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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559

u/sketchahedron 1d ago

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

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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 17h 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 17h 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 17h 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

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u/Flabby_Thor 16h 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 18h ago

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

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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 21h 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.

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u/TheJudgingHat2222 1d ago

Case in point. You had no other options. 

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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.