Discussion:
America's brutal culture aids soldiers in murder and mayhem
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YellowStars
19 years ago
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"America's brutal culture aids soldiers in murder and mayhem."
YellowStars blog
Posted by ESLaPorte
3 June 2006
http://yellow-stars.com/blog/2006/06/americas_brutal_culture_aid_so.html

First - to discuss problems and misconduct of American soldiers is to poke
at a Sacred Cow. In America's dualist political landscape, to criticize the
American military is to be "in support of terrorists and Sadden Hussein."
Sadden Hussein is indeed a war criminal and I have absolutely no sympathy
for terrorists. Also, as a former American military member, I met and was
mentored by many good leaders.

Now- as a former military member myself, I can tell you that many soldiers
and military personnel that are entering the service are not nice people
from nice backgrounds. Often, due to lack of decent jobs in America cities,
many underclass Americans are forced into military service to survive and
lift themselves out of poverty. American underclass neighborhoods are filled
with nightly murders and violence, rampant drug use, hunger and dehumanizing
hopelessness. This environment has a devastating effect on the person's
outlook on the value of life and the respect for others and their culture.
It is known that the phenomena of "dissing" and fighting for respect are a
common cultural feature of the urban poor. Many urban poor have enlisted in
the military service to escape poverty and I also enlisted in the military
to help obtain a college education.

We must first understand that the lack of decent jobs for all Americans is
at the root of all of America's moral problems. The effect of grinding urban
poverty and the dehumanization of American culture undermines the role of
families in socialization and self worth. Employment is the chief master
status and how adults in American society define their individual
identities. Decent jobs do more than just pay the bills. Work lifts the
spirit, lifts the psychological well-being of families and communities and
provides a sense of self worth to all people.

The American military can be an escape mechanism for street gang members
too, as well as good underclass kids that are attempting to flee the
dehumanizing and demoralizing poverty. No doubt, that many people that
enlist in the American military service are good people, but nowadays there
are service members that might have been (or still are) members of street
gangs. Intercity young people join street gangs as segregate families and
for a sense of belonging and self-worth in settings that lack decent and
lawful opportunities. The military can act as the same kind of social
system as a street gang. It should be unsettling that the lack of
opportunities in underclass communities drives the most underclass youth to
seek either military service or crime as a way out. There should be other
alternatives.
Mabon Dane
19 years ago
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I understand that the USA intends to put their soldiers through some
course to teach them abouth morality and ethics in their tasks in Iraq.
I thought any normal person would understand that killing innocent
people is not the sort of thing soldiers for the USA should be doing.
It leads one to conclude what sort of beast an Amercian soldier is.

Mabon Dane
Mehrdad
19 years ago
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We shouldn't underestimate the situation in iraq. the soldiers are
under so much pressure when seeing their colleagues blown up or shot
right beside them. they's on alert 24/7 and patrolling streets where
there's risk of stepping onto a mine.
All these can easily cause psychological damage in the soldiers which
eventually vanishes their sense of humanity and sympathy.
I'm not justifying the killing of innocent in iraq, like what we
witnessed at Haditha. but these are only partially the soldier's fault.
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