Supple Cow

I find this comment ironic because I think that mind "washing," as you call it, goes both ways with respect to military organizations. They exist to serve a certain purpose that lies outside of the scope of what you might call "ordinary" or "acceptable" social interaction and that very fact makes it necessary to structure them a certain way. For one thing, I think an underlying thread that connects most people who have an interest in joining the military is a love of country that ultimately outweighs fear of death. Not everybody goes into the service with this belief and I'm sure that many people go in with the wrong expectations, but it seems to me that an anti-military mind is just as "washed" as a military one. The kind of wash just depends on what is more important to any given individual - self preservation or certain ideals. (Before this gets ugly, I am going to explicitly state that I do not mean to say that self preservation isn't a concern for everyone nor do I mean to say that people who are anti-military do not have ideals.)

I find it hard to believe than an objective opinion exists when, on one end of the spectrum, there are people in the world who wouldn't hesitate at the chance to give their lives in the name of their country or in pursuit of an ideal and, on the other end, people who are so much more concerned with self preservation that they aren't even willing to donate a pint of their blood. Can anybody honestly say anything objective about this subject besides describing the nuts and bolts?

__________________
"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
(Michael Jordan)