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But I'd rather be at the mall than mow my yard. I pay someone to do that. I'd rather be at the mall than work on my own plumbing. I pay someone else to do that.

by todd8 11y ago

But I'd rather be at the mall than mow my yard. I pay someone to do that. I'd rather be at the mall than work on my own plumbing. I pay someone else to do that. The key point is that at some level I'd rather be at the mall that work as a software developer, but I'm really good at that so that's what I do instead of goofing off at the mall all day. We should do what we are most productive at, in this way we contribute the most to society (see Comparative Advantage in any economics text). The military does a tough job. That most of us don't want to do it isn't being hypocritical. It's just the truth that I'm a better software developer than solider. Now, when I was of an age that I was eligible to be in the military, one often had no choice about it. You were simply told by the government that you had to take years out of your life and perhaps lose you life killing people that most of us saw little point of fighting. Fortunately, my number wasn't picked. Not all of my friends were so fortunate. In that time, we all bore some collective guilt for sending young men off to die against their will to for our politics.

hyperliner 11y ago
But how do you know you are not a better soldier? Assuming you are in the USA, there is no mandatory military service. Who is to say you are not great one, but you just don't know? On another angle, the point is not about being a soldier specifically. How about doing intelligence, or translation, or manufacturing, or X, or Y, or Z for the purpose of fulfilling whatever mission the President has decided is important? The point that you are "told" by the government is a weak one. In the US at least, you elect representatives to make the right decisions for you. I have been to Israel where I saw armed young people welcoming me to the airport and doing their job for their country. Everybody has to do that job for some time. Everybody needs to sacrifice that time during which you cannot "go to the mall." Maybe if that was the case, there would be less wars as people would think twice about it, as it used to happen in the past in the US. My point was that we do build up this "social class" called the "military" when most would not ever consider joining. And that is what is hypocritical.
- todd8 11y ago
  Yes, now I see what you are saying. By the way, here in the USA when I was 18 there was a mandatory draft that sent some people to fight in Vietnam while others, like myself were lucky enough to get high numbers in a national lottery (that only men were subjected to) so I was not forced to go fight.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]

by todd8 11y ago

hyperliner 11y ago

But how do you know you are not a better soldier? Assuming you are in the USA, there is no mandatory military service. Who is to say you are not great one, but you just don't know? On another angle, the point is not about being a soldier specifically. How about doing intelligence, or translation, or manufacturing, or X, or Y, or Z for the purpose of fulfilling whatever mission the President has decided is important? The point that you are "told" by the government is a weak one. In the US at least, you elect representatives to make the right decisions for you. I have been to Israel where I saw armed young people welcoming me to the airport and doing their job for their country. Everybody has to do that job for some time. Everybody needs to sacrifice that time during which you cannot "go to the mall." Maybe if that was the case, there would be less wars as people would think twice about it, as it used to happen in the past in the US. My point was that we do build up this "social class" called the "military" when most would not ever consider joining. And that is what is hypocritical.

todd8 11y ago
Yes, now I see what you are saying. By the way, here in the USA when I was 18 there was a mandatory draft that sent some people to fight in Vietnam while others, like myself were lucky enough to get high numbers in a national lottery (that only men were subjected to) so I was not forced to go fight.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]