QotD: Politically Incorrect
Posted November 7th, 2005 @ 09:51am by Erik J. Barzeski
Question: What's the most politically incorrect thing you believe but are too hesitant to say?
My Answer: I was reading an article in Maxim that talks about military guys coming home from Iraq or Afghanistan and complaining that they're "not properly trained to enter civilian life." I couldn't help but think that these people wouldn't be properly trained for civilian life regardless of whether they were in the military or not. They seemed like the guys you'd find doing minimum-wage work most of their lives.
Whether or not I support the wars we're currently fighting, I can easily say that none of my thoughts demean the soldiers doing our country's bidding and fighting. My feeling is more the "what did you expect?" type. Is the military really telling these people that shooting Iraqi insurgents and learning to load a cannon will prepare them for civilian life when they get out, or are the soldiers just that disillusioned? Or is this strictly a case of Maxim looking for a story and making one out of a small minority of soldiers?
The military seems to attract the future minimum wage-earners more than it does folks who plan to go to college and become scientists, doctors, computer programmers, etc. Those people go to college and then make $100k/year working for a government-funded civilian contractor. I'm not talking about ROTC or people doing light military "service," but the people that go into military service because they don't have many other options after high school.
So yeah, that's my politically incorrect thought of the day: what did these people expect, and how is it the military's job to prepare them for civilian life?
P.S. The article talks about other things, like lack of medical and mental/medical help after returning from war, and the savage effects of PTSD. That's another issue entirely, and it probably is something the military could do to better serve guys to emotionally and mentally return to civilian life. The above comments refer strictly to job skills.
Notes: for the purpose of this entry, I'm relaxing the rules that require you to use your real name. Use an alias and a fake URL (or "http://nslog.com/") if you'd like , but still provide a valid email address - it doesn't get published. Comments (or TrackBacks) that refer - positively or negatively - to someone else's entry will be deleted.
You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.
Donate Life
Posted 07 Nov 2005 at 10:08am #
I'm with Paul Graham, income inequality isn't necessarily bad. It's only bad if inequal income can be used to get an unequal share of political power or if it becomes hereditary and ossified.
Posted 07 Nov 2005 at 10:36am #
We (our government) should not be afraid to make entitlement cuts even if those cuts will increase pain and suffering, even for the elderly and the poor. Living off the work of others is called charity, any other arrangement is tantamount to theft.
Noone except me deserves any portion of the wages that I earn, nor the profit that I make.
My estate is for my heirs only. Noone else deserves any cut of the estate that I build for my children.
Thanks for letting me vent… 🙂
Posted 07 Nov 2005 at 11:48am #
I wouldn't mind if we, as a society, imposed forced temporary sterilization on women AND men who have a demonstrated lack of responsibility when it comes to having/raising children.
I say "temporary" to account for the people who do manage to turn their lives around and can show that they are now responsible adults.
Oh, and stop this stupid war on drugs. Regulate it, tax it, and let people who want to take drugs do it.
Posted 07 Nov 2005 at 7:29pm #
I think there should be some sort of sterilization imposed on those who have demonstrated they can't provide for themselves or their offspring. Break the cycle.
Posted 08 Nov 2005 at 5:16pm #
I don't care if you're a one legged purple eskimo that only speaks Esperanto, you don't deserve affirmative action. Don't be judged by the color of your skin, but rather by the content of your character.
There is a language that the majority of the people in the US use. Though it is not *the* official language, you should learn it and quit complaining that I don't care.
Social Security was a temporary solution to an unfixable problem at the time. Several generations later we should have promoted a nation of self-sufficient savers, and instead were trying to plug a hole where everyone thinks its their birthright to be served by a welfare state.
State-sponsored health care should provide you with a decent level of care. If you want more or better care, PAY FOR IT. Why are health care premiums for a healthy couple now up to $10,000 per year? Because people who have any insurance (or none at all) will sue hospitals and doctors who are doing their best with limited resources if they feel they are not getting absolutely everything that might be coming to them.
Heating assistance for people to pay their energy bills hurts the rest of us that spend within our means. If there is a limited supply, price will go up until it meets the demand. If you're on full assistance, how sensitive would you be to driving up the price of my natural gas? (How about spending tax dollars to make it efficent for people to afford the gas bill? Insulation anyone?)
Posted 10 Nov 2005 at 11:27pm #
Some of these politically incorrect statements are so right. Perphaps political correctness is wrong.