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none of my friends in the armed forces are smart or socially conscious people. they are not at all curious about any of life's questions.
Yeah, the armed forces is overwhelmingly conservative. Even if you’re not conservative when you go in, being immersed in it for so long means you likely are when you get out. There are outliers, sure. But statistically, the people in the armed forces will only have the opinions that Fox News tells them to have.
I have no horse in this race :)
The fascist armed forces do and they have them trample on protesters.
I am recently (last few weeks recent) out of the Navy. Not eoas but I doubt people are interested in the reasons and it would be easy to dox me if I got into details.
Its bad. Most of the people in the navy are more than willing to do whatever they are told. I was a role that had a higher than average level of people leaning left and even then most of them were explicitly republican even if they thought trump was stupid.
The military will just do whatever they are told unless someone higher up is willing to break ranks first.
That's honestly really sad and pathetic.
I'd expect there to be more rational thought, even if it doesn't translate into the action of disobedience.
Most of the US military have zero qualms about obeying illegal orders.
Reference: Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, and most other U.S. instigated wars for their entire history.
If that’s the case, then we should shun these traitors.
This is what has been most depressing/distressing about watching all of this unfold. People online (and I'm not immune to this either) have this impulse to think "Surely not right? Surely these people will come to their senses and not just blindly follow transparently evil orders right? We've been told these people are heroes who stand up for freedom and democracy and our safety right? Surely at least some of them will do the right thing right?" It's so ingrained into us through support our troops propaganda and various TV/Movies showing them and cops as principled heroes saving the day. We've also seen this with corporations. "Wow I can't believe this company turned away from DEI so quickly. I can't believe this company is going to keep selling surveillance tech to the government. Surely someone will see how wrong that is."
And then I snap back to my senses and remember history. We've seen what horrors these people are willing to commit, whether they want to or are "just following orders." Maybe you at least believe that they won't do it to US, as cynical as that is... and then you remember Kent State, segregation, the violent crackdown on unions, the police rallying around protecting cops who execute people in the streets, etc.
Nobody is going to come to their senses. None of them are coming to save us from themselves. If we don't stand up for ourselves this is just going to happen and be another chapter in a long history of cruelty.
The thing is that it becomes different when the order becomes "go to your home town, shoot anyone who disobeys, including your friends and family."
It might take a decade of brutal civil war, but look what happened in Syria. In the end the people in the army were also tired of murdering their own people.
The solution here is even easier than the division they've already been sowing upon the American people.
You don't send them home. You send them to the place that is the most culturally disparate from the way they grew up possible. You're a New England liberal? Great. We'll post you in the center of conservative Texas. Red Cap from a family of Diehard conservatives? You go to Oregon. New York inner city youth? You get special duty, guarding critical corporate infrastructure.
Keep them divided, keep them guessing. All it takes for control of a human being.
The Milgram experiment. The Zimbardo prison experiment. The bystander effect. At the end of the day, humans are just monkeys with smart watches. As social primates, it's really hard to be the one to stand up against the crowd. Our brains decide how to act based largely on the reactions of other humans around us.
It's disheartening.
Don't use the Zimbardo prison experiment. From your link:
Certain critics have described the study as unscientific and fraudulent.[6][7] In particular, Thibault Le Texier has established that the guards were asked directly to behave in certain ways in order to confirm Zimbardo's conclusions, which were largely written in advance of the experiment.
That just makes it worse! (From my point of view here.) People behaving reprehensibly because an authority figure asked them to do it? That's just the Milgram experiment, but without any apparent hesitation!
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Military operative have been trained to obey like dogs, their sentience has been mercilessly beaten out if them. Just look at the mindless obedience of your coworkers, sheeps to the slaughter the lot of them. The few that awaken gets co-opted by the system as sheep dogs of the system are rewarded with meaty, juicy bones. Questionning authority is not an option, it's a sin. They know their masters would never punish their obedience, it would never happen, it NEVER happens.
The military is a corrupt and vile institution, it is irrelevant who they are killing for, they are not on "your" side, they are trying to survive and will kill what they are told. All who participate in organized premeditated militarism as a job, while not under immediate attack of another organized and premeditated military, are simply lost to humanity, they have become the enemy, tools, no matter what flag they jack into at night. In hyperwar militaries are obsolete because they become incoherent, there is no enemy if cannot point to it. The enemy is you.
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Normally they just terrorise brown people, also nice that they don't have to take a plane to do that now.
You might want to edit your post to read "armed forces" rather than army. The United States armed forces include Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Marines, Air Force, Space Force (LOL), and the National Guard. I apologize if I left anyone out.
The National Guard is not monolithic either, as it is per service and per state. I.e. Minnesota Air National Guard, Minnesota Army National Guard, Iowa Air… you get it
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Let's face it, who do you think elected the Mr. President?
Musk's voting machines?
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If you honestly think they have an issue with following illegal orders, I think you should take a look at The Kent State massacre
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People inside rn be like: "Why are some of these people I'm shooting white??.. Ah well."
Are they allowed on Lemmy? Partially sarcastic
As individuals yes, as representatives of the armed forces? Not likely. Anonymity helps, but I'm sure many would be wary of posting anything contrarian views right now.
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These boots taste great.
Eyes Left podcast: A Guide to Getting Out of the US Military (Now) w/ the GI Rights Hotline
It's much easier than the Pentagon wants you to think. Whether you're in the military or know someone who is, this is the definitive guide to walking away. And as Biden's support for genocide spins out into new US wars across the Middle East, from the Red Sea to Iraq, now would be a good time to walk away.
Featuring special guest Maria Santelli, longtime counselor with the GI Rights Hotline, which provides secure, free and expert support to any service member who wants to leave the military.
CALL the hotline anytime at 1-877-447-4487 for advice, or visit them online at https://girightshotline.org/
Maria is Executive Director of the Center on Conscience and War: https://centeronconscience.org/ GI Rights Hotline
"War criminals of lemmy, what do you and your fellow pond scum think about potentially shooting white people for a change?"
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Anyone who answers this question is doing so at risk to their career. I hope they do either way.
Where the fuck are you getting your rhetoric from? It's woefully inaccurate.
Servicemen are allowed to talk about the military.
It's not a risk I'd personally take with trump as president.
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this post was submitted on 10 Jun 2025
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Asklemmy
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