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Who serves in US Military
SFGbob
Member Posts: 32,210
in Tug Tavern
1. “American soldiers are more educated than their peers. A little more than 1 percent of enlisted personnel lack a high-school degree, compared to 21 percent of men 18 to 24 years old [in the general population].”
2. “Contrary to conventional wisdom, minorities are not overrepresented in the military service.”
3. “The facts do not support the belief that many American soldiers volunteer because society offers them few opportunities. The average enlisted person or officer could have had lucrative career opportunities in the private sector.”
If the report has one significant ideological point to make, it’s that military participation has a huge patriotic/service component that is commonly overlooked, especially in portions of the country where military representation is far below average. (In the Northeast, for instance, the recruit-to-population ratio is just 0.73, compared to 1.19 in the South.)
https://www.heritage.org/defense/report/who-serves-the-us-military-the-demographics-enlisted-troops-and-officers
2. “Contrary to conventional wisdom, minorities are not overrepresented in the military service.”
3. “The facts do not support the belief that many American soldiers volunteer because society offers them few opportunities. The average enlisted person or officer could have had lucrative career opportunities in the private sector.”
If the report has one significant ideological point to make, it’s that military participation has a huge patriotic/service component that is commonly overlooked, especially in portions of the country where military representation is far below average. (In the Northeast, for instance, the recruit-to-population ratio is just 0.73, compared to 1.19 in the South.)
https://www.heritage.org/defense/report/who-serves-the-us-military-the-demographics-enlisted-troops-and-officers
Comments
But wow seriously, the military has less high school dropouts? That’s so impressive. I mean they don’t accept high school dropouts but that wouldn’t make those numbers complete bullshit or anything.
A lot of straight men with nothing better to do, and no better prospects out of high school, look to the military as a default landing spot. It's the fucking truth dude. Like it or not.
It's the fucking truth dude!!!!
If it was all about facts it wouldn’t need wild speculation about patriotism that’s backed up by zero evidence. People from the northeast have more money than people from the south, people from the northeast enlist at a lower rate than people from the south. So, patriotism then? Too be fair, the south does have a wonderful patriotic history being traitors to America and fighting a war because they wanted to own other Americans.
The apology comes two days after Kerry told college students that if "you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
A lot of straight men with nothing better to do, and no better prospects out of high school, look to the military as a default landing spot.
It is a place for legions and legions of kids coming out of high school with no better options to land.
From the Pew Research Center:
And this on affluence from the Council on Foreign Relations:
A few observations. With 19% coming from income levels up to $38,344, I probably can just rest my case. With another 21% coming from income levels under $50,000, I rest it more. Only 17% come from the $80K or higher category. The middle three quintiles are overrepresented. Call it firmly middle class. Don't call it middle and upper class. And was this a big surprise to anyone? I didn't say they were all starving and dirty poor. I said that it provides a landing pad for a lot of kids who have no better prospects coming out of high school. And it does.
The stories for why the military is the best option for a kid coming out of HS are as varied as the people. I knew and know a lot of them. Most made good lives for themselves; many didn't. Many wanted to get married right out of high school and jumped into an organization that completely supported that. Many weren't ready for college. Many didn't want to go to college and had no other compelling career calling or opportunity. Many wanted to go to college but didn't have the money. And many always wanted to do it. It's all over the place. There's no judgment here. Only hurt feelings, apparently.
College is expensive. Middle income families struggle to pay for their kids to get it. Look at the numbers that define middle income. There the military helps again with funding.
If your bogie here is that enlisted military are more likely to have a high school diploma, I don't think that compromises my position at all. I had always assumed you needed a diploma or at least a GED to enlist, which may not even be true.
The point is that this is ALL funded by taxpayers. All of it. And we haven't even begun to touch the legendary waste that goes with a huge government bureaucracy. I know guys who can tell stories about military budgets that would make DSHS in Olympia seem like it was run by PE investors in comparison.
When you slipped in a post on the Duck board, I thought that was you. But now that you're all upset that I pointed out that your pet government program is also a social program you're bleeding and thereby give yourself away.
#OBKneverleft
Now why do they have no better options in your mind?
And spare me the 3,000 word response
And you also believe that we intentionally fund the military to give these dumb kids with no better options something to do.
Sad. Sad, really.
I know that they have no better options in the same way you know what I believe or what I meant when I wrote this or that. It's the same way you know what all Rats really think and what left wing people are really up to. That way.
We're special, you and me. We can divine these things. It's a gift.
And fuck off with telling me how to post unless you want to meet me at 7-11 and force the issue. Otherwise, when your attention span has run its course, just stop reading and quit whining.
Your 'man of logic' routine has really taken a hit on this subject. When someone hurts your feelings you are as transparent as a middle school girl who didn't get invited to the sleepover.
Go back to picking on Hondo.