Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Katy Perry Joins the Marine Corps
It's so silly it's embarrassing, yet there have been over 50 million views.
One thing the video gets right is that young people who join the Marines often do so for less than patriotic and heroic motives. More often than not it's about running away in one form or another.
Then, a couple years later the conservative element in the country puts these mixed-up kids on a pedestal of jingoistic and patriotic red, white and blue. They're elevated to heights of honor, often praised with exaggeratedly serious platitudes like, "thank you for your service."
You can hear this very often on the pro-gun blogs. Some of the folks doing this are draft-dodgers and service-avoiders like Ted Nugent, that's real irony. Others are former servicemen themselves who've chosen to forget their original motives and relish all the wrong-placed admiration and praise.
The truth is there has not been an honorable and necessary reason to participate in the military for about 65 years, if then. Oftentimes, participation in this global system of abuse, this world-policing by the US, is actually immoral. Those who do so are often constrained by economic disadvantages, the result being that minorities and the poor are over-represented, suicides and other forms of self-abuse are more and more prevalent, and after service care is off the charts.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
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War is a racket. The founders knew this, and they tried to set the bar high as far as going to war in the Constitution. They also didn't believe in standing armies (or "volunteer" armies as they are known today).
ReplyDeleteGadfrey, the epitome of monstrous brainless zombie anonopop machine music, but heck, how do I join her platoon?
ReplyDelete"Oftentimes, participation in this global system of abuse, this world-policing by the US, is actually immoral."
ReplyDeleteSo you support Ron Paul them\n since you and he share the same view on this.
Those who do so are often constrained by economic disadvantages, the result being that minorities and the poor are over-represented, suicides and other forms of self-abuse are more and more prevalent, and after service care is off the charts."
Except that this is a total volunteer military and every single enlistee did so during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Not a single one was drafted nor where they surprised by a sudden war after they signed up.
I did support Ron Paul on these issues.
DeleteThe all volunteer system is affected by poverty and occupational disadvantages. Do you think a proportional amount of upper middle class boys are signing up?
Military service is honorable, as are many other professions. Of course, every group has its bad apples, but they don't characterize the whole.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, who is this Perry person, anyway?
Greg asks,
DeleteBy the way, who is this Perry person, anyway?
Greg, all you need to know is, she's a hot, rich chick who kissed a girl and liked it. LOL!
orlin sellers
I tend to look at popular culture with suspicion and prefer to know as little as possible about these starlets who are devoid of talent. To quote someone with real abilities, "so much style without substance, so much stuff without style. . ." (Points if you knew the source without looking it up.)
DeleteWell, I had to look it up. Rush. Sorry, I've heard of them, but never heard them. But, then again, I don't listen to any radio station that doesn't play "Louie, Louie", or "Your Cheatin Heart". ))))))
Deleteorlin selleres
"all you need to know is, she's a hot, rich chick who kissed a girl and liked it. LOL!"
Deleteorlin sellers
No, that is not all we need to know. A phone number and pictures are needed too.
Personnaly, I find your views of current and former military personnel to be offensive. But I swore an oath to protect your right to denigrate me. The fact that I am no longer in uniform does not release me from the spirit of that oath, and my belief in the Constitution is as strong as ever. I realize you may not understand what that means, but I do not hold any anger toward you for that. Pity, maybe, but not anger.
ReplyDeleteHave a nice day.
Jim, if what I say doesn't apply to you, why would you be offended. If you joined for the most lofty and honorable reasons and served your country in that spirit, I think you're in the minority, but good for you.
DeleteJust to clarify - while I agree with Jim's comments above, that is a different Jim than me. I did not serve in the Armed Forces.
ReplyDeleteSo, although you did not serve, you're offended like the other Jim? Give me a break, will ya?
DeleteI haven't served in the military, but I have friends who did, including some who went to war for this country. I've had many students who did the same. I respect what they did. Your comments here make military service sound worse than other jobs. In my view, it's a combination of a job and a gift to the nation.
DeleteAs sometimes happens, Mike would have a point if he did not overstate the hell out of it. Many service members join for less than patriotic motives. But "more often than not" is an overstatement.
ReplyDeleteLike anything else motivations are mixed, but as someone who served I can say many do it for a paycheck - especially the ones who stay in. Many are merely homegrown mercenaries. And playing world cop is immoral whether one's motivations are patriotic or not. On a more basic level, it is common to the point of ingrained for humans to seek identity (at least in part) from a group. But if it is any consolation, the ones who join for the more patriotic and heroic reasons tend to gravitate towards the Marine Corps.
BTW - @ 4:02 is 3 kinds of gay :)
That was not my experience in the Marine Corps. At best it was a small percentage who did it for the "right reasons." That was during Viet Nam, I'd imagine it's worse today.
DeleteInteresting. And what would you say the percentage of draftees to volunteers was in your unit? I joined in 1978, when there was no draft. The only draftees I knew were those that had decided to make a career out of it (and were they still draftees after re-enlisting?). By now I don't believe there are any former draftees left. And 9/11 made a big difference in the number of people that serve for the "right reason".
DeleteI'd also like to point out that most people serve for multiple reasons. Patriotism is only one of them, and there is nothing wrong with that. You make it seem as if there is no good reason to serve any longer.
"The truth is there has not been an honorable and necessary reason to participate in the military for about 65 years, if then"
So you are saying that anybody who has died while serving their country after WW2 died for nothing? Or at least died for no "honorable and necessary" reason? I'd say that anybody, whether they have served or not, can be offended by that statement.
In the summer of 1970, there were some draftees in the Marines. I guess it was about 10%, something like that.
DeleteYes, I say they died for nothing, a total waste. That's not to say the didn't act honorably, some did, but they were all duped by the lying politicians and arms manufacturers, many of whom never served and whose sons didn't serve.
Only 10%? I would have expected a higher percentage of draftees in all branches. Maybe the Marines are different.
DeleteI agree on the politicians, and arms manufacturers are just like any other industry. The government makes it easy for them to benefit from a cozy relationship, and they will of course take advantage of it. Crony Capitalism has been around for a long time, but it is a problem with government, not industry. Politicians are dirtbags. Every single one, and to trust any of them is the height of folly.
Having said that, I will not believe they died for nothing. There may have been better ways to handle certain situations, but those who served swore an oath, and can only be responsible for their own oath. They can not be held accountable for the oaths of our politicians. As long as our system places the military under civilian conrol (and I do not want to even THINK about that not being the case) we will have service members fighting and dying for politicians mistakes. I understood that when I joined, albeit during peacetime. Maybe that was because I was raised in the service (my father was also in the Navy).
I can not know what you went through there, but I will not say it was in vain. I do believe that the sacrifices that service members made in Vietnam were wasted by politicians, but that does not negate their sacrifice.
Have a good day.