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I wonder how sincere the US government is at wanting to end violence, when at the same time it nurtures the largest military in the world -- a military which ha

by gnosis 14y ago

I wonder how sincere the US government is at wanting to end violence, when at the same time it nurtures the largest military in the world -- a military which has managed to kill the most people since WW2. It also has one of the largest police forces and prison industries in the world, for whom violence is a very useful tool. I'm not sure if the US government wants to end violence so much as monopolize it. Nurturing violent tendencies in people can be quite useful to the US government, as long as those people can be persuaded to use their violence upon command, and at targets of the government's choice.

dinkumthinkum 14y ago
Really? You don't think that is a bit of a stretch? You think people in the White House cabinet are sitting around thinking about how theu can instill and nurture violence in people so they can have "kill bots" in the military? You've got to be joking -- that's tin foil hat stuff. Besides, the military has a pretty straightforward program for training civilians to be soldiers, it's not this great big conspiracy as you suggest.
- il 14y ago
  Have you ever played America's Army?
- gnosis 14y ago
  I recommend reading Dave Grossman's book On Killing.[1] From the blurb: "The good news is that most soldiers are loath to kill. But armies have developed sophisticated ways of overcoming this instinctive aversion. And contemporary civilian society, particularly the media, replicates the army's conditioning techniques, and, according to Lt. Col. Dave Grossman's thesis, is responsible for our rising rate of murder among the young. Upon its initial publication, ON KILLING was hailed as a landmark study of the techniques the military uses to overcome the powerful reluctance to kill, of how killing affects soldiers, and of the societal implications of escalating violence. Now, Grossman has updated this classic work to include information on 21st-century military conflicts, recent trends in crime, suicide bombings, school shootings, and more. The result is a work certain to be relevant and important for decades to come." [1] - http://www.amazon.com/On-Killing-Psychological-Learning-Society/dp/0316040932 http://www.amazon.com/On-Killing-Psychological-Learning-Soci...

by gnosis 14y ago

dinkumthinkum 14y ago

Really? You don't think that is a bit of a stretch? You think people in the White House cabinet are sitting around thinking about how theu can instill and nurture violence in people so they can have "kill bots" in the military? You've got to be joking -- that's tin foil hat stuff. Besides, the military has a pretty straightforward program for training civilians to be soldiers, it's not this great big conspiracy as you suggest.

il 14y ago
Have you ever played America's Army?
gnosis 14y ago
I recommend reading Dave Grossman's book On Killing.[1] From the blurb: "The good news is that most soldiers are loath to kill. But armies have developed sophisticated ways of overcoming this instinctive aversion. And contemporary civilian society, particularly the media, replicates the army's conditioning techniques, and, according to Lt. Col. Dave Grossman's thesis, is responsible for our rising rate of murder among the young. Upon its initial publication, ON KILLING was hailed as a landmark study of the techniques the military uses to overcome the powerful reluctance to kill, of how killing affects soldiers, and of the societal implications of escalating violence. Now, Grossman has updated this classic work to include information on 21st-century military conflicts, recent trends in crime, suicide bombings, school shootings, and more. The result is a work certain to be relevant and important for decades to come." [1] - http://www.amazon.com/On-Killing-Psychological-Learning-Society/dp/0316040932 http://www.amazon.com/On-Killing-Psychological-Learning-Soci...