Americans don't want to fight for their country anymore

Lee Duna@lemmy.nz to News@lemmy.world – 258 points –
Americans don't want to fight for their country anymore
newsweek.com
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Eustice, who served 26 years in the Minnesota National Guard, noted that young adults were the military's prime target for new recruits—currently Generation Z, or those born after 1997—and argued that growing up in the internet age had made them used to "immediate gratification."

Oh look, another out of touch boomer. ItS tHoSe DaMn CeLlPhOnEs! Gen Z grew up watching America get involved in, then stay involved in, a deeply unpopular war. Gen Z grew up in an age where you can fact check someone on the spot and it makes it that much harder for recruiters to lie. They grew up in an age where half of the government is trying to drag the country backwards by any means.

I am in the military. I overheard my leadership talking with a woman who wanted to get out. When they asked her why she said it was because of the Roe V Wade decision. "Why would I fight for a country that won't fight for me?" I don't blame her.

A person saying kids don't want to join the military because they're too used to "instant gratification" is some of the most obnoxious shit I have ever heard lmao

If someone went up to me and said that, I'd tell them to go fuck themselves and leave, because fuck all of that.

I have a child who was born in 1999. The other thing men and women of that general age group has heard is "DON'T JOIN THE MILITARY" from their parents, starting at a young age.

Yeah. I was in the military, the Marines in fact. I will tell my two children don't join the military, especially don't join the Marines, and if you need to join the Air Force and work on AC units or some shit.

Everyone here suggesting joining the military means you're going to combat is mistaken. When I was in a combat role, the number we always heard was 10% of people in the military are in combat ops jobs, and 10% of those people see actual combat. The military absolutely offers opportunities to learn a trade for folks who are in a tough spot, and you can make it work for you.

Everyone who says shits fucked now and the country is just billionaires, I'm totally on board. But if you're some poor kid from Mississippi, being an engine mechanic in the Army might be your best shot at a decent life, and I wouldn't begrudge anyone that.