UC Irvine Winter Rally (Protest)
In this group, I am the silent enemy. I am no threat to their silly gatherings but I am the example they denounce. They look down on the choice and agreement many men and women are making to fund their future education. They verbally spit on the military enlistment as an option to fund their education. These rally'ers feel entitled to an elite education and they are neither willing to work for its cost nor take on debt for it. I have already worked for what is now being paid to me. I have struggled and whined and complained and bitched and disagreed with the political agenda. It is not my agenda, but like a mercenary, I carried out my commitment. I didn't enlist because of a collective cause--I enlisted for my own cause and in the end, I am thankful for the return I am receiving.
If this was only about the "fee hikes, layoffs, and budget cuts," then more of the 25,000 students on my campus would get involved. Joining a Facebook Group or Cause is not getting involved. However, these protests, now called "rally's," are about denouncing Capitalism and War. These rally'ers are capitalizing on an recent event to further their own political and social agenda: SOCIAL REVOLUTION. ISLAM. They will twist and manipulate another's luckless chance as evidence to advance their solution. The rally'ers use their gatherings to vocalize their demands. They complain and denounce and demand, but they will not get what they want.
I'll end my rant with the words of the great Geddy Lee: "You don't get something for nothing."
3 comments:
Well, that's just plain lame. A pitiful and pretty apathetic audience, especially on a college campus.
And what did I see (just barely) at the bottom of one of those signs but what looks like an endorsement, read: sponsorship, from a local union. Big red flag to a 60's protestor who has since learned a lot of us were being manipulated by larger forces.
"...They verbally spit on the military enlistment as an option to fund their education..." stikes me a a dangerously polarizing idea to promote on campus.
For a long time now I've been in favor of universal service for all high school graduates. You and your fellow vets know the value of the education in LIFE you received in the military. And I bet it began to sink in way before Iraq. It was probably about the time you realized the military owned you. You were no longer free.
I should hasten to add that I don't know a single person who agrees with me. And its my fear that we won't come to that idea as a nation until we've been hit and are on our knees. It's also my fear that I'm gonna live long enough to see it. And that's part of the reason I thank every cop, every firefighter, every Border Patrol Agent and every military member I meet. If you're reading this Suspect I wonder if you still feel the same way about that. Not long ago I approached the guy ahead of me at the gas station as he was filling his car. Turns out he's no longer active but he had that certain bearing you all acquire. He told me he'd served in Egypt (interesting), Iraq, and Afghanistan. I wondered silently how a man so young could have so much behind him already. When I thanked him for his service he thanked me and said my words meant a lot to him.
With the thankless exception of the military, the cops, the firefighters, and the Border Patrol sacrifice is no longer part of the American ethos. I'm so grateful that we still have men and women in this country who will know what to do and how to do it when that time comes, assuming outrageous multiple deployments haven't sent them all to the funny farm. I recognize there are others who make personal sacrifices but they don't face lengthy separations from their family or the chance that their sacrifice could end their life.
But, to end on a positive note - the next time you're hit with the bombs-and-war-fund-education rant just remember that the WWII vets who went into college played a large part in all the advances that followed, not the least of which was putting a man on the moon.
~P~
Universal Service for all High School graduates is both wonderful and niave at the same time. It is a great idea that says you, the person who believe that is in fact a progressive or at the least...a socialist. Or has minor socialist leanings.
I mean that not as an insult, but as a fact. The founding fathers espoused liberty. There is no liberty if I must serve. Service for the sake of service or to instill some "character" as John Dewey, a progressive and education reformer would have thought, flies directly in the face of liberty.
You can not force service. Or force some character or ethical development. Service and charity to one's fellow man or dare I say "society" must come willingly and from the heart. It must be born out of a need, a desire, a calling.
In the case of those from our society that you find most fulfilled with this spirit...one must be called to that wall. To stand a post. To defend our nation, either on a wall, on a border, on the street, or in some far off nation.
Sadly, you can not force that. We have finally found the best thing for a society...a volunteer force. We have the finest military on this planet. The finest in history. No nation has ever achieved what the United States has in the history of warfare. And none will ever. You can not force the love of your fellow country men. You can not force a citizen to stand that post and expect them to do so with no reservation.
So, in short, as with all progressives and light socialist, you have a great and wonderful idea. But sadly, it falls flat in the face of reality. You will never achieve the type of service that this nation needs if it is forced. It is precisly because it is chosen that the character of a young man or woman shines.
What you are missing is that the character was there to begin with, not developed after the service. You can not have service with out the commitment to society driven by that character.
Of course then there is the very simple and realistic issue of paying for all that "service". We saw a record number of seniors graduate in 2009...3.2 million. If we pay them the starting salary of an Army E-1 ($1447) per month, we are looking at a one year cost of 4.6 billion anually. So, we are taking 18.4 for a four year commitment. Not to include training or food and other resources. And this also doesn't take into account that some of these individuals may just get promoted and make more.
Of course that is a conservative figure, sense the average government employee makes $70k a year, you are looking more towards an annual cost of $224 billion for this Universal Service deal.
Bottom line, can't force service and you really can't pay for it either.
cl
Pattie,
I've heard this argument quite a bit by people either in the military or those sympathetic to the military. It doesn't seem like such a bad idea until it is really thought out, such as how CL pointed out below. But, if we accept that the military makes up less than 1% of the population, then we'd see that it certainly wouldn't be a very happy force, not to mention the issues CL raised.
In some aspects, I agree that it would be beneficial for EVERY citizen to understand first or second hand what it is like to serve. They should understand the demands and rigors and the lifestyle. They don't have to agree with service in principle and they don't have to agree to bearing arms and they don't have to agree with how our forces are used. But, I don't have an answer on how the population would gain such information and understanding.
As far as your fear of being hit with this while we are on our knees, well, that's how the Patriot Act was passed and I cannot think of a single bill that has done more to LIMIT and RESTRICT liberty than this. So, making rash decisions in the heat of one moment hardly seems like the right time to make such decisions. In fact, the draft is not dead...
Good points, Chris. I'm right on board.
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