• FourteenEyes [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    7 months ago

    This isn't ideology, I think, so much as Zoomers just being practical. Like, they've seen what happened to the millennials who signed up to fight in Iraq. Every last one of them was extremely fucked up by the experience, and then they came home to a VA that is completely fucking worthless. Very high rates of suicide and domestic problems. Then there's all the problems with black mold and cockroaches you see at the barracks and stuff, shit like National Guard soldiers activated during the January 6 incident getting food poisoning while guarding the people who make the laws.

    Like, who the fuck would look at that and think "sign me up"?

    • Mokey [none/use name]
      ·
      7 months ago

      I think the number is likely a result of unsustainable military bloat also capitalist contradiction of not having enough people who are educated and healthy to fund your war machine

    • Great_Leader_Is_Dead
      ·
      7 months ago

      Isn't this mostly cuz young people are too out of shape these days? I don't think anti-imperialism posting is the main contributor here.

      • SerLava [he/him]
        ·
        edit-2
        7 months ago

        That is a factor but also kids really do see through US propaganda much more often nowadays

        • Great_Leader_Is_Dead
          ·
          7 months ago

          I mean, I find it weird the teens think the US military is evil but also think NATO be invading evil Gommunist Chyna Vuvuzela cuz no iPhones red fascism

          • GrouchyGrouse [he/him]
            ·
            7 months ago

            If it helps just remember that they have deeply unexamined views. Also, as a former teenager, I can attest to it being a very stupid chapter of my life.

            • sooper_dooper_roofer [none/use name]
              ·
              edit-2
              7 months ago

              teens are very stupid, but today's teens have even less reason to ever read things and examine things than we did bc their environment is 1000x more distracting

              their gestation periods were also spent in a womb with 50% more plastic and various other things, which probably contributes

              • Tachanka [comrade/them]
                ·
                7 months ago

                teens are very stupid, but today's teens have even less reason to ever read things and examine things than we did bc their environment is 1000x more distracting

                also literacy is seriously on the decline and in addition to being "distracted" they're also more overworked and more underpaid by an even more ruthless economy. Even if their attention spans were perfect, I doubt someone is going to roll out of their 3rd job itching to read volume 1 of capital. They're going to go home, sweep up, do dishes, take a shower, and collapse in bed.

                • sooper_dooper_roofer [none/use name]
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  7 months ago

                  they're also more overworked and more underpaid by an even more ruthless economy

                  ehh I'm not sure that matters much for teens

                  I just did some research and found extremely conflicting data on teen labor force participation, but I think teenagers' behavior has very little to do with the job market directly, although some of their anxiety might be traceable to their parents being more stressed from said market.

      • Tachanka [comrade/them]
        ·
        7 months ago

        The US military has repeatedly decreased recruitment standards in that regard (or so I've heard), so I don't think that's it.

        • wahwahwah [none/use name]
          ·
          7 months ago

          Chud Zoomers think that the military is soy while the progressive ones think it’s evil.

    • Dolores [love/loves]
      ·
      7 months ago

      okay but the tories probably would sell off their army by the regiment if Uncle Sam asked

        • Dolores [love/loves]
          ·
          7 months ago

          they've got 40k infantry surely. first sell them to the commissioned officers, then the US. privatization go brrrr porky-happy

    • WhatDoYouMeanPodcast [comrade/them]
      ·
      7 months ago

      Please correct me. I would be more willing to overlook someone's service to the imperial core if they were in the space force. It sounds so deeply unserious and an absolute drain of resources. When somebody goes "well I didn't harm anyone, all I did was repair dumb shit" but they're talking about satellites then I'm inclined to believe them. Some v*teran was talking to me about how their friend was the 420th recruit (or 69th) and had the certificate.

  • mar_k [he/him]
    ·
    7 months ago

    And yet my fucking childhood best friend turned to the dark and signed up this year, all because he didn't have a path in life or some shit 😞

  • Fishroot [none/use name]
    ·
    edit-2
    7 months ago

    The causes of the recruiting challenges "are complex and multifaceted," Vazirani said. They include:

    A strong economy, which has resulted in many more options for young people.
    A smaller eligible population. Generation Z, the generation born from 1997 to 2012, generally has a low trust in institutions. Generation Z has decreasingly followed traditional life and career paths. Young people have fewer family members who served, which decreases the propensity to serve.

    Benefits of joining the military, he said, include:

    Competitive pay and benefits. Career training. A meaningful and motivating mission.

    Funny how the US satanic army manages to find the solution to why the recruitment turn out is low, but private companies still insist in giving pizza times

  • infuziSporg [e/em/eir]
    ·
    7 months ago

    The article doesn't mention that total annual recruitment is on the order of 200,000. So, 20% down, 80% to go.

  • SupFBI [comrade/them]
    ·
    edit-2
    7 months ago

    Nobody wants to die for empire anymore!

    SMDH! Won't anyone think of the yachts and empty condos!?

    • Nationalgoatism [he/him]
      ·
      7 months ago

      Hey, not fair. The ones who leak secret documents or frag their officers or crash helicopters are good ones as well

  • Owl [he/him]
    ·
    7 months ago

    What's wrong with you people, why are you cheering. The US Army didn't miss its recruitment goal by a single person, and you're applauding.

  • SoyViking [he/him]
    ·
    7 months ago

    It is not a uniquely American phenomenon by the way. Other NATO militaries are claiming to have recruiting problems.

    One might hope that solve of it happens because young people today are better people than they used to be. But mostly it is about them having better options. They can get jobs where they don't have to get shot at, don't have to go away from their families, don't have to work irregular hours, don't have to be around fascists all the time and where the pay is better.