Can we now stop treating the military like they are singularly special

[edhopper]

Last edited Sat Mar 28, 2020, 08:25 PM - Edit history (1)

Yes they deserve thanks for the job they do.
But it is all too apparent now that many others put their lives on the line to protect us.
Is the service and sacrifice that our Health Care workers are doing now to keep us alive any less worthy of honor and commendation?
The military is just one sector among many in our society that keeps us safe and sound.
I pledge allegence to the Nurses and Doctors, to the Fire Fighters and rescue workers, to the Police and the Teachers.
Primacy of the military has placed our resources in the wrong place. We pay for that today.

[Ferrets are Cool]

1. I've been saying it for years and years.

In my little pea brain, I put firefighters first, then teachers, then the medical profession, then law enforcement, followed by the military. I'm sure I left a few out.
Yes, we spend exorbitant amounts of tax money on a military that is already bloated. Mostly for two reasons...it reduces the unemployment numbers and it makes the military industrial complex richer.

[dware]

2. ......

I've been putting my life on the line for my country for my whole professional career, first with the U.S. Marine Corps, then as a truck driver.
Your thread insults me as a Marine.

[edhopper]

5. And you deserve

thanks for both services. But when we put the military above all others, we do a disservice to everyone else and make our priorities skewed.

Should Colin Kaepernicks protest been made about dishonoring the military, when it had nothing to do with that.

Why aren't the DRs and RNs looked on just as brave as people in the military?

[dware]

8. Ok, I will concede that you have a ligitimate point,

but to be fair, truck drivers, nurses, Dr's, and a whole range of other professions are being recognized for their bravery and services during this crises.

Sorry for the snark.

[edhopper]

9. One hopes

And my dislike of our military culture is not directed at the service men and women.

[dware]

10. Thank you.

I received a lot of shit after I came home from Vietnam, even from my own family, it's a very sensitive subject for me when I think someone is bashing the men and women who served, which you, in retrospect, didn't do.

[qwlauren35]

3. We are in an unusual situation.

Our doctors and nurses and caregivers are not usually risking their lives.

I feel for them - I don't think they signed up for this, but they are stepping up with "uncommon valor".

[edhopper]

6. The large majority in the military are not risking there lives either

they do necessary work, but not life threatening.

[questionseverything]

31. i think it would be an unusual day at the er that no infectious diseases came thro?

so I would suggest they risk their lives on a reg basis

[Blue_true]

39. I agree. nt

[Caliman73]

4. We don't even value the men and women who serve.

We thank them and venerate the idea of them, but the bulk of our money for the military goes to buying weapons that they hardly ever use. It certainly doesn't go to paying them well. The average salary of a private is about 24 thousand a year with a sergeant making about 38 thousand.

We are told to "honor" the military specifically for the purpose of politicians sending them off to wars that do not need to be fought and spending a ton of money on equipment.

We don't really seem to care about our veterans either.

[edhopper]

7. This is also true

[harumph]

17. You are exactly right - the big $$ go to new gadgets

to funnel the money to contractors who have connections on the hill.
A cursory search would reveal that maintenance and supplies and
housing for everyday soldiers and sailors is woefully inadequate.

[A HERETIC I AM]

11. Nope. Sorry. No we can't.

Americans are just about the most brainwashed people on earth, and they have been convinced from an early age that there is nothing more supreme than our ability to kick the ever loving shit out of anyone, anywhere.

As George Carlin said, oh so many years ago;

"We can't build a decent car or a TV or a VCR in this country...., but we sure as hell can bomb the hell out of your country alright."

If you don't think we're brainwashed, just start talking in a crowd and say that it isn't necessary to put your hand over your heart for the special song, or salute the sacred sky cloth, or that capitalism isn't the best thing ever. Just try it. See how long it takes till you are swarmed by people spouting the same, inane, thoughtless rhetoric you have heard for 50 years.

[edhopper]

12. My OP was more "aspirational"

as they say.

[A HERETIC I AM]

15. LOL.....

Yeah...I kinda picked that ball up and ran right out of the stadium with it, didn't I?


LOL....Sorry. I'm just a little crabby.

[edhopper]

27. Not at all

it probably sounded that way.

[Ferrets are Cool]

36. Great post

[A HERETIC I AM]

37. Thanks for that

[jberryhill]

13. But you neglect all of the freedoms the military has won for us

For example, think of all the battles the military fought so that women could vote, or how many missions they carried out so that businesses finally surrendered to them and served people of all races.

[edhopper]

14. Right

I forgot about those. Gay marriage, right to choose all great victories from battle.
Can't wait for them to win Universal Healthcare.

[radius777]

41. Exactly. All countries have a military

that will fight for their country whatever the country believes.

It's not to discount the sacrifices that our military people make - but what makes what they fight for mean anything is what we believe/stand for, and that is determined by we the people.

Heros are everyday people who fight for what's right, like Rosa Parks.

Note how the Right constantly went after Obama for being a 'community organizer' - when such people are heros - but the Right doesn't see it that way. Only a white man with a gun is a hero in their minds.

[Skittles]

16. let me guess, you did not grow up as a GI brat and you never served

do NOT lecture us about SACRIFICE

[Amishman]

18. A bit more blunt than I would have phrased it, but I agree

The armed services should always be held in a special regard.

