It sounds like an impressive speech. I understand people share his values. The bravest and most meaningful action I saw from a military person was a college ro

It sounds like an impressive speech. I understand people share his values. The bravest and most meaningful action I saw from a military person was a college roommate who had returned from active duty as a Marine in the Gulf War. I don't know if his training was as intense as a SEAL's but he saw active duty and looked long and hard at his actions and those of this country and applied to become a conscientious objector. I think he valued and lived all the things the UT guy talked about, but to me it seemed he did one thing further. After all, when a country goes to war, the other side has soldiers who share all those values too. What makes one side better than the other? I doubt many would say might should make right. I don't know if anyone can answer that question better than any other, but I believe he concluded that you have to examine your conscience and the conscience of the military for which you work and the civilians for whom it works. He told me that when he enlisted his intent was to defend his country but that his experience and thoughtful consideration showed him the U.S. military today wasn't about defense. What it was about he couldn't say for sure, but it had more to do with corporate control than defense. He felt lied to by a system that was designed to lie to him and everyone else and he couldn't see changing in his lifetime. That his participation in the military would force him to support with his actions things he could not support. This is an Ivy League guy who was decorated and nearly made the NFL and Olympics. The UT guy talked about very important things. I agree we would all benefit from them. All his underlined parts were about changing the world. He didn't say only the military provided those things, but I think it's worth calling out that you can get them elsewhere, as well as other things you can't get from the military. I'm sure he knows plenty more than I do, but I think my friend had one extra step that I didn't see in that speech about changing the world, something about thinking deeply and considering a bigger picture about the consequences of your actions. I'm sure he thought these things through himself, and I'm sure many soldiers do. Maybe all of them do. If they concluded they were doing right, they have the right to their conclusions. I'm not trying to say he was wrong or that the military is wrong. Everyone has their values. I just didn't see the call to examine your values in the speech. I suspect more people would become conscientious objectors if that message was stronger. Or rather, the government would have to make different decisions if potential soldiers considered bigger pictures than what he talked about.