Binro the Heretic  - 2023-04-09
My dad served in the marines in Vietnam.
He STRONGLY discouraged me from joining the military.
Specifically, he said he would break both my legs if I did.
|
Cena_mark - 2023-04-09
I typically like left wing video essays, but there are few things I'd say are wrong here. The 50% of soldiers are injured each year thing seems a bit high and needs some context. Is this combat zone, or is it general? If so, what counts as an injury. If a sailor hurts himself in the gym, does that count? Consider the benefits to an injured soldier vs those of an injured warehouse worker. I've had surgery since being in the service and didn't worry about paying a single cent. People can just as easily hurt themselves working in the private sector and end up totally fucked.
Another fact he uses that I've stumbled upon many times that is quite wrong is when the pay of a minimum wage job is made out to be similar to that of an army private. The problem with this factoid is that they only take base pay into account. Housing allowance is a huge part of one's income along with other allowances. This also likely involves them using E1 pay when nobody stays an E1 very long. The military will also give you a raise every two years. Once I was in an E5 with 6 years in I was making some pretty good money. Funny thing about his factoid is that the left uses to convince people not to join the military and the right uses it to argue against raising pay for low wage workers. They'll post Facebook memes asking why a burger flipper should be paid better than the troops. Both sides need to stop using this.
The writer of the video doesn't seem to understand how inactive reserves works. The narrator seems to confuse it for the regular reserves. I've never heard of anyone being called in from inactive reserves. Inactive reserves is only for WW3 type shit.
Yes, you pay $1200 in your first year for the GI Bill, but the dude doesn't talk about how sweet the GI Bill is. We all know it pays for college, but did you know that it also pays a housing allowance. That $1200 will be paid back by your first months housing allowance, easy.
That's all I can think of for now. I might give it another view and post some more criticisms of the video. Feel free to ask any questions.
|
|
SolRo - 2023-04-10 https://phc.amedd.army.mil/topics/discond/ptsaip/Pages/Army-Injuri es-Causes-Risk-Factors-and-Prevention-Overview.aspx
TL:dr - mostly repetitive stress injuries, ie the kind of shit that can permanently effect you for life even if you don’t have to pay the hospital bill
|
SolRo - 2023-04-10 “ A Petty Officer Second Class is a petty officer in the United States Coast Guard at DoD paygrade E-5. A Petty Officer Second Class receives a monthly basic pay salary starting at $2,610 per month, with raises up to $3,704 per month once they have served for over 12 years.”
Is this accurate?
|
Cena_mark - 2023-04-10 Solro, in other words injuries one can typically get in the private sector, but over there you might be shit out of luck on your medical bills.
E5 pay is now $2,730.30-$3,874.80 as per the 2023 pay chart.
https://veteran.com/2023-military-pay-charts/
But here's the real kicker, BAH (Basic Allowance For Housing) Let's say you're an E4 with dependents serving in Clearwater, FL. You get $2421 a month for your home. Lets say you get an apartment for $2000 a month. The rest goes in your pocket. Another kicker is that the housing allowance isn't taxed.
https://www.travel.dod.mil/Allowances/Basic-Allowance-for-Hous ing/BAH-Rate-Lookup/
There's also Basic Allowance for Subsistence. $452.56/month. Also not taxed. https://militarypay.defense.gov/pay/allowances/bas.aspx One doesn't always get those allowances. But when you're serving in the US you typically can.
I also want to bring up the sexual assault statistics. The video says 1 in 4 women are sexually assaulted in the military. Well lets say you convince your daughter to go to college instead, the rates are similar for college (1 in 5). 1/3 of all US women say they've been sexually assaulted or harassed at work. It's a problem across the US and the world in general, not just the military.
|
Nominal - 2023-04-10
This guy is like stupid John Oliver.
|
|
ashtar. - 2023-04-10
This is idiotic. You should absolutely join the military. It's the best way to get health care and higher education in America, as well as a huge resume boost for life.
|
Cena_mark - 2023-04-10 The military is the closest thing to socialism an American can get.
|
ashtar. - 2023-04-10 Anarchists don't like this, but it's true.
|
ashtar. - 2023-04-10 Also the veterans hiring preference for federal jobs is a big boost. Join the Navy and push buttons for 4 years, go to college for free, go be a federal park ranger somewhere beautiful.
|
glasseye - 2023-05-05 There are plenty of anarchist vets. Turns out that pillaging the world on behalf of capitalism tends to make one a bit skeptical of the system.
“I spent thirty-three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country's most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle-man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.”
― Smedley Butler
|
| Register or login To Post a Comment |
Reddit
Digg
Stumble
Facebook