Anti-Military Protesters?

[mrhappyface]

Well recently, Waianae (again) has gone into another series of anti-military demonstrations. Luckly, most sensible people do not listen to them. However, the problem is that they are very VERY vocal about us and how we so call "take" away from their culture, which is ironic since the miltary spends the most money for Hawaiian culture projects and restoration. I personally dislike Anti-Military protesters, but not Anti-War protesters...What do you think?

 

[RatRace123]

About your protestor preference, I agree.

Militaries are necessary to keep peace in case the shit hits the fan, but war is far less so.
Not that we'll be getting rid of war anytime soon, and I'm not saying that some wars aren't justified.

 

[Bat Vader]

A military is essential for any country to have. A country needs to defend itself if invaded or attacked.

 

[Zacharine]

"Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum." - Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus ("If you want peace, prepare for war")

This sums up my point of view.

As long as human nature remains what it is, military is practically a requirement for the continued existance of a nation. War is to be avoided, yes, and a deterring force of troops and equipment can go a long way in avoiding war.

Also remember, troops do not just fire weapons in a war. They help in times of other crises, by evacuating danger zones, constructing barriers during floods etc.

I feel these protesters haven't exactly thought trough what they are protesting against.

 

[iLikeHippos]

If the other side got military force, you must be able to defend yourself. But this is like the problem with the Eco cars.

No one wants to build the Eco cars if there's no "gas" stations for them. And no one wants to build those "gas" stations if there isn't any Eco cars.

So the problem is simple, it all goes up for the politicians, not some protestants. And we all know they can take some... years to finish such a thing. And that is if they all began at it right NOW, at this instance.

 

[grimsprice]

I'm the opposite. I don't mind anti-war protesters, humans should rise above our natural instincts to attack and be defensive. But anti-military protesters are just stupid. The military is the only reason they have the life and right to protest.

News flash! OTHER PEOPLE WANT TO KILL YOU. Who do you think protects you?

 

[Double A]

I'm sorry, but I obviously have no idea on what's going on, other than some hippies trying to get everyone to get together in a big huggy bunch, so could someone fill me in?

 

[Lullabye]

.....Don't we have people to take care of this? Like a military or something? Seriously someone shut them up. And soon.

 

[Booze Zombie]

On one hand, there's a lot of money spent on keeping a standing army, but on the other hand, wars happen.
Still, I think the millitary could use it's money more efficently, some of the stuff I hear they spend money on just sounds insane.

Buying guns and ammo and then trying to buy Xbox consoles for virtual training purposes?
Guys, either buy proper stuff or train recruits for real.

 

[hittite]

When these things come up, I lfind that Kipling said it best.


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.

Link to the full poem http://faxmentis.org/html/kipling.html

 

[TheBluesader]

I've heard Hawaii also has organizations who want to secede from the US and restore the native monarchy. Are these the same people, or is this unrelated?

At any rate, people can protest whatever they want. As long as they don't block the flow of traffic or destroy stuff. But about this case in particular - what alternative have they come up with? Do they know why the military is there, and can they make a rational argument about why it shouldn't be? Because when it comes to the US, anything that involves money isn't just going to move because some people think it's icky. I'd be interested to hear why they want a change. The people on the Japanese island of Okinawa also protested the US military presence, but that was because US servicemen were responsible for a lot of crime, and, plus, they're not part of the US. What is the protesters' POV?

 

[FROGGEman2]

"Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum." - Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus ("If you want peace, prepare for war")

I played Rome: Total War too.

OT: I'm not against the military, but idealistically we'd be so left wing we'd live in blissful anarchy, but we all know that in a world of opportunists that wouldn't work.

 

[AcacianLeaves]

A military is necessary. The extent to which that military should grow is open for debate.

