Interestingly, even in the movie "Starship Troopers," which envisioned a neo-fascist society, high school students were taught a form of civics by military veterans but those students didn't wear military uniforms.
They had to wait to graduate before donning a uniform and joining the ranks.
Cub Scouts was enough for me. The uniforms, badges, ranks had no appeal. Thank goodness Mom was willing to do the projects and sew on the badges. I did like the field trips to the Mars candy company and the Pepperidge Farm bakery though. When it was time to be a Webelo (standing for We Belong I think) I knew I didn't.
This article shocked me; it reminded me of the Nazis in Germany before WWII training kids in school to spy on their parents and also to militarize them in various ways with racism and other forms of hate. We may not have gone that far yet, but it strikes me as only a matter of time the way fascism is now spreading in this country and in the world. I sent it to several friends who have connections to public schools so they would be aware. Thanks for writing this!
Get rid of high school JROTC. Also, all violent video games, movies, and music. Perverting kids with rainbow flag books and recruiting them in military, does surely have the inner motive to crucify all life. A rebellion against God, everything good and constructive. Misuse of all channels of activities that doesn't serve the constructive, harmonious, way of life. Excellent article.
Correct me if i am wrong, Bill, but as i understand it, Uvalde happened because the Police on the scene sat on their asses and did absolutely nothing while the whole event was unfolding; and did nothing until all the shooting was done.
When the metal detectors, locked doors, etc don't work, that's what Citizens are supposed to have Police for, isn't it?
Of course, in some parts of this country, it is becoming increasingly difficult to separate the Cops from the Criminals, isn't it? Especially when it comes to Cops dealing with People of Color.
a nominally Presbyterian private school in Cedar Rapids IA, all males of course required to attend weekly drills and classes in uniform--I avoided much of that by playing in the Band; several of my classmates went on to careers in Air Force.
It was a feeder system for junior officers to go into the Vietnam conveyer belt--I didn't follow that but two years later signed up for the Barry Plan in medical school to do 2 years of military service in the Navy so as to avoid getting drafted into the Army -+ resulting in a year in Vietnam as a Battalion Surgeon right out of my internship...
There is another term for making participation in JROTC mandatory, Bill.
It's called "involuntary servitude," aka Slavery. Didn't the United States have a Civil War about that? Wrap a flag around it and call it "in the nation's 'defense,'" and it is still Slavery. Just like The Draft was, and will be when it is re-implemented.
Which leads to the question: Would Your proposed National Service Corps ~ in which military service is just one option ~ be mandatory or voluntary?
This is an extremely valuable post, Bill. The idea that the military can come in and indoctrinate impressionable young minds is appalling. Teaching civics would be a very important service, but using non-qualified "teachers" to prep kids to enter the military....nope.
Also, your point about different kinds of service is something I completely espouse. I see the concept popping up on various forums from time to time. Serving a community or doing conservation work is a win-win on multiple levels.
Interestingly, even in the movie "Starship Troopers," which envisioned a neo-fascist society, high school students were taught a form of civics by military veterans but those students didn't wear military uniforms.
They had to wait to graduate before donning a uniform and joining the ranks.
Cub Scouts was enough for me. The uniforms, badges, ranks had no appeal. Thank goodness Mom was willing to do the projects and sew on the badges. I did like the field trips to the Mars candy company and the Pepperidge Farm bakery though. When it was time to be a Webelo (standing for We Belong I think) I knew I didn't.
This article shocked me; it reminded me of the Nazis in Germany before WWII training kids in school to spy on their parents and also to militarize them in various ways with racism and other forms of hate. We may not have gone that far yet, but it strikes me as only a matter of time the way fascism is now spreading in this country and in the world. I sent it to several friends who have connections to public schools so they would be aware. Thanks for writing this!
Get rid of high school JROTC. Also, all violent video games, movies, and music. Perverting kids with rainbow flag books and recruiting them in military, does surely have the inner motive to crucify all life. A rebellion against God, everything good and constructive. Misuse of all channels of activities that doesn't serve the constructive, harmonious, way of life. Excellent article.
Correct me if i am wrong, Bill, but as i understand it, Uvalde happened because the Police on the scene sat on their asses and did absolutely nothing while the whole event was unfolding; and did nothing until all the shooting was done.
When the metal detectors, locked doors, etc don't work, that's what Citizens are supposed to have Police for, isn't it?
Of course, in some parts of this country, it is becoming increasingly difficult to separate the Cops from the Criminals, isn't it? Especially when it comes to Cops dealing with People of Color.
This wasn't only for HS students in the 1960's --
We had 2 years of "compulsory" Air Force
ROTC at my undergrad college (Coe College),
a nominally Presbyterian private school in Cedar Rapids IA, all males of course required to attend weekly drills and classes in uniform--I avoided much of that by playing in the Band; several of my classmates went on to careers in Air Force.
It was a feeder system for junior officers to go into the Vietnam conveyer belt--I didn't follow that but two years later signed up for the Barry Plan in medical school to do 2 years of military service in the Navy so as to avoid getting drafted into the Army -+ resulting in a year in Vietnam as a Battalion Surgeon right out of my internship...
There is another term for making participation in JROTC mandatory, Bill.
It's called "involuntary servitude," aka Slavery. Didn't the United States have a Civil War about that? Wrap a flag around it and call it "in the nation's 'defense,'" and it is still Slavery. Just like The Draft was, and will be when it is re-implemented.
Which leads to the question: Would Your proposed National Service Corps ~ in which military service is just one option ~ be mandatory or voluntary?
This is an extremely valuable post, Bill. The idea that the military can come in and indoctrinate impressionable young minds is appalling. Teaching civics would be a very important service, but using non-qualified "teachers" to prep kids to enter the military....nope.
Also, your point about different kinds of service is something I completely espouse. I see the concept popping up on various forums from time to time. Serving a community or doing conservation work is a win-win on multiple levels.