as someone in their mid 40s, there’s a reason they target 15+ for recruitment. 30 years ago I bought in to all that bullshit.
if I was drafted today to fight an unwinnable war for the rich, you’re damn right I’m playing it cool until I can get a grenade in the same tent or vehicle as a bunch of flag officers.
That’s been an idea I’ve had for a long time but never really confirmed it, that main part of recruiting younger people. My uncle got drafted to go to Vietnam after he was already 30 and he despised it. I’ve only known two types of veterans: people who knew from birth they wanted to be a soldier, and older people who did it simply as a job or family pressure. That first group I’ve known have all ended up racist chuds, the second group all hate war now or they simply don’t talk about it.
Younger people are consistently the most bright eyed and willing to believe liars. They assume the best of everything, they assume everything is good-faith until proven otherwise. You don’t just see this with military but with younger people supporting liberals in europe as well, they believe their bullshit as long as it’s presented in an astute and professional-ish way like they’re used to from their academic setting.
Those reaching late thirties and early forties get over the bright-eyed shit through life experience. They’ve seen how much lying there is.
Also I think young people often lack the life experiences to start thinking outside the dominant ideology. I remember being a teen and believing everything pop history told me about communism even if I had a very strong anti-establishment biais and already hated capitalism. It took meeting with maoists during uni to start questioning bourgeois myths
This is true but a lot of people carry this way into even their late twenties. I see younger people getting abused in the workplace the most because they’re often naive, believe bosses who are stringing them along and don’t realise how much they’re getting fucked. They’re poor advocates for themselves who often believe just working hard is enough… To their own detriment.
as someone in their mid 40s, there’s a reason they target 15+ for recruitment. 30 years ago I bought in to all that bullshit.
if I was drafted today to fight an unwinnable war for the rich, you’re damn right I’m playing it cool until I can get a grenade in the same tent or vehicle as a bunch of flag officers.
That’s been an idea I’ve had for a long time but never really confirmed it, that main part of recruiting younger people. My uncle got drafted to go to Vietnam after he was already 30 and he despised it. I’ve only known two types of veterans: people who knew from birth they wanted to be a soldier, and older people who did it simply as a job or family pressure. That first group I’ve known have all ended up racist chuds, the second group all hate war now or they simply don’t talk about it.
Younger people are consistently the most bright eyed and willing to believe liars. They assume the best of everything, they assume everything is good-faith until proven otherwise. You don’t just see this with military but with younger people supporting liberals in europe as well, they believe their bullshit as long as it’s presented in an astute and professional-ish way like they’re used to from their academic setting.
Those reaching late thirties and early forties get over the bright-eyed shit through life experience. They’ve seen how much lying there is.
Also I think young people often lack the life experiences to start thinking outside the dominant ideology. I remember being a teen and believing everything pop history told me about communism even if I had a very strong anti-establishment biais and already hated capitalism. It took meeting with maoists during uni to start questioning bourgeois myths
This is true but a lot of people carry this way into even their late twenties. I see younger people getting abused in the workplace the most because they’re often naive, believe bosses who are stringing them along and don’t realise how much they’re getting fucked. They’re poor advocates for themselves who often believe just working hard is enough… To their own detriment.