The military is struggling to recruit, amid an apparent disconnect with the younger generation. But it is a complex picture.
  • Alien Nathan Edward@lemm.ee
    181·
    8 months ago

    why in the fuck would any sane person sign up to die in a failed attempt to implement some shitty politician’s whim half a world away? no one has fought for America in decades, they fight for the aristocrats.

  • tryplot@kbin.social
    17·
    8 months ago

    A country is supposed to provide 4 things to it’s citizens, and the united states are failing on all 4.

    1. food: “We are in danger of running out of food,” said Vince Hall, Feeding America’s chief government relations officer. “We are doing everything we can to avert a major hunger crisis.

    2. safe to drink water: Nearly half of the tap water in the US is contaminated with ‘forever chemicals,’ government study finds

    3. shelter: Homelessness rates have been climbing nationally by about 6% every year since 2017, the alliance said.

    4. safety: The record 48,830 total gun deaths in 2021 reflect a 23% increase since 2019

    additionally, nearly every fundamental system (education, healthcare, insurance, car-dependent city designs, etc.) within the united states is designed to take everything away (or restrict access to everything) from it’s citizens through poverty, thus making the above problems exponentially worse.

    What is there to fight for?

  • phikshun@infosec.pub
    13·
    8 months ago

    You’ll end up with PTSD, divorced and homeless, but think of all the brown people you’ll get to kill in the name of our Lord and Savior, Walt Disney.

  • callouscomic@lemm.eeEnglish
    141·
    8 months ago

    Ah well, soldiers haven’t fought for their country for decades. Instead they’ve been fighting for the interest of industrialized military, and the whims of politicians.

    • originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com
      6·
      8 months ago

      the american military-industrical complex is little more than a welfare/jobs program for americans with profits made overseas while at home were prostetlized that were ‘defending’ ourselves with overt patriotism

      its absolutely revolting, and it boggles my mind how anyone in the military can find this a good thing for humanity.

    • kent_eh@lemmy.caEnglish
      1·
      8 months ago

      … And its 1, 2,3 what are we fighting for?

      Don’t ask me I don’t give a damn,

      The next stop is Vietnam,

      And its 5, 6,7 open up the pearly gates,

      Well there ain’t no time to wonder why,

      WHOOPEE we’re all gonna die

  • AmberPrince@kbin.social
    11·
    8 months ago

    Eustice, who served 26 years in the Minnesota National Guard, noted that young adults were the military’s prime target for new recruits—currently Generation Z, or those born after 1997—and argued that growing up in the internet age had made them used to “immediate gratification.”

    Oh look, another out of touch boomer. ItS tHoSe DaMn CeLlPhOnEs! Gen Z grew up watching America get involved in, then stay involved in, a deeply unpopular war. Gen Z grew up in an age where you can fact check someone on the spot and it makes it that much harder for recruiters to lie. They grew up in an age where half of the government is trying to drag the country backwards by any means.

    I am in the military. I overheard my leadership talking with a woman who wanted to get out. When they asked her why she said it was because of the Roe V Wade decision. “Why would I fight for a country that won’t fight for me?” I don’t blame her.

    • SkyeStarfall@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      5·
      8 months ago

      A person saying kids don’t want to join the military because they’re too used to “instant gratification” is some of the most obnoxious shit I have ever heard lmao

      If someone went up to me and said that, I’d tell them to go fuck themselves and leave, because fuck all of that.

  • BigMacHole@lemm.ee
    143·
    8 months ago

    That’s because Democrats are brainwashing people to hate their country and has absolutely nothing to do with Republicans voting AGAINST any and all help for veterans, Republicans constantly stopping service member pay with government shutdowns, billionaires killing us so they can make an extra dollar, billionaires using us to do dangerous tasks for minimal pay or Republicans voting to dismantle the VA. It’s OBVIOUSLY the Democrats fault!

    • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
      92·
      8 months ago

      Korea, too.

      And dozens of “minor” conflicts in South America and Africa over the years (for example, task force ranger and the battle of Mogadishu… as imortalozed in black hawk down,)

      Yeah. Us military might as well be fighting for big corporations.

      • TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee
        1·
        8 months ago

        Korea was not as disheartening as the other 3 on that list. Gulf War would be the next example. In Korean War the US had a major victory, created a long term ally, and the soldiers were met with overwhelming positivity that continues to this day. (At least among the older generations… younger Americans are making an ass of themselves in Korea now and drawing more ire).

    • vamp07@lemm.eeEnglish
      83·
      8 months ago

      When people go on and on about fighting for our freedom, I’m at a loss as to exactly what they’re talking about.

  • cybermass@lemmy.ca
    11·
    8 months ago

    I mean why would someone want to fight for a country that doesn’t care about them?

  • watson387@sopuli.xyz
    10·
    8 months ago

    Killing brown people so the oligarchy can exploit their natural resources is not fighting for your country.

  • Numberone@startrek.website
    9·
    8 months ago

    I mean when we watch decades of wars that kill thousands of American’s and MILLIONS of people in their own countries for no reason, maybe we need a little additional justification rather than “fight for your country”. Nah! Probably just the fault of the “instant gratification” generations being selfish again.

    We see more, and trust less now. Seems like a good first order explanation to me anyway.

  • alienanimals@lemmy.world
    123·
    8 months ago

    This lie is akin to “No one wants to work anymore”

    It’s not remotely true. It’s just some bullshit the employer says when they’re not paying enough and they treat their employees like shit.

    • friend_of_satan@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      8 months ago

      I don’t think this is true. I lived in a big military town and not fighting for an America whose policies I didn’t agree with was one reason I avoided the military when so many of my friends and classmates joined and served.

      Nobody joins the military because they want a job where they are treated well. Pay and benefits definitely factor into it big time though, and are probably the main reason my late brother joined. He and I talked about how that is effectively mercenary though. Of course there are a lot of great things in America to join the military and defend, and we still do have a lot of freedoms that other countries do not, but it’s pretty clear that it’s not what it used to be. America isn’t even in the top 10 on the human freedom index (we’re 14th). https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/freedom-index-by-country

  • theodewere@kbin.social
    9·
    8 months ago

    i won’t fight for people who voted for Trump… not ever, for any reason… i won’t protect you people from any enemy…