Its fine to support your troops/whatever. It's not fine to simply agree with the reason why they need support to begin with.
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Why Should I Support The Troops If I Don’t Support The War?
- Thread starter Vonnegut
- Start date
They're not mutually exclusive. I'm not a big fan of police or military worship. They're a lot of shitty people in the military just like any other profession. "Supporting the troops" also comes off as really hollow since we don't really do a good job of taking care of them anyway.
I don't support the wars, but I support the people risking their lives for shit pay to try and make a better life for themselves. Especially those who come back with horrible ptsd or other permanent injuries and then aren't adequately supported by our government.
I don't support the troops because they are, in theory, adults who volunteered for the job. A job that only appeals to sadists, people with entirely too much faith in authorities, and morons.
always great to see and hear him from when he was younger... and I assume most people here would have great issues with what he said, especially towards the end. But I full heartedly agree.
The support the troops thing is just a cynical consequence of how broken American society truly is. it's saddening
<-- Not an American.
I legit thought thats what people were talking about when they said Support the troops.
I thought there was like funds or agencies that got donations and things that were used for Troops abroad and when they returned.
I thought "supporting them" you are giving donations of money or actual items that could be useful to the troops.
So is Support the troops effectively just like Supporting a football team which you never buy the jersey for?
Yep. The military version of thoughts and prayers.
My take when anyone says "I did X for youuuu!" Is to answer "did you consult me first?" But I cant hate people that only did it for college money.
That is a somewhat naive way of looking at it, IMO.
The US spends an unparalleled amount of money on its military. The citizens are already supporting the troops financially via taxes, to a disproportionate degree compared to other first-world countries. You can't simply shrug off the role of public sentiment in that, however much we may like to mock slacktivism.
Im not 100% sure what you are referring to with this post.
Was my last sentence analogy wrong?
Because, as someone not from the US I always assumed people having bumper stickers or constantly stating "Support the troops" was legit them asking the public to directly support the troops.
If all tax payers are already supporting the troops....why bother saying Support the troops?
I support the troops in the sense that I don't like seeing people die in completely pointless and greedy wars while the ones who survive are then left in the cold when they come back home.
Yep. Then cuts them loose with little to no support to reintroduce them to society or deal with their mental health and leaves it to outside charities to fund aftercare.
Usually national pride gets in the way of any worthwhile conversation on the military.
To be fair, military folks get 10% off IHOP and other fast food places.
"Sorry about the legs and the PTSD. Have a pancake on us. Thank you for your service!"
"How about medical treatment?"
"Wouldnt you rather have pancakes? Look, chocolate! Yum!"
"Sorry about the legs and the PTSD. Have a pancake on us. Thank you for your service!"
"How about medical treatment?"
"Wouldnt you rather have pancakes? Look, chocolate! Yum!"
Are you sure it's just those three types? No other possibilities?
A little self-reflection might be warranted.
Yes, those 18 year olds straight out of high school are so wise and aware of what they are signing themselves up for, and military recruiters are so truthful about what to expect in the service. And people don't sign up for the military because it's their best option to get out of whatever shitty place they live in, get a steady job, and get an education, they do it because they are sadists. You've got it all figured out.
Get some fucking perspective.
The government also actively exploits people, that is true.
I was in the Air Force for 12 years and I straight up hate telling people I'm a vet because of the whole "Thank you for your service" bullshit. If you actually want to thank me, thank me for my sacrifices. Most people only say it to make themselves feel better. To many people think that just because someone put on a uniform, they're good people. There's a lot of people in leadership positions who don't give two shits about the people below them and will fuck said persons life up.
The last three years of my time on Active Duty were pure hell. Because of my time in, I've missed the bulk of my son's life (who will be 8 next month), I almost killed myself in 2015, my anxiety is off the charts to the point where I'm second guessing myself on just about everything I do. It's been a struggle to make ends meet since I got out last summer.
I'm honestly not sure what I'm trying to say with this post, I just needed to get this off my chest.
