Re: The Axis Grows

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1


> >   Yes, once they join they must follow orders. But, and this is
> > important, they didn't have to join!
>
> Whatever.  You never have to join, you only have to face consequences,
> ranging from execution to imprisonment to financial hardship to starvation,
> if you do not.  Fact is many of the people that join don't have those
> fabulous "White Castle" opportunities you are raving about below.

  White Castle, if you aren't familar with it, is a fast food joint, not 
something more. I forgot to say that, since White Castle isn't everywhere in 
the United States (and certainly not the world). They do make some of the 
best burgers around.

  At any rate, there are opportunities galore. Maybe not the kind that is 
great and wonderful, but there are opportunities for those who apply 
themselves.

> >   If I were forced to fight for a cause I did not agree in, going to the
> > brig would not be something I found completely out of the question, btw.
>
> On this we are in agreement :-).  No way I am killing people in an
> imperialistic war.  Some idiot soldiers try to come down my street or beak
> into my house, like the US soldiers are forced to do in Iraq, and we have a
> whole new situation.

  Ah, we found some common ground!

> >   Volunteer armies and manditory ones are far different in many ways.
> > Forcing people to go to war not by anything related to them other than
> > their age is a far more serious and complex issue than ordering a
> > volunteer army to do the country's bidding.
>
> Say the chicken-hawks.  If you are for the war, are of service age and
> capable, and refuse to go despite that your services are needed (and for
> this last reason I have not raised this point before), you are a coward,
> period.  IMO, of course

  Well, quite frankly, I have a different job and mission in life than to be 
in an army. I only lukewarmly support any conflict because of this, but at 
the same time, I can recognize when it is useful to have military action. I 
will support action, but I wouldn't necessarily consider lack of it bad. For 
example, if Bush had just let Iraq go, I wouldn't have thought less of him. 
Nor do I think less of Clinton for staying mostly out of Iraq.

  At the same time, I supported the action because I felt there was some 
merit. More to the point: I don't think everyone should be able to do 
everything. Not everyone would make a good solider. Not everyone would make a 
good writer. Or politician. Or pastor. Or lawyer. Or whatever else.

  I personally would make a very bad solider as I'm fairly certain I could 
never pull a trigger or press the button that would kill someone. But, that 
doesn't mean I'm going to call for the end of armies.

> >   So you are for the draft so that the majority of Americans who don't
> > want to be in the military, and about 50% of which don't even support
> > most military action the U.S. commits, must be forced to fight?
>
> Exactly.  It's a nice way to avoid war, isn't it?

  It is indeed useful in that respect, although it has been shown in the past 
to be of little use in stopping politicians from acting as they wanted to 
(perhaps to the detriment of their long term political career).

  With that in mind, I wonder if it is really useful in that way. Viet Nam 
wasn't for quite awhile despite its unpopularity and futility (in that the 
war was never fought properly). And, if things are as you say in the world, I 
would especially question the usefulness of the draft.

  -Tim

- --
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
Timothy R. Butler       Universal Networks      www.uninet.info
==================== <[email protected]> ====================
| Christian Portal:      | Have you not learned great lessons |
|      www.faithtree.com | from those  who  braced themselves |
| GNU/Linux News:        | against  you   and   disputed  the |
|            www.ofb.biz | passage with you?   --Walt Whitman |
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.2.1 (GNU/Linux)

iD8DBQE/GanTK37Cns9gJ0gRAosKAJ9TzjU35MBYe9rTkjbxrlmRReBVRQCfWIT6
BJ2RaE8ZvwLumv9ypvzmZFs=
=+tFl
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----


Kde-cafe mailing list - [email protected]
http://ofb.biz/lists/listinfo.cgi/kde-cafe

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed on this mailinglist are the personal
opinions of the author and do not represent OfB.biz: Open for Business, KDE or the author's employer.