sorry for the spam, but I'm finally feeling a little better. ordered some yarn and crochet hooks and gonna granny square like a mofo. anything to kill some time and distract from the bullshit.
I got to say, 15 Airmen out of the approx. 500,000 active duty, guard and reserve is a pretty small percent. By no means am a saying that is all of them out there, or that we should ignore it - horrible people shouldn’t be serving, period. But from my 24-year perspective on the inside, the Air Force isn’t a hotbed of festering extremism. There are a small number of bad people, and the vast majority of us are committed to rooting them out.
That said, I sat through the mandated Standdown, and it was as dull as any other we’ve done. The main value was that it beat the drum that if you know one of your buddies is a shitheel on Facebook, you are obligated to report him or her. So maybe that may turn over a few rocks.
You say “even then,” like it has gotten even worse. As someone who has been in the Air Force on and off since shortly after the Vietnam days (entered ROTC in 1984) I can say that the USAF has absolutely reduced the emphasis on toxic christianity between then and now. While almost every formal ceremony still has an invocation, it is ALWAYS non-denominational now, and often overtly non-religious. All chaplains are required to minister to all faiths, and provide religious support to Muslims, Jews, Hindu, Wikkans, Pagans, and even Secular Humanists. I have NEVER, in 24 years active service, been proselytized to, or made to feel in any way that I was excluded due to my non-faith.
How does the Air Force get so screwed up? Look no farther than the academy where its leaders are trained. From Wikipedia entry on the Air Force Academy:
Honor scandals: The first honor scandal broke in 1965. Cheating scandals plagued the academy again in 1967, 1972, 1984, 2004, 2007, 2012, 2014, and 2019.
Sexual harassment, assault and gender bias: These and other problems rose to national prominence news broke of an investigation into behavior by Academy cadets and faculty that included allegations of drug use, alcohol abuse, cheating, and sexual assault.
Religious proselytizing: Evangelical Christian cadets and staff engaged inreligious proselytizing at the Academy. Evidence discovered during investigationsincluded antisemitic remarks.
I wonder if the thing you got angry about- which, honestly, seems pretty thin skinned- might help contribute to making the thing you say is not going to change change. Like, if perhaps military spending was significantly cut, some of that money could go towards paying for people to have further education without the proviso that they should be trained and expected to kill others first. Maybe some of the huge sums that go to the armed forces could be redirected towards creating a more reliable system of social provision so that young people with families don't have to sign up in order to have enough money to provide for them. Maybe you could have a society that didn't consider it a valid trade off to receive what in other countries is considered a basic right from a welfare state only if you are first prepared to be trained, and expected, to kill other people in various other countries "for freedom".
Apparently the armed forces fight for people's freedoms- one of those is the freedom to criticise the armed forces. That you don't like that doesn't make the arguments against the armed forces and the ridiculous levels of spending that go to them any more justified.
"I have no idea where you got the idea that those values are fascism."
From having read numerous studies of fascism.
I suggest if you don't recognise the foundational role of militarism and the glorying of exactly those things you named as reasons the armed services are better than the rest of society you look outside a dictionary and consult actual texts analysing fascism, and especially studies of things like the Freikorps.
The Anatomy of Fascism by Robert O Paxton is a good place to start, as is Fascism: A History by Roger Eatwell. I would also highly recommend Ian Kershaw's biographies of Hitler.
In terms of things written contemporaneously with the rise of fascism that glorify exactly the things I said they did, try reading some of the novels of Ernst Jünger or the political writings of Gabriele D'Annunzio.
You could also try reading histories of Corneliu Codreanu in Romania, Admiral Horthy in Hungary or Ante Pavelic in Croatia- like the more well known fascists of Germany and Italy they also built their movements on the supposed desirability of military virtues in their countries.
To not know these things were lauded by fascists and deliberately sought by them is to not know anything about the subject of fascism, or even the fact that it originated directly following the First World War often as explicit attempts to recover the feelings and phenomena you describe that its members had found in the trenches.