The last three years of my time on Active Duty were pure hell. Because of my time in, I've missed the bulk of my son's life (who will be 8 next month), I almost killed myself in 2015, my anxiety is off the charts to the point where I'm second guessing myself on just about everything I do. It's been a struggle to make ends meet since I got out last summer.
I'm honestly not sure what I'm trying to say with this post, I just needed to get this off my chest.
The thing that's shitty is blaming individuals for things most have very little control over.
The government waging shitty wars has very little to do with individual soldiers, and especially people concerned with poverty and equality should know that hurra patriotism isn't the biggest factor for people to enlist (though those types exist too, obviously).
However, other than it being shitty that governments don't take care of their veterens (healthcare etc.), I also don't think that service warants special treatment in everyday life.
The government waging shitty wars has very little to do with individual soldiers, and especially people concerned with poverty and equality should know that hurra patriotism isn't the biggest factor for people to enlist (though those types exist too, obviously).
However, other than it being shitty that governments don't take care of their veterens (healthcare etc.), I also don't think that service warants special treatment in everyday life.
Don't like our foreign policy or US policing. I only support troops/cops I know personally. I never understood just supporting the institutions in general.
Get help man. I got out in 2012 after 16 years of security forces and I was severally fucked up and had serious issues for almost five years just surviving. I never really had depression or anything like that, but my time in made it really hard for me to be around others in the civilian sector.
You shouldn't. Especially if you are American, cause America hasn't had a war where soldiers are actually "protecting your freedom" in quite a while.
Well living in neutral country bordering Russia yeah I support the army as it's meant for defensive purposes only (hence the name: Finnish Defence Forces). Probably helps that we have universal conscription so 80% of men have served too and seen how important it's.
War is young men dying and old men talking. If you want to be anti military focus it in the right direction.
Such a terrible statement. It's still an act of bravery to put your life on the line for your own well being, or that of your family.
'The troops' didn't make the decisions. Unless you live in a fantasy world, we need a military. I support the people who choose to be a part of it.
If you're wondering about remembrance day, a good way to do it is the White Poppy. it symbolizes a commitment to pacifism, and an understanding about the sacrifices made by soldiers past.
Being in the military is a job and a choice . You don't need to support them just because they are there. Do you need to support someone that works at McDonald's or that works at Google? No, and same here. US military personnel have not fought for freedom in a long time but the US is full of hero worship of anyone in a military uniform.
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If you know that why come in here and post some stupid bullshit about how they are all sadists or morons?
I mean no one says you have to support the troops, just don't expect people to respect you if you don't.
Your opinion is so out of touch it borders on offensive. Going in to the military often times completely destroys peoples lives. Many who serve in active combat duty can never re-integrate in to society. I've done a lot of the work with the homeless over the years and many of them are former military. They come home messed up and are abandoned by society.
You don't have to "revere" someone to support them, and yes, you should support the troops even if you're against the conflict. Most people who join the army aren't doing so because they believe in a particular mission, but because it's a life option for them. By support, I mostly just mean "don't be a dick to them." It's not like the US has a particularly strong record of treating veterans humanely since World War II.
My friend had two deployments in Afghanistan in the Marines, and he joined the military when he was 18 not because he believed particularly in the wars in Afghanistan or Iraq (which had just started), but because he wasn't really cut out for college... even community college just wasn't for him, it just wouldn't have been a fit and he was a bit of a roamer. He developed some very close friendships, grew up a lot, matured, and while serving was difficult and he still doesn't talk about it, he used his experience in the service to become a fireman for the national parks service. These days he gets "deployed" to wildfires and disaster relief around the continent.
Beyond that, American servicemen & women do a lot more than just fight in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The US Military is the largest aid organization in the world, they're often the first responders in international disasters, and the military serves as a makeshift moving headquarters for disaster relief. It's not a surprise that whenever there's an natural disaster in the Western hemisphere and the pacific the first questions are, "When is the Navy getting there?" which is usually within hours or days as disaster response.
