Would any of you guys ever consider joining the military?

<p>I’m not saying that the military is peaceful, because I know it is not. Yes, the military DOES kill people. There is no way around that. But the military also helps people. The US military is who the world calls upon when they are in need of help. And we answer.</p>

<p>Of course the military isn’t perfect. They never claim to be, and I am not saying that it is, or that it ever will be.</p>

<p>But even when they are employed in battle, they are saving people. Because of the military, our country is free and generally safe from other countries. Without the military, we would be powerless against the terrorists. Then the wouldn’t be such a waste after all, would they? What are the HPYS gonna do without the protection of the military? Duck underneath their BMWs?</p>

<p>Think about where our country would be without those brave men and women fighting for our nation.</p>

<p>I think Gerontius’s point was that, yes the military is good in many ways, but so are HYPMS grads/students.</p>

<p>*“Being in the military is completely honorable.”
“HPYS andthen becoming a regular on Wall Street… how honorable is that?”</p>

<p>This annoys me. This &#$ing annoys me.</p>

<p>Maybe it could be better worded as this…</p>

<p>Honor is a huge concept to the military. Military schools, ROTC programs, they require you to follow a very strict honor code. A lot of things you do in the military, you are pledging yourself on your honor. Honor is a concept very real to those in service. Honor is something you will hear about a lot in the military</p>

<p>To everyone else, MAYBE not so much.</p>

<p>Well, I’m not in it and I think it’s more honorable than being “a regular on Wall Street.” In no way does that mean a Ivy grad. Certainly many of them have done honorable things.</p>

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<p>The problem is that this quote seem to imply that all (or most) HPYSers become a “Regular on Wall Street.” I agree that it probably is just a wording error though.</p>

<p>^^ Actually, I didn’t get anything like that from the quote at all. But lets just drop that ugliness, I hope it’s all cleared up.</p>

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More like: You can’t say someone in the military is good just because (s)he is in the military anymore than you can do so for someone in HYPMS.
But yes, that was basically my point :)</p>

<p>I would never join the military…it’s just not my calling.</p>

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<p>Yes, I’m sure rupee was just maligning the small subset of ivy leaguers that go on to Wall Street and wasn’t trying to make any sort of general point :rolleyes:</p>

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<p>I see what you mean, which is why I said more productive, not unproductive. I don’t agree with much of what the government does, and I think we can all agree the government is inefficient at best.</p>

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<p>That’s too bad. It’s not a waste of talent to serve the country. It is a waste of talent to come up with 101 ways to blow someone up, or to send thousands of pounds of rice to a country that really needs agriculture education and irrigation. It’s a waste of talent to fly planes to bomb sites that are at best tenuous enemies. I don’t agree with pretty much anything the government is doing, and therefore, I think joining the military is a waste of talent. You don’t have to agree with me, but there it is.</p>

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<p>I might not be in it for world peace, but adding billions of dollars to beefing up the military and working for it certainly aren’t helping. I’d explain the arms race platform, but I have a feeling we’re both going to remain unconvinced.</p>

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<p>I generally find racist posts worse, but, at least maybe we can all remember I’m a she.</p>

<p>That’s too bad. It’s not a waste of talent to serve the country. It is a waste of talent to come up with 101 ways to blow someone up, or to send thousands of pounds of rice to a country that really needs agriculture education and irrigation. It’s a waste of talent to fly planes to bomb sites that are at best tenuous enemies. I don’t agree with pretty much anything the government is doing, and therefore, I think joining the military is a waste of talent. You don’t have to agree with me, but there it is.</p>

<p>Could you possibly generalize more?</p>

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<p>= entire thread</p>

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<p>Government =/= military. </p>

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Don’t you know that there are Civil Engineers in the military, working to rebuild devastated cities, also working to develop some regions, and military people given money to spend at certain areas in order to stimulate the economies in that area? You have a very one-sided view of what the military does. It’s not all about warfare. </p>

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<p>Military funds have been cut, a lot. (I think)</p>

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<p>Yes, racist posts are bad, but he’s not saying that they’re not. He’s saying that your post, insulting the military, is one of the most ignorant posts HE has seen, so far. But also remember that the person who posted that is currently a cadet at the United States Air Force Academy (correct me if I am wrong). Understand that you insulted him, and others who chose to go into service for this nation, and ultimately for YOU. I mean, how dare you just come up and post “it’s such a waste of talent to join the military”, belittling his decision to serve as well as insulting a long, honorable, and respected line of tradition. Whether you like it or not, the military is one of the oldest and most respected institutions out there, and it is a very common misconception that the ONLY thing the military does is to “kill”. That misconception is most likely along the lines of how you perceive the military as well.</p>

<p>[Home</a> Fires: Something Worth Fighting For - Opinionator Blog - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/home-fires-something-worth-fighting-for/]Home”>Home Fires: Something Worth Fighting For - The New York Times)</p>

<p>I remember reading this a few weeks ago and some of you might find it interesting. It’s a soldier’s take on supporting the military vs. supporting the mission of the military. Also of note (I read this in a different column of his) is that he’s a Stanford engineer that did ROTC there.</p>

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<p>That’s a sort of ridiculous way to explain why the military is important or honorable. Think about where our country would be without any major business sector or industry.</p>

<p>I can see where you’re going at, but I can also see where the poster went with that as well.</p>

<p>I mean, yes businesses and industry are both very important. But imagine where we would be without military, to PROTECT the nation and ultimately the businesses and industry is where he/she’s getting at.</p>

<p>TBH, I’d join the military and serve a tour for a year as something if it wasn’t for the opportunity cost that entailed.</p>

<p>If joining the military didn’t mean I’d have to postpone college or fall behind those who didn’t serve, I would definitely do it.
Regardless of what your stand is of current military actions, the military still protects and serves our country.
I believe that serving helps a person “grow up”, and also shuts the people up who live a sheltered life and complain about the military</p>

<p>I didn’t really mean business sector. I guess I should have just said sector. I’ve been up for almost 24 hours and I can’t get the right vocab. Basically, take away anything that sizable and you end up with a totally different country. The military isn’t special in that way. If you don’t have any industry (again, not 100% the right word), there’s no nation to protect. I hope you sort of get what I’m trying to communicate.</p>

<p>My perspectives on the military, like many of those here, are mainly based off of its wartime actions because, on account of my father’s (draftee) service in the Vietnam War, that’s what I hear about most, though I do have other family members who have/ have had military careers. The military does “protect and serve,” but it does so with more visceral and violent losses than have been common in other important sectors since century-old reforms were made.</p>

<p>I’m just now getting my act together with the college thing…I graduated in the top 5 of my class and had a descent ACT score. But at the time of graduation then, I had my eyes set on joining the National Guard…“It was never meant for me” Or " Everything happens for a reason" Everyone tells me now, because I could never get my B.M.I. down for S***…LOL!!! because thank the Lord I’m still here…:}
I would exercise faithfully & lose weight but Uncle Sam stated that some parts of my body was over-weight…which was jacked-up. I’m 28 now, I’ve let years past (as you can see) but I should have been graduated by now with a Bachelors in Software Engineering!! But to make a long story short, I’m glad I didn’t get shipped and it wasn’t in his plan for me to be apart of that nonsense because look @ how long those troops have been there over fighting a WAR 4 WUT…N U T H I N G…DYING…4…WUT… NUTHING!!!</p>

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<p>Yeah, if you pretend the last 10 years didn’t happen.</p>