Guess what? Those values are sought by American corporations. They want their employees to have a can-do attitude, to be able to work together with others, and for those in leadership positions to show leadership (at least if they want their company to be successful they do). Are you trying to say American capitalism is fascist? Are you trying to say courage is bad, teamwork is bad, persistence and initiative (can-do) is bad, commitment to doing your job is bad, leadership is bad? I respectfully submit that your premise is bullshit.
https://www.amazon.com/Hitl... the first of two volumes, and the one that charts his rise- and obviously gives an overview and insight into his beliefs, including how his time in the army strongly influenced his views of what was and was not desirable for society as a whole
https://www.amazon.com/Hein... Similarly, a biography of a man who established a paramilitary organisation precisely to inculcate into its members the veneration of the "military" virtues
https://www.amazon.com/Visi... A history of the culture of a society under fascism, which again was highly militaristic and again celebrated "military" virtues (this, incidentally, was the regime that targeted and tried to kill my family)
https://www.amazon.com/Pike...A biography of the founder of possibly the first fascist state, complete with details of how his experiences in the First World War and his love of the camaraderie, "can-do" spirit, shared sense of struggle etc etc fueled his ideas. Incidentally, this fascist country occupied the area several of my family are still living in.
I also didn't say "those values are fascism". There is clearly more to fascism than that. I said those ideals had been praised by fascists since the inception of fascism.
The point is that fascists deliberately, explicitly and repeatedly used the ideas that military experience somehow elevated members of the military above civilians to create the societies they did. They relied on the mysticism they imbued military service with to justify rule by the "strong" armed forces, including their own paramilitary groups, over the "weak" civilians.
Maybe consider that a dictionary definition of something is not actually the most detailed available.
because they think everyone else thinks like them
this one always makes me smile. :) https://www.youtube.com/wat...
opening boxes that have been in the garage for almost 2 years is fun.
https://uploads.disquscdn.c...
sorry for the spam, but I'm finally feeling a little better. ordered some yarn and crochet hooks and gonna granny square like a mofo. anything to kill some time and distract from the bullshit.
I got to say, 15 Airmen out of the approx. 500,000 active duty, guard and reserve is a pretty small percent. By no means am a saying that is all of them out there, or that we should ignore it - horrible people shouldn’t be serving, period. But from my 24-year perspective on the inside, the Air Force isn’t a hotbed of festering extremism. There are a small number of bad people, and the vast majority of us are committed to rooting them out.
That said, I sat through the mandated Standdown, and it was as dull as any other we’ve done. The main value was that it beat the drum that if you know one of your buddies is a shitheel on Facebook, you are obligated to report him or her. So maybe that may turn over a few rocks.
You should ask them if they've kissed Hank's ass lately.
You say “even then,” like it has gotten even worse. As someone who has been in the Air Force on and off since shortly after the Vietnam days (entered ROTC in 1984) I can say that the USAF has absolutely reduced the emphasis on toxic christianity between then and now. While almost every formal ceremony still has an invocation, it is ALWAYS non-denominational now, and often overtly non-religious. All chaplains are required to minister to all faiths, and provide religious support to Muslims, Jews, Hindu, Wikkans, Pagans, and even Secular Humanists. I have NEVER, in 24 years active service, been proselytized to, or made to feel in any way that I was excluded due to my non-faith.
https://www.royalmarines.uk...
How does the Air Force get so screwed up? Look no farther than the academy where its leaders are trained. From Wikipedia entry on the Air Force Academy:
Honor scandals: The first honor scandal broke in 1965. Cheating scandals plagued the academy again in 1967, 1972, 1984, 2004, 2007, 2012, 2014, and 2019.
Sexual harassment, assault and gender bias: These and other problems rose to national prominence news broke of an investigation into behavior by Academy cadets and faculty that included allegations of drug use, alcohol abuse, cheating, and sexual assault.
Religious proselytizing: Evangelical Christian cadets and staff engaged inreligious proselytizing at the Academy. Evidence discovered during investigationsincluded antisemitic remarks.
