I heard that phrase the other day at work and at the time all I did was give a mental hooa and go on with what I was doing. It didnt strike me until much later to wonder what a civilian would think if they heard that. What do you? I also wonder if the underlying mentality that phrase embodies is dangerous for the society that the military culture serves, is it destabilizing? Or does it serve to bolster that society and protect it (which is my belief, but then I would). A bit of background, my job is in a mobile Control and Reporting Center, basically we find a war, set up a radar and communications site, and control airborne assets against air or ground targets, kind of like a air traffic control tower with a lot more explosions. I have to admit, I love my job. If this is in the wrong forum I apologize, my thoughts are that it is a sociology type of question.
What civilization lacks warrior classes, professions or castes? The warrior poses no danger to a society provided that the leadership is sound. Does the leadership of this warrior's society have a reputation for personal responsibility and good judgement, someone of widely accepted quality in character?
Heh, no I'm not going to comment on Bush and turn this into a political shouting match, however I will say that the upper levels of military leadership generally know their craft very well. I want to know what direct effect the US military has on the US society and culture, the US military is a culture composed of Extremely well trained individuals who are capable and eager to use their skills. What effect do the individuals who leave the military and move on to civilian life? I would surmise it has a maturing and strengthening effect.
Don't take any my later comments the wrong way. I am ignorant though direct experience of the military. However, over the years I have known a number of military personnel within the UK and US armed forces. I also have an interest in military history. From these bases I believe military personnel can prove to be excellent managers and implementers. They will get things done. They are well motivated. They take a positive attitude to problems. However, I would not look to the vast majority of ex-military personnel for creative thinking, or imaginative solutions. This, by the nature of military culture, is not something that is well developed.
"I would surmise it has a maturing and strengthening effect." Any man who says "I get paid to break things and kill people, what more could a man want?" is clearly neither mature, nor strong
Perhaps, but it is a statement of pragmatic realism, even if it doesn't sound cute or look attractive on television. I prefer this depth of honesty in a leader to the present bumper crop of irrational dual-reality evangelicals who seem to live in their own little fantasy world bubble, disconnected with the rest of the world which pays the price for their messianic Mickey Mouse policies.
so, do you believe that most guys would be happy if their life consisted entirely of breaking things and killing people? would you be happy with that?
Such people, aside from the criminally insane, who have always been shunned or outright slaughtered by society, do not now nor ever have existed. That was a straw man argument anyways. My advise is to watch less television and Hollywood drama and also to shun beliefs.
Aside from a tiny minority of the population - criminally insane. Why did you selectively butcher my statement and call it an apparent contradiction? alain would have us believe that it is commonplace for people to mysteriously become rampaging sociopaths and I wanted to assure him that real life is not like the movie "Natural Born Killers" or "The Matrix"
Coming from a Military family I see this all the time. Many people dont understand that Military men and women are trained to fight. That is why we have military branches that secure our country on land, in water, the sky and so on. These men and women are told to do what they have to inorder to keep our country safe. I understand it is a messed up way of looking at it by stating I love my job because I break and kill crap but think about it if our service members did not fight, kill, destory stuff where would that leave us? I wish I could say that America has the ability to becaome a utopia but thats BS. If you go around hoping that the world will fix itself reality will punch you in the face with an iron fist. ok question time... who would you say enjoys killing more our service members, who come back from war often times accompanied by multiple mental issues, or Hitler, who slaughtered thoasands of innocent people because they were different?
Post the name of the person who said that where you work and I will make sure that he is arrested immediately.
That phrase "break things and kill people" is an extremely common one in combat units, I've used it myself on many occasions. It is used to drive home the point to our young airmen that the whole purpose of your job is to employ lethal violence when called upon, if you can't handle that you're in the wrong job. We are a profession of arms, simple as that. In a recent briefing I gave before we rotated to Iraq this last time I stated "You have to be prepared to look somebody straight in the eyes, and put a bullet between them." Having to face issues like that forces people to grow up in a hurry, the US military trains their people to kill not in a emotional storm of hate or fear (you'll miss anyway), but in rational cold blood because this particular killing is necessary. Having been in most of the most hellish places on the planet in the last 21 years I think I have a pretty good perspective on the difference between most of the world and the US. People in the US have absolutely no idea the sheer incredible luxury even our poor live in, much less our middle class. The world generally is a nasty, dirty, short lived, disease infested, damn dangerous shithole with a whole lot of guns. There are pockets of nice living; North America, western Europe, Australia, Japan, Taiwan and a sparse few arabic and asian countries but thats about it. The US populace is so insulated from reality that it scares me. I've often thought that everybody in the US (male and female) should go through some form of boot camp at age 18, no exceptions other than medical. I think the discipline imposed and the adversity encountered would do the country a world of good. I've noticed that people do not really grow up until they encounter adversity and overcome it on their own merit. From what I've seen most of the US populace is a pack of over-pampered, prissy, ignorant, kids (regardless of their actual age).
It's appalling how ignorant Americans are of the real world. I'm going to a liberal arts school in Virginia where most of the kids are from Northern Virginia. Middle to upper-middle class, socially conscious, but very naive, and exposed to very little adversity. They constantly complain about the most trivial things. Constantly. Like the cafetaria food (which is actually quite good for caf food). There are billions of people who can't get a decent meal, and you're complaining about the crust of your pizza? The incongruency between their supposed sympathy with all the other people in the world who didn't luck out and get born into a DC suburb and their snobbery is... rediculous.
That would take care of our problems..but sadly we live in a country of pansys who whine when things get hard instead of killing the problem.