In the United States 35-40% of every tax dollar you pay goes to current military expenses. An additional 20% goes to paying for past military expenses. That's between 50-60% of our tax dollars that go exclusively to the military. The United States accounts for more than 40% of total military expenditure in the entire world. We spend more than $600 billion every year on our military. China ranks 2nd in military expenditure, and they spend a little more than $80 billion a year.

Think about how little that has helped us in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Now think about how crap our health care, education, retirement plans, crime rates, infrastructure, and energy sustainability are compared to the rest of the civilized world.

 

[JaredXE]

You don't HAVE TO have a military, it all depends upon what country you live in. Like Canada, why the fuck do they need one? Who is invading them, and who are they invading?

 

[Dogmeat T Dingo]

I personally dislike Anti-Military protesters, but not Anti-War protesters...What do you think?

I agree. The military is a necessary tool to have and people don't seem to realize that it's often used for humanitarian and disaster relief purposes.

Now I'm not going to wade into the debate over wether any of the current wars are just or not, but if you have a problem with a war, you shouldn't be pointing the finger at soldiers who are just following orders and doing their job. You should be blaming the politicians, particularly ones who haven't fought a day in their lives but now wield the power to send people to their deaths. You have to be vigilant with them and if a war is unjust it's them you need to hold responsible.

 

[Kortney]

My Dad and older Brother both are overseas in combat operations, and anti-military protests just annoy the living fuck out of me. I have no problems with someone who objects to a war on the political reasons behind it - but to disrespect the people who are dying for it is downright horrible.

Buying guns and ammo and then trying to buy Xbox consoles for virtual training purposes?
Guys, either buy proper stuff or train recruits for real.

And you know what the best programs to train a soldier in 2010 are? I think I'd take the word of the military when they say something is an effective training program. They do kind of know what they are talking about surprisingly

 

[AcacianLeaves]

I personally dislike Anti-Military protesters, but not Anti-War protesters...What do you think?

The military is a necessary tool to have and people don't seem to realize that it's often used for humanitarian and disaster relief purposes

The military is the only reason they have the life and right to protest.

News flash! OTHER PEOPLE WANT TO KILL YOU. Who do you think protects you?

I think you guys are missing the point here. If someone is advocating the abolition of our military, that's stupid. Every country has a military in one form or another. And yes, the United States needs a large military in order to remain a world power.

While I don't know the goals of this Hawaiian organization, I do know that many people protesting the Military are protesting America's focus on military expenditures over domestic expenses. We have a huge debate over paying for health care, education, social security, police and fire departments, etc - yet we never discuss the grotesque amount of money we actually spend on the military, and whether or not its necessary to spend so much. It's almost an automatic. When discussing the budget, the military is off-limits.

When we have so many budgetary and financial concerns, why aren't we discussing cutting back on the one thing we spend the most on? See my post above for the numbers, and keep in mind how much more that is than any other country on Earth.

 

[AcacianLeaves]

War is NEEDED god damn-it! How else are we supposed to not fund schools or the NHS. No we need wars as an excuse not to find these things. Imagine if we had a load of healthy properly educated people running around. Would you want to live in such a world?

Imagine if we did, and then all those healthy people became sick with bullets and their knowledge filled brains were blown out the other end of their head.

By who, ze Germans?

 

[Downfall89]

War is NEEDED god damn-it! How else are we supposed to not fund schools or the NHS. No we need wars as an excuse not to find these things. Imagine if we had a load of healthy properly educated people running around. Would you want to live in such a world?

Yes, imagine the world: better health, richer, higher quality of life, high education standards, huge increase in technology etc. The horror!

 

[mrhappyface]

You don't HAVE TO have a military, it all depends upon what country you live in. Like Canada, why the fuck do they need one? Who is invading them, and who are they invading?

Warfare these days aren't so much fought on ground with guns but rather with espionage and subterfuge. The military aren't just grunts with guns and tanks, but also equipped with sophisicated intelligence and counter-espionage. There are also spies all over the world in every country, and that's where the dange lies.