If YOU Were Running For President...

[Joe Wicked]

Many things I agree with you on, but the one that I have to disagree is number 12. Being an all volunteer military is what makes it great. Forcing an individual to serve the country in one form or another is not freedom to me. I believe it should be left up to the individual to decide if they believe in the "cause".

[MChat]

Originally Posted by Joe Wicked

Many things I agree with you on, but the one that I have to disagree is number 12. Being an all volunteer military is what makes it great. Forcing an individual to serve the country in one form or another is not freedom to me. I believe it should be left up to the individual to decide if they believe in the "cause".

That's why I indicated that the choice of how/where to serve is up to the individual; not a military service requirement. Humility is a good thing to learn and we've (as a nation) forgotten what it means to be a servant. We've turned JFK's word around and are asking "what can my country do for me."

- or -

Choose not to serve, but also give up the right to vote.


Edit: I wanted to clarify this "service" thing to. What I'm thinking is that Non-Profit organizations could register and qualify for a certain number of "servants" per year (depending upon the size of the organization). Therefore the service of an individual may be to the charitible organization of their choice (providing a "slot" is available).

I just think a little humility will go a long way toward curing the current "the world owes me" way of thinking.

[NeoConMan]

Originally Posted by MChat

That's why I indicated that the choice of how/where to serve is up to the individual; not a military service requirement. Humility is a good thing to learn and we've (as a nation) forgotten what it means to be a servant.

Yeah, we've become a self-absorbed nation with no idea what it really means to serve your fellow man.
You have to be a Peace Corp hippie or Dominatrix now, it's a failure...
Me first - every time.

They usually don't like me very much....

[Joe Wicked]

Originally Posted by MChat

That's why I indicated that the choice of how/where to serve is up to the individual; not a military service requirement. Humility is a good thing to learn and we've (as a nation) forgotten what it means to be a servant. We've turned JFK's word around and are asking "what can my country do for me."

- or -

Choose not to serve, but also give up the right to vote.


Edit: I wanted to clarify this "service" thing to. What I'm thinking is that Non-Profit organizations could register and qualify for a certain number of "servants" per year (depending upon the size of the organization). Therefore the service of an individual may be to the charitible organization of their choice (providing a "slot" is available).

I just think a little humility will go a long way toward curing the current "the world owes me" way of thinking.

Mandatory service is mandatory service no matter how you slice it. I don't care what type of service it is. I volunteered to serve in the military because I believe that the military keeps our freedoms. One of those freedoms is the ability to choose if I wish to serve. Trust me I understand the logic, but if you make some type of service mandatory, you MAY make more people understand what sacrifice is about, but in the process you take one of the freedoms we have away. I served to protect every freedom we have, not certain ones. It pisses me off that my step daughter is trying to talk her brother out of joining the air force because she does not think anyone should join (that would fix Bush), but that is a right that I served to give to her, and she is exercising that right. I will never support taking away any freedom. It does not matter if I think it would do them good. That is their choice to make.

[MChat]

Originally Posted by Joe Wicked

Mandatory service is mandatory service no matter how you slice it. I don't care what type of service it is. I volunteered to serve in the military because I believe that the military keeps our freedoms. One of those freedoms is the ability to choose if I wish to serve. Trust me I understand the logic, but if you make some type of service mandatory, you MAY make more people understand what sacrifice is about, but in the process you take one of the freedoms we have away. I served to protect every freedom we have, not certain ones. It pisses me off that my step daughter is trying to talk her brother out of joining the air force because she does not think anyone should join (that would fix Bush), but that is a right that I served to give to her, and she is exercising that right. I will never support taking away any freedom. It does not matter if I think it would do them good. That is their choice to make.

Perhaps "losing" freedom for 2 years is a good thing. As the saying goes: you don't appreciate what you have until you've lost it.

[Joe Wicked]

Originally Posted by MChat

Perhaps "losing" freedom for 2 years is a good thing. As the saying goes: you don't appreciate what you have until you've lost it.

I agree I think it is a good thing. I learned a lot about being a man in the service. I learned a lot about taking care of business, and I learned a lot about what it means to sacrifice. Where a punk entered, a man came out.

BUT, mandatory service is against what I stand for, and what I served for. Mandatory Service will take your right to protest away. While serving, you cannot protest against any government entity. It takes away your right to choose to serve. No one should have to give up their rights PERIOD. I did not serve so the government could mandate that all kids are forced into some kind of service. While I personally believe that everyone would benefit from service, forcing people to do so will put us only 1 step away from communism (USSR, N Korea, China) mandatory service, many terrorist nations are the same way. I just believe that forcing it takes something from this country that makes it great. We have been going down that road and it needs to stop.