[Skittles]

19. and I VERY MUCH respect our doctors, nurses, first responders

yes INDEED

[edhopper]

22. I realized my title was off

so I edited to "singularly special"
If you read, I am not saying service people don't deserve respect.

[edhopper]

26. With the same regard ae the military?

When any slight or protest to is called "disrespecting the military" to shut down debate?

Not equal respect at all.

[Skittles]

28. enough already

you're using coronavirus to trash the military

DONE HERE

[edhopper]

29. That's fine

But i am not trashing the military. I am trashing the unquestionable podium they are places on in this country.

[Ferrets are Cool]

38. No, this is a fabulous thread

You can always mute it

[sammythecat]

43. What does growing up a GI brat

have to do with sacrifice? Being jerked around from place to place while growing up would be hard. No doubt about that. But what choice did you have? I had a fucked up childhood I wouldn't want to relive but there wasn't anything I could do about it. I didn't cause my circumstance and didn't know how to change it. Just had to live with it. I made no sacrifice. I WAS the sacrifice. Just as it is with many kids. Nothing unusual there.

As for serving, I didn't have to, didn't want to, so I didn't. Others didn't have to, but they wanted to, so they did. Whether someone did or didn't, they chose what was best for themselves.

[denbot]

44. Skittles is also one of our DU vets.

Watching her father serve, she knew what she was signing up for, and did it anyway. Like it or not it’s something that somebody has to do. Those of us who serve in enough numbers, keep your ass from being drafted and dumped in Iraq, Afghanistan, or any of the dozen or so places service people lose their lives so you don’t have too.

We don’t do it for your thanks, but please show a little restraint concerning what others do in your stead.

[EllieBC]

48. Thank you, Skittles.

For giving up your civil rights and serving.

No thank you, keyboard warriors, for keeping things safe with excessive use of hyperbole.

[HarlanPepper]

20. I didn't realize it was a competition.

[edhopper]

23. There are those

who place the military above all else. Yes it is, for resources and money. How much health care would our military budget get us?

[HarlanPepper]

25. Ok

[greenjar_01]

21. I'm with you

Food supply chain workers do much more to keep me "safe" than any wacky military adventurism in the Middle east. People gonna have a pout about that, but it's manifestly true. Meanwhile, we have virtual religious services at baseball games for our brave men and women etc. Thumping our craws, standing and sitting more than a Irish mass.

Basta.

Enough already.

[BigDemVoter]

32. THANK YOU.

That needed to be said.

[edhopper]

33. you're welcome

some don't agree

[Jake Stern]

34. Ruh roh

You tweaked America's sacred cow: the military. The responses are just about what I figured they would be.

[edhopper]

35. some get it

Some prove it

[cwydro]

46. I'm a vet.

It was interesting to see your point proved by others.

And I hear what you’re saying.

[edhopper]

50. Yes! This isn't about vet's or service people

who deserve our respect. It's about a blind patriotism that makes war the be all and end all of what our country is.

[cwydro]

53. Like I said.

I heard what you were saying.

And others proved your point without their even realizing it.

Maybe I wasn’t clear.

[edhopper]

54. You were clear

I just was pontificating further off of your agreement. I appreciate your reply. Added a "Yes!" to my response.

[cwydro]

57. Lol, no worries...I'm a bit bleary-eyed today.

Time to get out of the house, I think!

[McCamy Taylor]

40. They are special. They give up their civil rights to serve us. They cannot make free moral decisions

They have no OSHA. They will often never know exactly what hazards they endured during their tour of duty because it is a national secret. They give up freedom of speech---because of national security. They are forced to kill, even though this may be a violation of their conscience. If they are ordered to "push the button" they have to push the button. I know one veteran whose PTSD started when he watched the evening news and saw dead children's bodies in a site he had just bombed.

[edhopper]

45. You mean the 10% in the military

that ever are in a combat situation?

[EllieBC]

47. Wow. Imagine trying to function with the weight of such

a chip on your shoulder.

[edhopper]

49. okay

whatever

[Demonaut]

51. when you served did people ever thank you for your service?

I've made it a point to thank nurses, doctors and teachers for their service long before this event

[edhopper]

55. That is good

I did not serve, does that invalidate my point?

[Demonaut]

58. somewhat, you offer a limited point of view

some of us have a family tradition of military service, I feel awkward when I'm thanked, I think most veterans do.

[SWBTATTReg]

52. Yes. And in addition, with this primacy of the military, since we've been paying over 600-700

$billion dollars into this program on a year in, year out basis. Where are all of the benefits to the rest of us in this country? The military should be brimming over w/ supplies, w/ medical stuff, w/ everything, we all, as taxpayers paid for and not subject to dispersal of the whims of this idiot president (defective respirators to the state of CA, very limited number of PPE to Michigan vs. Maine, etc.) Rump doesn't own this stuff either. Quit playing games.

[edhopper]

56. The benefit?

we have not fought a single war that actually "kept us safe or free" since 1945.

[DBoon]

59. I want to see parking spaces reserved for first responders

some businesses have these for military, we should extend this to civilians who place their lives at risk for our benefit