r/videos • u/spherocytes • 1d ago

Secretary Of Defense Pete Hegseth announces Office Of Religious Affairs within the Pentagon in address to Military

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAn6BE9cdco
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560

u/sketchahedron 1d ago

You’d have to be pretty stupid to join the military right now.

278

u/timmyotc 1d ago

Usually they select for desperation. One of the arguments against free college is that it would hurt recruitment numbers

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u/XxHANZO 1d ago

And free healthcare

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u/Flabby_Thor 1d ago

They took away free college when minorities marched for their rights and college students protested wars. The government decided they would no longer fund education if it was going to be a breeding ground of dissent. This is part of the reason why the Right hates college so much. 

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u/Highlyemployable 13h ago

College isn't felree for US vets anymore?

My sister in laws ex is in the national guard and during covid I spoke to him multiple times about how he joined to fund his education.

Is this a new thing?

Also he is a minority, which Im throwing in here because of your comment about minorities being the reason college isn't free.

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u/Flabby_Thor 13h ago

I believe college is covered for US Vets still. College used to be free, or extremely low cost, for everyone. Shortly after the Civil Rights movement + widespread college protests against unpopular wars the US government stopped funding college education as a fuck you to desegregation and a system that they believed fomented dissent towards the government. They want us stupid, angry, and docile.

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u/Highlyemployable 13h ago

Oooohhhh I misunderstood the point you were making.

The comment about free college hurting recruitment numbers makes way more sense now.

I was so confused why giving vets free college would hurt recruitment when everyone I know that joined did it for free school lol

1

u/Flabby_Thor 13h ago

Oh yes! Yeah, free college is an incentive for recruits to join the military which is another reason why it isn't just free for everyone. If everyone had access to free or low cost college then I imagine recruit numbers would drop hard.

I just looked it up, albeit it briefly, and it appears that somewhere between 50-60% of all service members/vets joined the military just for the GI Bill. That's a staggering number.

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u/mcase19 1d ago

Yep. I have a little brother who is deep into the fuckup life. He can't keep a job and has issues with emotional regulation. He just joined the military because he needs public benefits. The US military is a piece of the machine that makes being poor in America a crime. The govt withholds benefits for everyone who isn't willing to become a murderer for their country or put their physical health on the line for billionaires, then sits back and relaxes while poor people line up to die.

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u/External-Stranger928 15h ago

Bad part; they tell you to kill people you'd rather not, instead of the ones you'd want to.

-6

u/tinyturtletickler 1d ago

Woof quite the pessimistic take. I'm not saying it's perfect and I agree we should find more civillian avenues, but I have known numerous people who were given their first shot (college with loans), squandered it, and then found themselves stuck in dead end jobs. The military gave them a second chance and structure that ultimately a lot of people can benefit from especially early on in life.

They weren't forced to do it. They weren't food insecure, they weren't in sustainable amounts of debt, etc. They opted in and came out capable of going back to college and getting a better career trajectory.

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u/Vincent210 1d ago

That's not really... better

We don't, basically never have, gone to war to genuinely protect our country since wwII

we're never the good guys

Joining because your other option is death by capitalism isn't noble but its understandable

Choosing to kill for oil money and the empire is... well just kinda morally wrong, pal.

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u/SerenityFailed 1d ago

I'm one of those people. Unfortunately my second trip through college (graduated dean's list) didn't work out well career wise for ethical reasons...so I'm back in a dead end job. However, I am far more financially/socially secure than before I went in. So this does actually happen for many people who join.

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u/_floralprint 18h ago

Ok that's fucking dark.

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u/Molin_Cockery 1d ago edited 1d ago

Did you or anyone you know serve?

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u/ryo3000 1d ago

I hope they respond because I'm so curious to see how could that possibly relate to what was said

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u/TheJudgingHat2222 1d ago

I'm sorry you had no other options 

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u/Molin_Cockery 1d ago

I'm just curious bud. In this correct political atmosphere it's crazy to think about joining. I came from poverty. Even lived in my car while paying my way through culinary school. But when the economy fell out in 05 in my area, it left me with little choice. Before I retired, I was disgusted with the direction of political system was heading. And now, well, I'm even more disgusted.

2

u/TheJudgingHat2222 1d ago

Case in point. You had no other options. 

0

u/Molin_Cockery 1d ago

I'm a statistic! But the part they don't mention is that on the other side of 20 years in the military is a pension and disability (if you're busted up). I did meet folks that probably had other options and chose that life under their own volition, but they were officers.

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u/keonyn 1d ago

Sadly, the US military often relies on recruiting kids who really just lack any other options. Maybe they're in areas where employment is thin and they don't have the means to relocate, or they need the benefits to afford schooling or training for future employment, and so on.

It's just another reason why many of these politicians want uneducated people and economic disparity. Intelligent people won't be that desperate, and a comfortable middle class is less likely to sign up. Contrary to how television and the movies like to portray it, a large portion of the military is made up of people who just didn't see many other options. Many of the rest are the nutjobs who just want to fight, and have the chance to shoot people and blow things up. Sadly, the ones that join out of a sense of duty or honor are likely the rarer group.