I'll take everlasting love whenever I find it. Thank you, Bunny.
Zoomies. Something basically wrong with people who kill from miles away and never see what they've done.
This douchecanoe need to be yeeted right out of the US Army.
https://twitter.com/Angry_S...
I wonder if the thing you got angry about- which, honestly, seems pretty thin skinned- might help contribute to making the thing you say is not going to change change. Like, if perhaps military spending was significantly cut, some of that money could go towards paying for people to have further education without the proviso that they should be trained and expected to kill others first. Maybe some of the huge sums that go to the armed forces could be redirected towards creating a more reliable system of social provision so that young people with families don't have to sign up in order to have enough money to provide for them. Maybe you could have a society that didn't consider it a valid trade off to receive what in other countries is considered a basic right from a welfare state only if you are first prepared to be trained, and expected, to kill other people in various other countries "for freedom".
Apparently the armed forces fight for people's freedoms- one of those is the freedom to criticise the armed forces. That you don't like that doesn't make the arguments against the armed forces and the ridiculous levels of spending that go to them any more justified.
"I have no idea where you got the idea that those values are fascism."
From having read numerous studies of fascism.
I suggest if you don't recognise the foundational role of militarism and the glorying of exactly those things you named as reasons the armed services are better than the rest of society you look outside a dictionary and consult actual texts analysing fascism, and especially studies of things like the Freikorps.
The Anatomy of Fascism by Robert O Paxton is a good place to start, as is Fascism: A History by Roger Eatwell. I would also highly recommend Ian Kershaw's biographies of Hitler.
In terms of things written contemporaneously with the rise of fascism that glorify exactly the things I said they did, try reading some of the novels of Ernst Jünger or the political writings of Gabriele D'Annunzio.
You could also try reading histories of Corneliu Codreanu in Romania, Admiral Horthy in Hungary or Ante Pavelic in Croatia- like the more well known fascists of Germany and Italy they also built their movements on the supposed desirability of military virtues in their countries.
To not know these things were lauded by fascists and deliberately sought by them is to not know anything about the subject of fascism, or even the fact that it originated directly following the First World War often as explicit attempts to recover the feelings and phenomena you describe that its members had found in the trenches.
Guess what? Those values are sought by American corporations. They want their employees to have a can-do attitude, to be able to work together with others, and for those in leadership positions to show leadership (at least if they want their company to be successful they do). Are you trying to say American capitalism is fascist? Are you trying to say courage is bad, teamwork is bad, persistence and initiative (can-do) is bad, commitment to doing your job is bad, leadership is bad? I respectfully submit that your premise is bullshit.
https://www.amazon.com/Fasc...
https://www.amazon.com/Anat...
https://www.amazon.com/Hitl... the first of two volumes, and the one that charts his rise- and obviously gives an overview and insight into his beliefs, including how his time in the army strongly influenced his views of what was and was not desirable for society as a whole
https://www.amazon.com/Hein... Similarly, a biography of a man who established a paramilitary organisation precisely to inculcate into its members the veneration of the "military" virtues
https://www.amazon.com/Visi... A history of the culture of a society under fascism, which again was highly militaristic and again celebrated "military" virtues (this, incidentally, was the regime that targeted and tried to kill my family)
https://www.amazon.com/Pike...A biography of the founder of possibly the first fascist state, complete with details of how his experiences in the First World War and his love of the camaraderie, "can-do" spirit, shared sense of struggle etc etc fueled his ideas. Incidentally, this fascist country occupied the area several of my family are still living in.
I also didn't say "those values are fascism". There is clearly more to fascism than that. I said those ideals had been praised by fascists since the inception of fascism.
The point is that fascists deliberately, explicitly and repeatedly used the ideas that military experience somehow elevated members of the military above civilians to create the societies they did. They relied on the mysticism they imbued military service with to justify rule by the "strong" armed forces, including their own paramilitary groups, over the "weak" civilians.
Maybe consider that a dictionary definition of something is not actually the most detailed available.