Is the Military just a Tool only in existence because of a necessary e

[Pisces Axxxxx]

I notice so many civilians and even REMF who joined the Military only because they couldn't find jobs elsewhere and needed to put food on the table,for the free College , or because of mandatory draft (not in the US but in other countries) all seem to agree the Military is just a Tool that exists because it is a necessary evil. They (including Military personnel who are REMFs) all say the Military is a waste of budget spending.

I remember a comment from a gaming forum of some people (who never served) stating that how great one day if no wars would happen so money could be spent on more important stuff like research for scientific advances. Another comment from the same forum stated how since United States, Russia, and other countries have now advanced into space maybe in the very near future the world will put away their arms and instead focus on space exploration.

In a history forum, there was a guy who enlisted in the US Navy years ago and has become disillusioned. He stated his experiences showed him the US Military was not as great as he thought and it is "merely a tool." "Like all tools it can be used for good and bad" in his words.

I even remember I got into an argument with a girl from Singapore last year over the importance of the Military. I didn't know she was from Singapore when we had the argument but I started bringing up facts like how the Military has some of the brightest minds in the country and how many people who join come out as better people.

She laughed out so hard in the chat and began to call how ******* naive I am. When another user told me it isn't as glamorous as I'm making it out, this Singaporean girl responded "Let him join and find out. I attended ROTC when I was in College (in some Singaporean university). So many people think the Military is great" thats all I remember but she went stating about people who actually have enlisted int he Military (Singaporean Military anyway) know just how crappy it is and she speaks of some of her ROTC experiences to show how the Military is just a tool and all the bums and low lives (except for the Officers, Intelligence, and other people outside of Infantry) who can't find jobs to join. She never specifically stated the Military is a tool but her bitter statements about the Military in general you can infer this (even though she only attended ROTC in College and not even the American ROTC but Singapore's version and she is referring to her experiences of Singapore's military, not America's).

This is the general feeling I get in many forums from people who never enlisted. Especially outside the U.S. . But it extends to real life and even Soldiers in non-combat roles-esp. those not RELATED at all with operations like a local base's accounting sector-seem to feel the same way that the Military is "just a tool". And this is coming from what my dad tells me about how the general feeling people in the nearby base feel about the Military (except for the Infantry who really LOVE the Military). He even tells me most of the non-combat workers have only enlisted for jobs or for the GI Bill and really do see the Military as a tool to use but nothing special. As soon as their contract ends, they intend to leave for good.

To a former chat buddy who claims to be from Israel and is currently serving in the IDF ABSOLUTELY ******* hates having to waste 2 years of his life in the IDF, 2 years that can be spent on studying in College to gain credits for a Masters he says. He tells me the Israeli Army is HELL and so many Israelis who are serving only because of the Draft and would avoid it if they could are in low morale. Suicide rates is high. He tells me the Military is JUST a Tool to get rid off the criminals and crooks and make them fight. So many other uneager Israelis draftees agree too. Its only the Israelis who volunteered for the Infantry who take PRIDE in serving the Military and LOVE the Army lifestyle. Most other Israeli draftees think serving in the IDF is HELL.

[Onasander]

I was asked to respond.

 

So.... Singapore has a draft army.... like Israel.

 

Your approaching this with emotion, so your rhetorical needs therefore need to balance out. Balance because emotional states are Monoamine based, and cascade in turn to other states. Emotions have a half life.

 

This kind of statement is designed for a knee jerk reaction. If a person isn't already of that proper state of mind, you'll get the wrong desired reaction, as in me, who just blinks and recalls better phrased and sparced arguments.

 

Because Monoamine Neurochemicals cascade, you gotta steer your audience to a proper position PRIOR to starting your dialectic breakdown. Don't expect us to do it for you.

 

So you begin with a presentaion.... this presentation elicits our attention.... you win a aspect of our reasoning over to you.... then you introduce the contradiction in our thought.... and start pounding at it, against that prior approval to the earlier logic. Make us skeptical and awkward.

 

 

Give it a few weeks, try again.

[caldrail]

Military organisations serve a number of potential functions. Security, politics, social order, employment, etc. The emphasis varies between countries and their agendas/commitments, and even with time, as strategies and policies in the global climate might in one decade require investment, or reductions in another. Whether an armed force has integrity, honour, respect, and such is another matter and often such things are in the eye of the beholder. A soldier might feel wanted and useful within the service and hated by his un-militaristic civilian peers. The reverse could be true. To try and find a strict definition when dealing with opinion and experience in large numbers is never really going to work. You can talk in generral terms I guess - I often do - but there will always be those who see things differently, either because their observations, experiences, or education differ, or simply because they just want to see things from a different perspective. People are like that.

[indianasmith]

As long as mankind exists, there will be a military arm of some sort.  Either to bend other nations to the will of another, or to keep your own nation from being so bent.  Most military organizations are a reflection of the society that creates them, and the social mores of that society.

[caldrail]

Our military nature is the extension of primeval social instincts. Chimpanzee groups have been observed patrolling territory and resorting to predetermined violence to enforce it.

[Onasander]

Is it? It's neither a philosophy or a neurology forum, but I've done alot of w.ork in the metaphysics of violence.

 

Chimpanzees and humans have similar senses, dietary and social needs, and similar bodies, as opposed to Tapirs or Earthworms.

 

We also have the capacity to learn, and our learning is responsive to conditioned response. They, unlike us, lack complex language,traditions of tool making.... their ability to learn is gleaned from direct observation, and flight or fight response. They get hungry like we do, and need reliable sources of food, much like a scavenging hobo.

 

They aren't militant, it's not a conceptual root in ours or theirs to be, just they have less options, we have more.... and learned to be as such seeing how to behave from the older generation.

 

Bonobo chimps don't do this sorta thing, nor do Andorrans or people in Kiribati.

 

We learn it, how to balance space and time.... via categorical selection on a A Priori basis, via the Supplementary Motor Area. It's a Either-Or process....

 

Homo Sapiens have more options. What do you think the Cynics were trying to show in pointing out the dialectics discourse and preconceived assumptions were rubbish for?

 

Our genetics don't boil down to the dumbest common denomination, but in our highest capacity to bend, mend, and assert new forms of resolution. We are tool makers and problem solvers, apply your genius to solutions, and not luxury, and you'll find many of our hardest problems seem so much easier.