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So you want to kill and maim people in a more humane way.
Holy schmoly.
FKA LinksRadikal
“The possibility of securing for every member of society, by means of socialized production, an existence not only fully sufficient materially, and becoming day by day more full, but an existence guaranteeing to all the free development and exercise of their physical and mental faculties – this possibility is now for the first time here, but it is here.” Friedrich Engels
"The proletariat is its struggle; and its struggles have to this day not led it beyond class society, but deeper into it." Friends of the Classless Society
"Your life is survived by your deeds" - Steve von Till
Unfortunately, no. You cannot be consistent with yourself if you join the military. It will fuck with your mind pretty hard, especially after you take part in killing someone for the bourgeoisie's business interests. I wanted to join when I was younger and every single person that I know that did doesn't recommend it with about half being radicals. Take their advice and don't do it.
Society does not consist of individuals but expresses the sum of interrelations, the relations within which these individuals stand. ~ Karl Marx
formerly Triceramarx
No he did not say that, as you well understand. He may be wrong and even deluding himself as to what he can achieve. But, he is simply trying to square a circle that, in truth, can't be squared. Why is he doing that? Because he is presumably a good man caught in a bad system and is looking for a moral way out.
This place is full of folks ever ready with the kind of supercilious bullshit of which your post is an exemplar.
I knew a leftist who joined the US military. She turned into a conservative.
"I have declared war on the rich who prosper on our poverty, the politicians who lie to us with smiling faces, and all the mindless, heartless robots who protect them and their property." - Assata Shakur
Really? Maybe you have a problem with reading comprehension:
Now tell me again how this does not imply that a left wing soldier would not do the same thing ("the same function") but in a more humane way?
Maybe you have a problem with my blatant identification of "combat" with killing and maiming? Well that's great, it must mean that combat troops are actually humanitarian peacekeepers. Especially in the Gaza strip and surrounding areas.
FKA LinksRadikal
“The possibility of securing for every member of society, by means of socialized production, an existence not only fully sufficient materially, and becoming day by day more full, but an existence guaranteeing to all the free development and exercise of their physical and mental faculties – this possibility is now for the first time here, but it is here.” Friedrich Engels
"The proletariat is its struggle; and its struggles have to this day not led it beyond class society, but deeper into it." Friends of the Classless Society
"Your life is survived by your deeds" - Steve von Till
I already know what unspeakable horrors the Israeli state is responsible for, so enough with the continuance of the superciliousness. You fuckers just can't help yourselves can you.
I'm interested, what happens to young Israelis who refuse the conscription draft?
I think Anarchists would certainly have a problem with anyone proclaiming themselves a comrade of theirs and being part of the military.
How about refuting my interpretation of that really straightforward statement instead of meaningless words?
Though, to be clear, nowhere did I say the user in question is a bad person; that's your own problem with reading stuff into my statements.
But on the other hand, only a proper fool would want to be in combat while not realizing what this entails (killing and maiming); therefore, I'm assuming the user isn't a fool and understands this. Apart from this, the post speaks for itself - it is clear in assuming that a right wing person would be inhumane in what they call the same function (I mean for fuck's sake, do you realize this?), which implies that they think of themselves as doing the very same thing more humanely.
And to top it off, we have the idea of influence from within; which is laughable on its own.
Now do tell me how the hell I misrepresent their views.
FKA LinksRadikal
“The possibility of securing for every member of society, by means of socialized production, an existence not only fully sufficient materially, and becoming day by day more full, but an existence guaranteeing to all the free development and exercise of their physical and mental faculties – this possibility is now for the first time here, but it is here.” Friedrich Engels
"The proletariat is its struggle; and its struggles have to this day not led it beyond class society, but deeper into it." Friends of the Classless Society
"Your life is survived by your deeds" - Steve von Till
For the most part, their refual is ignored and/or they are sent to jail. All the context of a broader culture which will make their lives extremely difficult in any event.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refusa...raeli_military
For young and impressionable minds, all of the above makes it extremely difficult to resist.
Yet, as indicated by the article you've linked, the Refuseniks' movement does exist, and, it seems to me, any principled communist should absolutely refuse to serve in the occupied territories. For that matter, they should actively work to undermine the occupation, and failing to do so constitutes a moral failing.
To clarify - I'm not singling out Israel in this regard - I would feel the same way about any RCMP Officer, or Canadian who doesn't take seriously anti-colonial solidarity.
The life we have conferred upon these objects confronts us as something hostile and alien.
Formerly Virgin Molotov Cocktail (11/10/2004 - 21/08/2013)
I'm most likely going to be working at clinics and aboard ships attending to medical duties…I'm not joining the Marines. Most corpsmen I know have never even seen combat. Idk, I just can't decide.
Yes, it does exist and I agree, at the end of the day, about the need for refusal. However, we must also recognise, I would argue, that young people who find the cultural as well as personal courage to refuse will be doing so at the extremely vulnerable age of 18 and so need all the help they can get. Given that, I would suggest that a far better degree of success in enabling and empowering them to do so, will be achieved by encouragement and not by supercilious, dismissive, smart-arsed criticism of their moral/cultural dilemma by some on this forum and elsewhere.
To understand the actions of others and persuade them to change, we must walk in their shoes.
Even if you would just be on board a clinic you are still supporting the ones that actually murder civilians for business's benefit.
formerly Triceramarx
Unfortunately for you it is common that the US does not actually have people doing what they thought they'd be doing or even worse they lie their asses off, tell you that you'll do this or that, then put you in some really fucked up situation that is not at all what they promised you.
"I'm not interested in indulging whims from members of your faction."
Seeing as this is seen as acceptable by an admin, from here on out when I have a disagreement with someone I will be asking them to reference this. If you want an explanation of my views, too bad.
O shut up. With that kind of logic I can state that if you pay taxes then you are supporting the state war machine. He is going to be a corpsman. He will never see combat and will actually learn a trade that is valuable to society.
@Echo
it all depends on your contract. Most who join the military do so with out being able to choose what job they want. If you pass the requirements and the job you want is: understaffed, you can out that job in your contract when you enlist.
Also @ OP. Have you thought about navy reserves? You can get trained as a corpsman while also getting money to go to school.
I thought about that too for a second, but it's fairly obvious that there is a massive difference between paying taxes (as the law demands) and voluntarily joining the largest imperial war machine on earth.
Even the mechanics on the Death Star got what they deserved...
Except, of course, in places like Israel it's not voluntary and in places like the USA, a person's freedom to "choose" occurs in the inescapable context of very real economic/educational/cultural/political power differentials.
I'm not saying it's okay, Far from it. I'm saying, however, that moral responsibility is a relative function of power and is not some absolute metric by which we can acontextually judge the actions of others.
You don't get thrown in jail if you refuse to join the military with only a few exceptions. Taxes are completely different from military service in a country with a volunteer military. You sign a pledge to protect the bourgeois state through its constitution when entering the military but if you skip your taxes you are penalized by people that did take that pledge or a similar one: be they cops or others like that. Try explaining the difference between what soldiers do and cops. Let us take a look at the similarities: similar oath, similar bosses, similar structure, increasingly similar tactics, and many vets join the police. Sure, being a medic isn't the worst thing to choose out of the many MOSs but without medics the military wouldn't be able to function. This isn't just a question of "did that person pull the trigger". It is a question of enabling as well.
formerly Triceramarx
Not to be rude but I don't think it's possible to just fly to some country and join the FARC or the Naxalites. At the least they'd probably be really suspicious.
Sure you can still be a communist...just not a great one.
Good Communist: Fights against capitalist state
Bad Communist: Fights for capitalist state.
