Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 12:15pm

Better Be Careful About Civil War II

 

 

From the New York Times via Instapundit:

 

“The South, where the culture of military service runs deep and military installations are plentiful, produces 20 percent more recruits than would be expected, based on its youth population. The states in the Northeast, which have very few military bases and a lower percentage of veterans, produce 20 percent fewer. . . . In 2019, Fayetteville, N.C., which is home to Fort Bragg, provided more than twice as many military enlistment contracts as Manhattan. . . . In Los Angeles, a region defined by liberal politics where many families are suspicious of the military, the Army has struggled to even gain access to high schools. By law, schools have to allow recruiters on campus once a semester, but administrators tightly control when and how recruiters can interact with students. Access is ‘very minimal,’ said Lt. Col. Tameka Wilson, the commander of the Los Angeles Recruiting Battalion. Predictably, enlistment rates are low.”

Go here to comment.  Time to call upon Kipling:

I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
    O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
    But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,
    The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
    O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play.
 
I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
    For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
    But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
    The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
    O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.
 
Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
    Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
    But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
    The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
    O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.
 
We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
    While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
    But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
    There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
    O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.
 
You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
    For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
    But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
    An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
    An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!

 

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David WS
David WS
Tuesday, January 14, AD 2020 7:38am

Your stats are right. My youngest just joined the Guard while in college 2nd year. Men and Women from New England are a bit rare, whereas Southerners are common.

Foxfier
Admin
Tuesday, January 14, AD 2020 7:49am

There’s also the issue of a lower rate of eligibility– for example, have to be here legally to serve in the military, looking at you LA– but it is impressive how the difference in sub-culture view of the military has such a big effect.

Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus
Tuesday, January 14, AD 2020 7:53am

God forbid a Democrat wins this year, but if that happens and the order goes out to use of the military to squash conservatives, the left coast, the northeast and the Great Lakes could well be looking at their own defeat.

Liberals won’t stop till they are smashed into defeat. They just won’t. This last election proves it – they have no respect for the voting booth unless it’s in their favor. We tolerate eight long years of that godless reprobate Barack Hussein Obama and never engaged in violence. But Trump wins and just look at Portland, Oregon and similar areas afflicted by Antifa. Enough is enough. No more.

It’s a good thing the military is predominately southern. At least in the south there is some semblance of decency and old fashion values (Virginia having been conquered by ex-Californicators is the sad exception).

Foxfier
Admin
Tuesday, January 14, AD 2020 8:09am

Congrats on your son, David WS!

David WS
David WS
Tuesday, January 14, AD 2020 12:56pm

Before the invention of Air Conditioning, industry -the determinate of military arm production, was not prevalent in the South. Things are different now.

CAM
CAM
Tuesday, January 14, AD 2020 1:45pm

There are certain parts of the country that are just plain patriotic. Though as LQC noted Virginia has been infiltrated by liberals thanks to millions poured into the Dem coffers from out of state .
The lefties in Los Angeles ( and elsewhere where the school administrations are hostel to recruiters) are doing a disservice to their high school students. A hitch in the service gives young people a chance at a better life with education and training.
A year ago Rep. Wittman addressed a veterans group regarding personnel. He said the air forces are seriously short of pilots, and mechs and other ratings to fly and maintain sophisticated aircraft. The reasons are that the young people are not able to meet physical requirements, have low scores on aptitude tests, drug usage, and are ineligible for security clearances. Add to that unfamiliarity with the uniformed services.
Personnel are expensive and so is hi tech equipment. Dumbing down to meet quotas is not the answer.
My belief is that the majority in uniform are God fearing people that come from God fearing families
and that the social engineering of Obama’s crowd does not sit well with families of potential recruits.

Foxfier
Admin
Tuesday, January 14, AD 2020 5:18pm

The lefties in Los Angeles ( and elsewhere where the school administrations are hostel to recruiters) are doing a disservice to their high school students. A hitch in the service gives young people a chance at a better life with education and training.

That might be the point.

She says, sadly.

Among my geek group from the Navy, about half are married with kids (when you adjust for folks who are married to eachother); the average is above replacement, even if you don’t count us. The others aren’t religious, or are redemptively religious.

We’re way ahead of the folks who did the “smart” thing and went to college, because we can afford to be.
We did our “finding ourselves” without going into insane debt, heck I had enough savings that I could handle walking out into a recession where nobody would hire a female technical veteran who admitted she was likely to move in the next 2+ years. (In fairness, my husband couldn’t get hired when he got out, either, but that was 6 months later and…yeah, stuff got worse.)

I got insane pressure against going into the military, because I am “smart.” Clearly, I should go into debt, because only idiots and losers go military.

We’re working on fighting that, my husband and I; in no small part by pointing out that it looks great on any resume, they will pay for college, it’s got about the same death rate as going to college and they pay you instead of putting a lien on you that can’t bankruptcy out of.

Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus
Tuesday, January 14, AD 2020 5:21pm

I think CAM is right: “My belief is that the majority in uniform are God fearing people that come from God fearing families.” But then again, my shipmates and I were on a nuclear submarine hundreds of feet below the surface where faith in God, respect for the laws of physics, verbatim compliance to procedure, and obedience to orders all worked together (unless you want to learn how to breathe seawater).

Mary De Voe
Tuesday, January 14, AD 2020 6:43pm

I’m impressed with John Stuart Mills in this writing. Mostly he is remembered for the lifeboat ethics which has been debunked when 7 men survived 4 days at sea in a lifeboat built for 4. When I asked about sacrifice in philosophy 101, I was told to shut up and sit down. Here Mills speaks about the sacrifice required of patriots

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