Monkey Primitive wonders: Why is the concept of "serving one's country"...

[asdf2231]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3819789

Bonobo  (1000+ posts)      Tue Aug-19-08 12:08 AM
Original message
Why is the concept of "serving one's country" virtually restricted to military duty.
 Advertisements [?]Shooting and killing is the only way to serve this country these days it seems.

I sure hope President Obama can do what JFK did and convince Americans to go around the world and actually do some good.

Breeze54  (1000+ posts)       Tue Aug-19-08 12:10 AM
Response to Original message
1. It isn't the only way and not all soldiers ARE shooting and killing...
 

Try googling 'Peace Corp'...

Bonobo  (1000+ posts)      Tue Aug-19-08 12:13 AM
Response to Reply #1
2. Methinks I referred directly to the Peace Corps in the OP. So take your googly eyes and...
 return them to the Smilies lookup table, okay?

And yes, soldiers are there to shoot. Everything else is a side business.

 
 

Breeze54  (1000+ posts)       Tue Aug-19-08 12:17 AM
Response to Reply #2
3. Hey smart ass.. I'm the mother of a OIF Vet and I know
 Edited on Tue Aug-19-08 12:17 AM by Breeze54
what the **** I'm talking about, asshat!!

You take "your googly eyes" and shove them up your ass!! 

Lydia Leftcoast  (1000+ posts)      Tue Aug-19-08 12:24 AM
Response to Original message
10. That attitude makes me crazy
 Edited on Tue Aug-19-08 12:28 AM by Lydia Leftcoast
People who are off with the military in Iraq are NOT serving their country.

They may BELIEVE that they're serving their country. Their friends and relatives may BELIEVE it. The media may SAY it. The brass may TELL THEM SO.

That doesn't make it true.

They are actually serving U.S. corporate interests, particularly the oil companies, and their neocon errand boys.

They may not want to hear this, but it's true, and the sooner people recognize and refuse to serve a corrupt institution, and the sooner Congress has the guts to trim the military budget to the level actually needed to defend the country instead of the level needed to rule the world, the better off the U.S. will be.

I'm not holding my breath, though.

The American people have been so indoctrinated with this militaristic BULLSHIT that they can't even think logically about it anymore, not to mention the fact that 90% of them pay no attention to and know nothing of international affairs.

This is quite possibly the dumbest thing I've seen posted there in a while.

Breeze54  (1000+ posts)       Tue Aug-19-08 12:26 AM
Response to Reply #10
12. You know nothing. n/t

 

Lydia Leftcoast  (1000+ posts)      Tue Aug-19-08 12:29 AM
Response to Reply #12
13. No?
 Edited on Tue Aug-19-08 12:31 AM by Lydia Leftcoast
Tell me about the wonderful things that the U.S. military is doing in Iraq.

Oh wait, they wrecked it in the first place.

Just because you THINK your child was serving the country, that does NOT make it true.

Another poster (a military wife) told me that I "know nothing" but then refused to enlighten me because I was "hopeless."

That's the position of a person who knows that her position is indefensible.

Lydia Leftcoast  (1000+ posts)      Tue Aug-19-08 12:42 AM
Response to Reply #19
23. Okay, okay, I understand that stop-loss isn't the individual's fault
 Edited on Tue Aug-19-08 12:43 AM by Lydia Leftcoast
and I understand that a lot of soldiers are in Iraq against their will.

That doesn't mean that they're "serving their country."

I'm 58 years old, and I can't think of a conflict since WWII and possibly Korea when the U.S. military actually "defended freedom" instead of promoting U.S. business interests or defending presidential egos.

That was my original point: Whatever the military personnel THINK they're doing, they are NOT serving the American people.

TahitiNut  (1000+ posts)       Tue Aug-19-08 12:38 AM
Response to Original message
18. Well, how did YOU do it?

 
 
 

Lydia Leftcoast  (1000+ posts)      Tue Aug-19-08 12:44 AM
Response to Reply #18
24. In my case, through community service and working for causes and candidates
 Edited on Tue Aug-19-08 12:44 AM by Lydia Leftcoast
for decades. Without killing anyone

.
 

TahitiNut  (1000+ posts)       Tue Aug-19-08 01:00 AM
Response to Reply #24
29. In other words, what a lot of us did ...
 Edited on Tue Aug-19-08 01:03 AM by TahitiNut
... AFTER we served in the military, came back, got called "baby killers" and treated like lepers??

Got it.

