kalm wrote:What I like about Cluck is that he at least knows he's an asshole.

Nah...but I know some people think I am an asshole...at least when there is a bee in their bonnet, so I thought I'd get that out of the way.
BTW, it is good to see that there are some thinkers on this site.

Too few, though.
93 posted a good PBS video...and there was a lot of focus on the warrior mentality. It also alluded to the idea that a lot of those recruits ask themselves very early on, WTF are they doing there. <---- No kidding.
There was a LOT of psychological manipulation in that PBS video/training.

Always has been in military training. Breaking people down, isolating them as a group, rebuilding them to think as a team, and making you believe you are the point of a sword or some other, "in the know/head of the pack" group.
Oddly enough, that sure sounds a lot like some tactics used by religious fanatics and other whack jobs, too.
Now, I know that ^ line will draw some flack, but it is what it is. And the quick, knee jerk, aggressive defense of the military by some folks, often without actually trying to understand what is being said, is another example of the results of such, "training." Hilarious stuff about not being brave enough/bad enough/unselfish enough to help others. Plenty of books written about that type of thinking...and a lot of funny movies, too.
I could add a post on the other thread, and might, but it is funny as hell that someone looking a that, "Which way would you run" advertisement would cite the desire to deliver aid to others as reasoning for joining. The same idea was briefly floated in 93's video. But, the ad begins with the sound of gunfire, shows armed marines, and talks about tyranny...yeah, seems like a public service national disaster food drop to me.
Oh, one of the best lines of that PBS video was that one guy was proud that he served his country, but he wasn't proud of the things he had to do to serve his country. And that was in WWII against an enemy that attacked us. War is Hell...but from many written accounts of veterans, it is a little more Hellish when you don't know why you are fighting and the situation on the ground doesn't exactly match what is being sold to the peeps back home.

But, as a Marine, you give up your right to ask, "What if?" At least according to some jokers around here.
[youtube]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FnO3igOkOk[/youtube]
Anyway, good to have a discussion on here.