I am a libertarian and thus believe that the military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan does a vast amount more harm to America than good. Nonetheless, I want to join the Air Force for the benefits of education and salary.
Would the $90,000 or so that I would collect over the next four years, as well as the education money, be a tax or the result of a tax on Americans? Is there an argument here that the government would collect that money anyway, and taking it for myself only means it doesn’t go to some other areas of government, like how Ron Paul asks for subsidies? Even if that were so, would the government allocate more to the military over time because of my enlistment?
My opinion on foregin policy: I believe it’s incredibly clear that foreign presence and intervention make us less safe. In 2007, a poll revealed 51% of Iraqis believed that violence against Coalition forces was acceptable, and that number was 17% in 2004. I read in Paul’s manifesto book that experts on bin Laden and top military officials sum up anti-US sentiment with something like “they hate us because we’re over there.” They also hate us for our alliances and financial support to other governments, but extremist recruitment would infinitesimally smaller if they couldn’t point to alleged U.S. crimes in their neighborhoods. This quote from Wikipedia sums it up well:
According to the Chief of the British General Staff, General Sir Richard Dannatt, speaking in September 2007,
“
The militants (and I use the word deliberately because not all are insurgents, or terrorists, or criminals; they are a mixture of them all) are well armed – probably with outside help, and probably from Iran. By motivation, essentially, and with the exception of the Al Qaeda in Iraq element who have endeavoured to exploit the situation for their own ends, our opponents are Iraqi Nationalists, and are most concerned with their own needs – jobs, money, security – and the majority are not bad people.[3]
My next question is, does enlisting in the military when it is already too large make the United States less safe?
Go for it. Any money you can squeeze away from the government is fair game. Do your part to “starve the beast,” just try not to get yourself killed. (;
No he can’t - he’s a government employee. By the way, no self respecting libertarian would justify american intervention in WWII as paul does. .
By the way joining, the military means that you murder whoever your masters tell you to murder. Even ordinary criminals have more guts than soldiers and act on their own, instead of acting as a gang.
i think being a doctor for the military is an effort to save lives and not to kill lives. If an enemy solider tries to kill a doctor, then I think that’s individual versus individual: self-defense. Now if a person joins the military will the explicit sense in training to not be a doctor and save lives but is training to destroy the lives of others knowing the government can coercively put such a solider anywhere without being able to question the motives of the war, then that’s merely somebody being a pawn of a generals and politicians. And whether the war is just or unjust wouldn’t matter when the phone rings and it’s time to grab the gear. i personally think it’s playing russian roulette, but who knows. might get in and out without ever firing a shot. chancin’ - can’t really say - what do you think?
juan, you are being overly strident. ‘joining’ ‘the military’ does indeed generally correlate with those horrible things you mention, but they are not inescapable, this person might escape them.
just as by ‘joining a school’ there is no magic that causes you to ‘learn whatever your teachers tell you to learn’
so by ‘joining an army’ it is not necessarily the case that you will murder who your masters tell you to murder.
Yes I did. Like I said, please, don’t make outlandish statements like that in the future. And yes I would consider wishing someone would die to be an outlandish.
Ok. Here is what I would try. Job search engines are numerous. Give them a shot and fill out as many applications as you can. Try to find night positions because they are usually open. Keep the faith though. I know its a tough economic time but I think you see the flaw of a libertarian in the military [ which is why you probably came here to ask the question knowing you will at least get a solid answer ] It is your choice and your life, but as someone who has been through a military institute, I don’t think you will like what they do to you. They break down your individual self and build you in their light. For someone who is an individualist, you will always be asking ‘why?’ instead of ‘sir, yes sir’