I take it the man practiced without a helmut.
Keep our slaves safe
By Reggie Rivers
Our military is one of the last bastions of slavery in the United States. At the moment, our slaves are stuck in a combat zone, getting killed and maimed, and there's nothing they can do about it except hunker down and pray.
Yes, our slaves signed up of their own free will, but most of them were as misled about their job as the rest of us were about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
And I don't think "slave" is too strong a word to describe someone who is not permitted to quit his job no matter how dangerous it becomes or how much he hates it. For most of us, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery and guaranteed that we have the right to withhold our labor. It doesn't protect soldiers.
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,...176706,00.html
I take it the man practiced without a helmut.
Typing without taking your meds can be a dangerous thing. [img]graemlins/whatever.gif[/img]
Fuck this guy! I was never a slave. To even play that game is fucking stupid.
Hi(Reason),
Thanks for the message. I'm sure that some soldiers are happy to be in Iraq, and I'm sure that some feel a duty to serve their agreed terms. But I'd bet that most soldiers are like the rest of us. If they had the choice, they would quit a job the moment it became too dangerous. I'm not criticizing soldiers, because I believe they are brave, hard-working individuals who do the best they can in often impossible situations.
My criticism is aimed at policies that make military service compulsory, no matter how unattractive it becomes.
If your boss (at whatever job you currently hold) asked you to relocate to the Iraq office, leave your family, possibly throw your personal finances into disarray and risk death or injury, would you do it? Or would you quit your job and find another one?
Most of us would put our families before our careers. Most of us wouldn't deliberately accept a job in a war zone. You may believe that soldiers have some gene that makes them different from the rest of us, but research shows that more than 80 percent of the people who join the military actively seek non-combat positions. That suggests they're like the rest of us. They have no desire to get shot at. They want to come home to their families at night.
Sadly, people who join the U.S. Military become slaves, because they're not allowed to quit their jobs. Most serve bravely and try to make the best of a bad situation, but where they get sent, how long they stay there and whether they die is usually out of their control. They're not like the rest of us, because they can't exercise free choice about where they live and the work that they do. If they quit they face dishonorable discharge, lengthy investigations, accusations of cowardice, difficulty finding future employment, possibly court marshal and possible prison terms.
The military also has instituted stop-loss policies to keep people from getting out of the service after their terms are up. Men and women who have served more than 20 years and have firm release dates are being told that they can't get out. They have to stay for another year, or two, or three. So even when people have done everything they agreed to do and they're ready to move on with the next part of their lives, the military is reluctant to let them escape.
You and I can quit our jobs. The President can quit. Secretaries Rumsfeld and Powell can quit. Members of Congress can quit. But soldiers have many barriers that force them to stay in the face of bullets and bombs whether they want to or not.
If that's not slavery, I don't know what is.
Thanks again,
Reggie
I served because I believed there were things worth fighting for. I didn't join because of college money or job training. I joined because that's what you're supposed to do when you believe in your country and want to serve it.
I joined the Rangers because I wanted to. I fought in Grenada because my country told me to and I serve my country.
People like Reggie Rivers will never understand that.
Sorry, I just don't buy the job v. military analogy.
Those of us with regular jobs (as opposed to those with military jobs) are trading our skills for pay. When I took my job, it was for an indefinite amount of time, with the private sector understanding that I could leave if I wanted to, or my boss could terminate me if he wanted to. That's the way it is.
Military service is a horse of a different color. When one joins, one agrees to a certain amount of time.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hmmm... So I suppose that all of us with mortgages or plans for a vacation or college for the kids or whatever it is we're working for are also "slaves"?Sadly, people who join the U.S. Military become slaves, because they're not allowed to quit their jobs.
The whole thing is hogwash.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yes, we are. It is the essential element that keeps the working class working [img]graemlins/smarty.gif[/img]Hmmm... So I suppose that all of us with mortgages or plans for a vacation or college for the kids or whatever it is we're working for are also "slaves"?
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yes, we are. It is the essential element that keeps the working class working [img]graemlins/smarty.gif[/img] </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">No we are not, I can walk anytime I want. I work because I want to enjoy a certain quality of life.Originally posted by Sea Gull:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hmmm... So I suppose that all of us with mortgages or plans for a vacation or college for the kids or whatever it is we're working for are also "slaves"?
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yes, we are. It is the essential element that keeps the working class working [img]graemlins/smarty.gif[/img] </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">No we are not, I can walk anytime I want. I work because I want to enjoy a certain quality of life.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Amen. You make choices. I no longer have a car payment, and my goal is to never again have a car payment. Next is my home improvement debt. In fewer than 10 months, it's gone. That leaves only my mortgage, which is rather low, and I expect to have that paid off in fewer than 10 years.Originally posted by travelinman:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Sea Gull:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hmmm... So I suppose that all of us with mortgages or plans for a vacation or college for the kids or whatever it is we're working for are also "slaves"?
You don't need to be a slave to your mortgage or your car, or a host of any other things you can spend money on.
I could go even farther, and be like my Florida friend, and chuck it all - Sell the house, buy an RV, travel with the weather, and make ends meet by string of low-skill part time jobs after working for years as a highly-paid chemical engineer.
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