[CrackMonkey] FUQ, slavery is back

[Seth David Schoen]

Tom Duffy writes:

> On Thu, 2002-01-31 at 12:32, Seth David Schoen wrote:
> 
> > I'm very wary of the idea that military service teaches people lessons
> > about life which are an unalloyed good.  There are obviously good and
> > productive lessons that many people get from military service,
> > experiences of the things that you mention and experiences of
> > interdependence and co-operation and camaraderie.
> 
> I would much rather have people conscripted into the Peace Corps to
> learn life lessons...

Well, I wonder which benefits are unique to the military and which are
available elsewhere.  I do know some people who are doing "service"
things which don't involve military law, orders, or training to kill
people.  (Teach For America is one program I have a couple of friends
in; they have a time commitment -- two years, or as long as the terms
of conscription in many countries with universal military service laws
-- and a public service commitment, and it's not as though the U.S.
doesn't have a dire need for good teachers.)

It's true that it's hard for TFA to defend against invasions, since
they have fairly little training with heavy weapons and attain
remarkably few hours of flight time.

-- 
Seth David Schoen <schoen at loyalty.org> | Reading is a right, not a feature!
     http://www.loyalty.org/~schoen/   |                 -- Kathryn Myronuk
     http://vitanuova.loyalty.org/     |