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Berkeley and the Marines
JazzyJoe:
On protesting the military/recruiters:
Protesters are people that can't find anything better to do. The military is a useful tool for our generation. It's a way out of poverty for many people and a way to pay for school for others, just you have the higher chance of dieing while getting what you want. Also it does the little thing of making sure Canada doesn't invade the US (Harder then you think. They train with bears.... BEARS!) People say its a right to be able to protest the military... a cornerstone for EVERY successful country? Then they can fend for themselves. Keep in mind this is coming from a person that is currently loosing weight so he can join the Army, grew up in a town with a air base in it, has MANY military friends and friends that come from military families.
On recruiters:
Yeah some recruiters are underhanded... recruiters are salesmen, they have quotas to fill. Dumber people will be taken advantage of. That never happens in any other walk of life right? Right?... In fact I was in my recruiters office and another recruiter was trying to pull me away from the branch office I was waiting in. Also the marines there were classic jarheads... dumb as a stump.
KvP:
--- Quote from: RedLion on 18 Feb 2008, 19:06 ---A lot of their recruiting tactics are underhanded and big on bullshit, though. Two of them more or less burst into my high-school band class two years ago and started talking about how we should all join the army band because "no one in the band gets sent overseas, seriously." My dad's a retired Colonel, and when I went home, I questioned him about that, and his response was "Shit. What? Those are always the first people to go overseas. They're not doing any important work; they're dispensable."
--- End quote ---
They don't see much combat, though. My best friend from high school's an official Army bassist (whatever the fuck that is) and he mostly just hooks up with other musicians in the service to play and waits until he gets his money.
usmcnavgeek:
--- Quote from: a pack of wolves on 18 Feb 2008, 18:50 ---This isn't really what it's about though. The problem isn't just dodgy tactics being used by the US armed forces to recruit people, it's what they do once they're in the armed forces that people are so against.
--- End quote ---
Militaries are a necessity in our world. If you are a country, you need a military, lest other countries go 'hey I like your stuff' and roll on in. This is an unfortunate fact of our global society. If you find the concept of a military distasteful, then, well, sorry, but this is the world we live in, and protesting a recruitment office is not going to fix it. I will admit to not being a proponent of the Iraq war. I don't like to see my friends get killed for what I feel is no good reason. I, unfortunately, do not get to decide where and when the military gets sent. But I can vote for people who do have that power, and I can make sure those I vote for know my opinions by communicating with them. You could make a case for this protesting being communication, but it's not a useful form of it (as can be seen by Congress' reply)
--- Quote from: a pack of wolves on 18 Feb 2008, 18:50 ---Perhaps Congress should look into why people are so appalled with the activities of their own country's armed forces that they wish to remove recruitment centres instead of withdrawing funding from unrelated activities as an act of revenge.
--- End quote ---
I think Congress is well aware of the growing public distaste of the Iraq war. You'd have to be an idiot not to be, by now (but I suppose some of them...). Still, I stand by my opinion.
--- Quote from: JazzyJoe on 18 Feb 2008, 19:15 ---Also the marines there were classic jarheads... dumb as a stump.
--- End quote ---
Hey, I resemble that remark.
As for recruiters...I could never do that job. I agree that some recruiters resort to 'underhanded' tactics. But not nearly all; for every 'underhanded' recruiter you have ten who go exactly by the book. You just have to realize that 'the book' says to keep trying to contact potential applicants until you've been explicitly told no, I do not now or ever want to join the armed services. And all those cheesy football tosses, chin up bars, or whatever? All that is for is visibility; to get the Marines out and seen. Recruiting is half advertisement, half salesmanship.
Heck, the Blue Angels' sole purpose? Recruiting. The Navy has an entire precision flight demo team at the cost of umpteen million dollars in training and equipment, and the Marines have their show C-130 and crew, and why? To get seen, and get the idea that 'hey, that's cool, maybe I might want to do something like that' into the heads of people.
JazzyJoe:
Sorry usmcnavgeek, but I have run into too many USMC grunts that were unbearably dumb or annoying to respect the current generation of grunts. However a few ex-marines I have talked to were really cool.
negative creep:
I'm so glad I'm not a country.
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