hey as long as discourse on whether joining the military is bad or not (it is) is doing the rounds again, i’d like to remind everyone that people who were in the military but are not any longer are not ontologically incapable of being leftists or good people. many of the military’s harshest critics are vets. they’ve seen what the military can do. they’ve personally been chewed up and spat. so have their friends. they know first hand the horrors the military has inflicted on the world.
obviously many vets never stop drinking the kool-aid. but many others do. and we shouldn’t reject them as comrades. chelsea manning was in the army before becoming a whistleblower. edward snowden was in the nsa. etc. yes call out people for joining, keep pointing out it’s wrong to kill people for money. even if you’re poor. even if you’re ignorant. but don’t condemn someone solely for their past if they’ve done the hard work of learning and growing. i think it’s pretty easy to walk and chew gum on this one. but it’s easy for some of us to forget that we have to.
Bonus Army - Wikipedia
food for thought
