The report may have flaws (honestly, it's the Heritage Foundation so hardly surprising), but the fact remains that writing the whole military off as desperate and hungry is not only reductive, but incorrect.
Not to mention that talking about "class incentive" to join ignores all the extremely poor people that did not sign up to go murder even poorer people in the middle-east.
Step one of the "troops are redeemable" discourse should be to have everyone agree that what they did was wrong, not look for excuses.
The report is beyond flawed -- it's basically useless. We really don't have to hand anything to the Heritage Foundation.
That said, sure, there are plenty of people who didn't join the military for financial reasons, and sure, being poor and joining for lack of options doesn't conpletely absolve anyone of responsibility. But there are a lot of troops who joined for economic reasons, and that at least mitigates how blameworthy they are (especially when you consider how propagandized the military is and the fact that recruiters prey on children).
Step one of the “troops are redeemable” discourse should be to have everyone agree that what they did was wrong
and sure, being poor and joining for lack of options doesn’t conpletely absolve anyone of responsibility. But there are a lot of troops who joined for economic reasons, and that at least mitigates how blameworthy they are
On the first point, we are agreed. On the second, it doesn't matter unless they regret it and want to work to overthrow the system they helped enforce.
Cops can quit at any time with no penalty; troops can't. And simply by virtue of living in a country where cops operate, cop recruits have a much better idea of what they're getting into. Very few cops join up as minors, too.
The report may have flaws (honestly, it's the Heritage Foundation so hardly surprising), but the fact remains that writing the whole military off as desperate and hungry is not only reductive, but incorrect.
Not to mention that talking about "class incentive" to join ignores all the extremely poor people that did not sign up to go murder even poorer people in the middle-east.
Step one of the "troops are redeemable" discourse should be to have everyone agree that what they did was wrong, not look for excuses.
The report is beyond flawed -- it's basically useless. We really don't have to hand anything to the Heritage Foundation.
That said, sure, there are plenty of people who didn't join the military for financial reasons, and sure, being poor and joining for lack of options doesn't conpletely absolve anyone of responsibility. But there are a lot of troops who joined for economic reasons, and that at least mitigates how blameworthy they are (especially when you consider how propagandized the military is and the fact that recruiters prey on children).
I think everyone here is well past that step.
On the first point, we are agreed. On the second, it doesn't matter unless they regret it and want to work to overthrow the system they helped enforce.
:100-com:
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Cops can quit at any time with no penalty; troops can't. And simply by virtue of living in a country where cops operate, cop recruits have a much better idea of what they're getting into. Very few cops join up as minors, too.
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