Considering my brother, who is a DI down at Parris Island, told me that his main job as a squad leader was bailing his troops out of jail after getting their drunken asses kicked in bar fights with civilians -- and considering the number of troops, Marines and soldiers alike, I personally know who are sad, pathetic excuses for human beings incapable of holding down a true relationship with another human being -- I don't know how much stock I put the notion that the military prepares people for life. Obviously, the military has plenty of success stories, but most of the ones I've known were in the commissioned ranks, not the enlisted ranks.
One of my squad leaders (who by his own admission was one of those sad, pathetic excuses I mentioned earlier) actually had the gall to tell me that the beauty of the military was that it allowed people who were total losers in the real world to be somebody in the military's artificial universe, while plenty of people who were somebody (i.e., successful) on the outside were nobodies in the military. It was a clever little simultaneous dig at myself and at the smart, stable people I admire. People who are actually able to get things done and keep their affairs in order without an autocratic infrastructure propping them up.
His words had the opposite effect he intended, of course. They just confirmed me in my conviction that while the military might be a great place for a lonely drunk like him, it wasn't a place for me.
I'm not trying to imply that everyone in the military is a loser. I'm just saying that I think a person who has what it takes to succeed in the military could also have made it on the outside. I question the idea that it's the military who gives that person what it takes.
Obviously, I also understand that books like The 48 Laws of Power are written for rhetorical effect. They're works more of philosophical rumination than practical handbooks for life, and it's not like I shape my life around it. Hell, the concepts presented are sometimes incompatible and even contradictory -- No. 15 is Crush your enemies totally. That doesn't change the fact the book is thought provoking and there are useful concepts to be taken from it.
Originally Posted by: Nonstopdrivel
Gary Barton.
That answers that, at least to me, my friends, and the memories of him.
I do not know what military you were in, I always had my suspicions, but never investigated beyond my personal observations and disgust at all I called "REMFS". I've talked about that before, so I'm not going into it again.
My world began at 0400, with a wake-up-call and a nice 20 mile run on the beach. This occurred Mon-Fri, 365. That was the POD for my MOS, regardless of unit or station, while non-deployed. Onslow beach, baby- That is our calling card, ask anyone that did our thing, and we did it to get our heart rate right when the killing business was at hand. That is an element of real commitment, where I come from.
There were no slack-offs there. Have you EVER run 20 miles on the fucking beach, Mr. work-out-cheerleader-man?- Has your Marine DI brother?
That was my routine for eleven fucking years.
You are representing something in the military, perhaps a huge element, but don't ever think you are representing anything close to the military, especially to these midwestern folk that mostly did not serve at all.
I don't give a damn what they think, but I do give a damn about those that made the kind of commitments you (apparently) only think were made at recruiting offices and shit.
Thing is, that's wrong, amongst my circles. Your brother being a Marine DI only means he has to come here and tell us about it. (To me), personally. Bitch is, I was a combat veteran Marine before (or around) he was (or you) were born. Fuckin' doggies definitely fucked you up. I've told you all of this before, sorry to rant, but day-um, asshole. [ass] I respect your opinion, but you are ignorant in so many aspects of this particular subject and I choose to not let the reader walk away mis-informed. (imo)