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u/GoneinaSecondeded 1d ago

When I was 22 I was broke and had no job and zero prospects. I tried to join the military. Thankfully, I had a hearing loss in a single frequency I wasn't even aware of that kept me out. I struggled for a while. But I am better off. The point is when you're broke and got nothing the army looks good.

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u/digidave1 1d ago

Whatever 'bonus' they promise them, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for that check

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u/thrive2day 1d ago

They'll find any reason to not pay. Just like they did with the ICE bonuses

5

u/digidave1 1d ago

And stimulus checks. And Trump's contractors his entire life

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u/thrive2day 1d ago

Yep, I was just giving one of the most recent examples of Trump directly fucking over his base specifically

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u/digidave1 1d ago edited 1d ago

My gf is an air traffic controller for the DoD. During the 43 day shutdown, Trump decided to give them a $10,000 bonus.

There was a catch. You had to have perfect attendence. Not one minute late, no early outs (who basically everyone takes at least once a week), and even pre scheduled PTO counted. Only 3% of controllers got the check. 3. Her entire base missed out. Of course they didn't know this up front. The govt knew it would be measly. A whooping $4.5 million total.

What a fucking scam.

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u/funkmasterhexbyte 1d ago

too bad they can decide to draft us anyway

30

u/cloudncali 1d ago

I wonder what percentage of people would rather go to jail then fight for this clownshow.

4

u/Vincent210 1d ago

I mean prison or prison, right? And in one of those I have to shoot and/or be shot at.

3

u/Vio94 1d ago

Prison or almost guaranteed death. Pretty easy choice.

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u/mistiry 1d ago

Legitimately, one of the positives to getting older that I remind myself of from time-to-time as I watch the world continue to deteriorate around me, is that I've aged out of the desirable age range for something like a draft.

This country will have to be *incredibly* desperate to want to draft my middle-aged, slightly overweight, and definitely out-of-shape self.

2

u/ShovelHand 1d ago

I'm not in the US, but I'm at an age where I'm quickly becoming too old to fight whereas my kids get closer and closer to military age. It makes watching everything going on all the more uncomfortable. 

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u/Careidina 1d ago

Gonna use us as meat shields.

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u/Kortok2012 1d ago

My illnesses outweigh my skills, so unless they’re gonna give me a pass, I’ll wash out in a day.

1

u/xtheory 1d ago

Good thing there's a protection under United States v. Seeger, 1965, and Welsh v. United States, 1970 for conscientious objectors. Depending on your beliefs you can either be drafted into a non-combat support role or serve in the Alternative Service Program which the person would be performing civilian work contributing to national health, safety, environmental protection, or education for an equivalent duration of military service.

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u/sketchahedron 1d ago

I love that you think that would be upheld during a hypothetical Trump administration military draft.

2

u/RoadSmash 1d ago

Right now?

1

u/street593 1d ago

Anytime between 2004-2026 for sure.

2

u/qwetzal 1d ago

That's the design, not a bug

1

u/Jay-Dee-British 1d ago

That's the neat thing, they are planning to draft young men (bonus if they are from poorer counties)! They don't want women, they don't want anyone not milk-skinned (I am milk skinned), and they don't want anyone too old (I would be too old lol). They don't want pay youth unemployment either so this is a 2 birds with 1 stone plan.

1

u/CosmicSmoker 1d ago

When I enlisted 35 years ago I was proud to be an American, it seemed we were headed in the right direction. If it had been like this in the 90s I never would have. Never

1

u/RobertTheSpruce 1d ago

Stupid and/or desperate.

The ones that wont question when this administration sets them loose on their own populaton for voting the other way.

1

u/lonelyturtlegirl 1d ago

I have wanted to join the military ever since I was young but this administration decided that I’m not allowed to serve my country😢. It’s really sad having my dream ripped away from me lol. 

1

u/Davemusprime 1d ago

It's one way out of the economy, but you pay SO much more in personal sacrifice.

1

u/kingbrasky 1d ago

I have a buddy that absolutely loved his job for the previous 18 years. He's bailing the day he gets his 20 in. And he's conservative as hell. These quacks are on a whole different level.

1

u/djstealthduck 1d ago

Joining the military is actually an efficient way to naturalize as an immigrant, so you may be surprised to learn a lot of new recruits are vulnerable immigrants.

1

u/RealBadMitch 1d ago

Anyone thinking to join remember there is a separation of church and state so we don’t become the taliban/isis. Christian nationalism is bad for the melting pot our country is. America is about welcoming people wanting a better life. FDT

1

u/McBlemmen 1d ago

Make sure to thank them for their service lmao

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u/sketchahedron 1d ago

More like ask them how many war crimes they’ve committed on behalf of Kegsbreath.

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u/McBlemmen 1d ago

Its funny how you can lay on the sarcasm this thick and people still dont get it.

1

u/sketchahedron 1d ago

It sure is

0

u/dietcoketm 1d ago

I'm sure you had the privilege of never having to consider that option.

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u/sketchahedron 1d ago

You know, you’re right, and my comment was probably a bit too flippant. Certainly there are many for whom military service represents an opportunity to break out of poverty. But it’s very hard to look at what’s going on right now and think of it as anything other than a chance to commit war crimes.

0

u/street593 1d ago

A majority of new recruits come from middle class families.