My friend had two deployments in Afghanistan in the Marines, and he joined the military when he was 18 not because he believed particularly in the wars in Afghanistan or Iraq (which had just started), but because he wasn't really cut out for college... even community college just wasn't for him, it just wouldn't have been a fit and he was a bit of a roamer. He developed some very close friendships, grew up a lot, matured, and while serving was difficult and he still doesn't talk about it, he used his experience in the service to become a fireman for the national parks service. These days he gets "deployed" to wildfires and disaster relief around the continent.
Beyond that, American servicemen & women do a lot more than just fight in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The US Military is the largest aid organization in the world, they're often the first responders in international disasters, and the military serves as a makeshift moving headquarters for disaster relief. It's not a surprise that whenever there's an natural disaster in the Western hemisphere and the pacific the first questions are, "When is the Navy getting there?" which is usually within hours or days as disaster response.
They serve so you don't have to. It's just having basic respect for another human being who has a very dangerous but important job. People who return from military service never fully recover from what they endured out there. They need all the support they can get.
You can despise the US government but still wish for these people to be safe.
You can despise the US government but still wish for these people to be safe.
sigh... so true......
most who join the military do so for the post-service benefits. getting most, if not all, of your higher education paid for for enlisting for four years.. plus health benefits, etc. there are also benefits possible depending on how screwed up you were going in.. I've known a good number of teens who turned their lives around by going into the military.
I get what the op is saying.. GOP is a bunch of hawks.. and absolutely does so to keep their base riled and politicized. however I've long supported mandatory military service for a standing military. I think we'd have a lot more diverse minds from the top down, and we'd actually see operations and spending drop significantly. The GOP would also lose a huge built-in mouthpiece and auto-vote.
I have massive respect for those who serve in the military, because if they didn't voluntarily serve than people like me would be forced to serve especially in the USA that is so bent on its military industrial complex.
Granted, I am 34 so that time is well past but in my twenties without people volunteering I would have definitely been drafted.
I don't need to revere them, or even support them as a group. All I need to do is recognize that their service has value.
Granted, I am 34 so that time is well past but in my twenties without people volunteering I would have definitely been drafted.
I don't need to revere them, or even support them as a group. All I need to do is recognize that their service has value.
I mean it's something like 80% of the military is in non-combat roles. I have a hard time imagining that those 80% are often having their lives destroyed, probably the exact opposite, it's providing them an opportunity for which there would otherwise be none. I think this thread is vastly underestimating how many people in the military just do regular ass jobs.
This is exactly what I mean . You simply look at it from an American pov.
No one is forced to do it. We know what war does and people still decide to join. We know how fucked up the US military is and people still join.
But it's easy when you don't come from a place that the US military and by extension these same troops, have fucked up and destroyed families and lives of innocent people with a simple "whoopsie" to cover themselves.
Believe me, I don't support the troops simply for their choice of career. If they did something that merits recognition of support of individual people sure, because they have earned it.
TC, you support the troops because they just signed up to help protect the country (or get paid while hopefully never firing a bullet). They don't get to choose when or where they deploy.
Well the support our troops motto is traditionally about those in combat roles/deployment overseas, not just living at a military base in Virginia. But nevertheless you make a valid point. Military service can certainly be beneficial to those who enter.
Being a military veteran absolutely doesn't entitle you to automatic reapect just because. That kind of blind patriotism is dangerous at its core.
Saying that, I have nothing against people who join the military. It looks like a fine career path. I would have joined myself in my mid 20s had I not been excempt for medical reasons. The discipline, training, and opportunities would have been great for me during a period where I could find very little self-motivation.
That's probably highly subjective.
Saying that, I have nothing against people who join the military. It looks like a fine career path. I would have joined myself in my mid 20s had I not been excempt for medical reasons. The discipline, training, and opportunities would have been great for me during a period where I could find very little self-motivation.
That's probably highly subjective.