The military is a microcosmic culture within a republic. Always has been.
It has much in common with socialism. The medical system is socialized medicine. it thrives on a relatively healthy population of cooperative, appreciative patient base, which also describes the retiree base. They are quite content to wait six hours in a waiting room in an ER.
The author is correct in the sense that Americans are ignorant not to have looked into this prior to now. The differences between military medicine and Obamacare are as above, oh... and that the military actually has doctors. obamacare will not have providers in due course.
The military is a socialist system in many respects. It’s main succeeding tenet, however, is that thrives in its main purpose, that is to provide and protect the republic. It’s members look back and forward to freedom.
Military members give up their democratic rights. Many times I have heard, “hey, no independent thinking” and “this is NOT a democracy”.
One can only get laughs out of such bold truths when one knows he is out in seven or ten or five or even twenty years.
Military members give up their democratic rights.
Hell, the military system has a blatant discrimination system in place to socially separate the “low life” enlisted from the “superior” officer class.
I spent 4 years in the Air Force (1966-1970) and could not wait until I could re-enter civilization as I knew it before becoming a slave of the government for 4 years.
For you who did not live during the days of the draft, you were actually enslaved by the government by the draft.
Correct. I always laugh when the 'military is socialism' argument is used to justify that socialism for the entirety would 'work' too.
It works because free peoples through their government 'choose' to fund it for their common protection. It works because it is funded to the level needed to maintain that (at least in other administrations). And, this 'group' funding works because the size (population) is a small subset of the total.
When you try this on a national level, there are no other sugar daddies out there to fund what else is needed. It just does NOT work - history has shown that over and over and over again.
You nail the distinctions within the superficial similarities. I grew up as a military dependent during the most intense, mid game era of the cold war - Cuban missile crisis to the Yom Kippur War. There were aspects of a collective (hierarchical, NOT egalitarian) but it was no ‘paradise’. Service members and their families lived demanding and stressful lives, but with a great deal of grace and strength.