When I watch many WWII era films, I am continuously reminded of how much our culture has changed (for the worse, I believe) when it comes to the idea of serving one's country. Back then, young men couldn't stand not being able to sign up for military service in WWII - it was an embarrassment to NOT sign up.
Now? Most American men (and women, for that matter) see the defense of this country as someone else's problem. Serving in the military is no longer seen as a duty - it's seen as a method of escape from a life of poverty or a way to go to college on the cheap.
I have a feeling that if America were to find itself fighting a
moral war against a
real threat young people would be lining up to join.
I don't.
And I say that as someone who was opposed to us invading BOTH Afghanistan and Iraq from day ONE.
I think they'd have to reinstitute the draft to get kids to go. Because very few people understand the concept of taking personal responsibility any longer. Not these kids today - not even their parents, who expect teachers to raise their children for them and who get in fist-fights with other parents at soccer games because they haven't bothered to each their own kids good sportsmanship.
I have a girlfriend here at work whose sister is in the American military. The girl signed up of her own free will because she wanted to go to college on the cheap. At first, they gave her some easy assignment and everything was just great. She got paid just for essentially showing up every day. Life was good and my friend here at work laughed about what an easy gig her sister had - free room and board, a salary, and a workday that consisted of about 1/2 hour filing and 4 hours surfing the internet before she snuck out and did as she liked for the rest of the day.
But when the time came for her to go to Iraq, she didn't want to go, and tried her hardest (not that it did any good) to get out of the military. And my friend sat here and told me how her family was supporting her in this effort and trying to help her get out of the military and, from where I sat, avoid what she agreed to DO when she signed on the dotted line....in which case, someone else's child would have to go in her place.
Now, she was NOT trying to get out because she opposed the war or anything like that. From what I could tell, she knew diddley-squat about the war, and cared about the morality of it not at all. No, she wanted to get out because 'she had only signed up to get the benefits'. And she was SHOCKED to discover that she might have to actually DO something to earn those benefits. That she might actually get an assignment that was
*gasp* dangerous. In the frakkin' U.S. MILITARY!!!
THIS is the sort of mentality we are dealing with. "I'll stick with it as long as it's benefiting ME...but the minute it costs me something, all bets are off."
Now sure, I think there is a core of young men and women who understand patriotism and defense of country...but I think many of these sorts of individuals come from families with that tradition. And from families to teach their kids values such as honor and duty and honoring one's promises and sticking with something, even if you don't 'like it any more' because it's the right thing to do.
But many of the volunteers we get these days are not signing up for that reason - they don't give a fuck about America. They are looking for some sort of free ride for themselves - for their own education or whatever. It's not about the USA. It's about John or Jeanette Doe. It's no longer what you can do for your country, but what your country can do for you....preferably with as little work or actual danger as possible. Some of the time, once they actually get in, the military molds them and forces them to take some personal responsibility and they turn out okay - and even better for the experience. But going in? Nah.... Very little in the way of personal responsibility or commitment to anything or anyone other than themselves.
And if it's that way now (and for the past decade or so), it's not likely to change if we got into a 'moral war'. Because these sort of people don't care about 'moral' or 'immoral'. They care only about themselves.
For many young people today, they think that everything is coming to them. We have such a sense of entitlement here it is incredible. It shows in the kids coming out of college and entering the workplace. They don't want to pay dues like the rest of us did. They think everything is coming to them. They don't want to work hard like we did in entry level positions, grinding away 80 - 100 hour weeks in public accounting to earn our stripes. Instead, they leave us (their managers) to do their jobs late into the evening because they have social engagements.
And yes...as a manager I have had it happen to me more than once, so I know.
If we did that back in the day when we were coming out of school, we'd have no job on April 16.
But now? The kids are ALL that way, so it doesn't do any good to fire them, because the next one will be just as lazy and unwilling to pay their dues as the last.
No...I'm sorry, but I have very little faith in the work ethic of this generation of kids - I've seen way too much of way too little from them.
And if they are unwilling to put in their time at a regular job because it cramps their social style...then I highly doubt the needs of their country are anywhere close to their list of priorities.
I'm always looking for hard-core collectors to trade with.
