of me, and anything I had to do that I wasn't up for at that moment I would be trained to do. Aspergers didn't come up, because it wasn't the issue, nor should it have been. I simply could not see myself putting a bullet through somebody's skull, either personally or by extension, unless there was a foreign military threat to the freedom and rights of me and my community. I do not feel that such a threat exists.
If I am drafted I will tell them I am a conscientious objector, because that is what I am. There are things I cannot do, things I cannot deal with, but I am NOT useless.