 

Heddi  (1000+ posts)      Tue Aug-19-08 01:33 AM
Response to Original message
38. I'm a nurse and I dare anyone to say I'm not serving my country
 I serve my country just as much as anyone who is toting a gun, only I do it with different instruments.

Yes, the military will be of aid if our country were to be attacked---but who cares for the injured? Who cares for those maimed by chemical and biological warfare? Who ensures that the population is WELL ENOUGH to serve and protect our country?

You know, there were just as many heroes at the hospitals and ambulances and triage centers around WTC that day, but you don't hear abou them. THe only heroes our country is concerned with are firefighters, police, and military. I guarantee you that the MD's and RN's and EMT's on 9/11 were getting by with just as little sleep food and water as the FD and PD were. And just like the FD and PD, our job didn't stop once the towers fell. We were caring for the injured and walking dead just as much as they were, but in a different capacity.

When there's a fire, or a hurricane, or plane crash, or nuclear war, WE have to be there, too. We go without food and water, too. WE go to warzones and impoverished nations, too. We're killed in warzones, too. We get killed on the job, too. We work under horrid conditions, too. We work with low pay, high expectations, and an infinity of responsibility. Our facilities are falling down with no funding. We're just as much of the machine as anyone else is, just in a different capacity.

I must have missed something.  Has Drudge posted a link to the WMD Ho-Down this crazy witch is talking about?

[LC EFA]

*snort* LOL

If that's the level of hostility and bitterness that they show to the people on their side, It's no wonder there's a predominance of mental illness over there.

Just reading that excerpt gives me a warm glow.

[JohnnyReb]

Hope heddi (most likely high-Dee) is never my nurse. Believe I'd rather have the young girl at the dog-pound take care of me, more humane compassion in her little finger than high-Dee has had in a lifetime.

[Uhhuh35]

DUmmie_Lydia Leftcoast  (1000+ posts)      Tue Aug-19-08 12:24 AM
Response to Original message
The American people DUmmies have been so indoctrinated with this militaristic BULLSHIT Bush Derangement Syndrome that they can't even think logically about it anymore, not to mention the fact that 90% of them pay no attention to and know nothing of international affairs.

Fixed

[TheSarge]

The American people have been so indoctrinated with this militaristic BULLSHIT that they can't even think logically about it anymore,

But the fact of the matter is the next time the wolf is at your door...you'll be BEGGING for me and others in uniform to protect you.

Not to mention the fact that those of us...how did you put it..."indoctrinated with this militaristic bullshit"...protect the very rights that allow you to talk like a slack jawed spittle flinging asshat.

not to mention the fact that 90% of them pay no attention to and know nothing of international affairs.

That's a bet you would lose ad lose BADLY.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Lydia Leftcoast  (1000+ posts)      Tue Aug-19-08 12:29 AM
Response to Reply #12
13. No?
 Edited on Tue Aug-19-08 12:31 AM by Lydia Leftcoast
Tell me about the wonderful things that the U.S. military is doing in Iraq.

Oh wait, they wrecked it in the first place.

Just because you THINK your child was serving the country, that does NOT make it true.

Another poster (a military wife) told me that I "know nothing" but then refused to enlighten me because I was "hopeless."

Yes, when everyone else tells you that you're wrong and too bullhead-stupid to understand the truth, it always means they are the idiots....

 

[franksolich]

I've always had a pretty broadly-based definition of "serving one's country."

It of course includes defending it by arms, but there's more to defending and serving a country than that.

To me, "serving one's country" means contributing to its survival, its flourishment, its prosperity.

Contributing something to keep it going.

One of the best ways one can serve one's country is by being a productively employed individual, paying into the public treasury rather than withdrawing from it.

I'll bet damned few primitives are serving our country.

[jukin]

Everyone at the DUmp knows that serving one's country means getting the maximum amount of government money by any way possible.

[Splashdown]

Are we allowed to question their patriotism yet?

[Chris_]

Are we allowed to question their patriotism yet?

Of course you're not!  Everyone knows that would be racist of you.

[Chris_]

Lydia Leftcoast  (1000+ posts)      Tue Aug-19-08 12:29 AM
Response to Reply #12
13. No?
 Edited on Tue Aug-19-08 12:31 AM by Lydia Leftcoast
Tell me about the wonderful things that the U.S. military is doing in Iraq.

Oh wait, they wrecked it in the first place.

If you have any question about DUmmies this post should answer them.

Iraq was a place ruled by a murderous thug/dictator. The citizens were basically there to be used and abused. The US military went in and removed the murderous thug/dictator and helped set up a system so the people could run their own government. The DUmmie Lydia considers this as wrecking things.