Eturnalshift wrote:
Why would they need to recruit more people? Unemployment is still pretty high so a lot of people are turning to the military as a career option. As such, most branches are consistently meeting, or exceeding, recruitment number and retention is pretty high. I don't see why this is seen as a 'recruitment tool' but Call of Duty, Battlefield, Medal of Honor and every war movie, show and Tom Clancy book/game in the last decade or two isn't. It's a movie that's going to make money and that's about that. Will it pull in some people? Maybe... but so will the things that actually benefit the recruit... like college benefits, job security, the chance to see the world, money and bonuses, the chance to see the world, post-service opportunities, retirement and benefit plans, skill learning, etc.
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Interestingly, the head of the special forces has gone on a very aggressive promo effort trying to get the special forces ramped up as the rest of the military gets scaled down.
I'm not sure if you're just stating a fact or if you're saying, "The military needs to recruit more people to fill special operations positions." If you were saying the latter, the military already has a pool of over a million people they can tap to go to whatever elite/special training schools if needed. All it takes is an order from the top.
It's not a question of recruitment. It's a question of power and relevance.
It is in the nature of all human institutions to strive to increase their power and prestige. No human institution has ever simply folded when it became obsolete, and none ever will. When a progressive institution achieves its objectives, and in doing so, makes itself obsolete, the hardcore that are the vital impetus of every successful movement will not filter back into mainstream society - they will inevitably be driven towards radicalism, in a desperate need to maintain their power and relevance.
This is why, for example, the black rights movement has gone from being a progressive force supported by progressive-minded middle-class people of all races, to pork-barrel extortion, apologist for the foibles of black America, and ultimately serving to keep black people down by using the most degenerate aspects of black culture to pander to the lowest common denominator. Same for the women's rights movement. Same for the American socialist movement during the New Deal. Same for the Southern nationalist movement.
And it's the same for the US military.
The US military did its thing in World War II. The product sold itself, so to speak - the cause was a just one. After the war ended, the military suddenly had to justify its continued existence, its access to vast funds and a network of support.
The movie isn't a recruiting video because it's not warm bodies the military wants or needs. What the military needs, is a renewal of its spiritual power as people are gradually coming to realize the military is one giant Ponzi scheme. It's a scam.
The military can continue to waste a third of our nation's resources per year - far more, if one counts the opportunity cost of all the talent, resources and industry not spent on improving our national competitiveness - ONLY so long as it maintains its untouchable status. ONLY so long as it can maintain the
spiritual power that makes it sacrosanct.
And if you don't know what "sacrosanct" literally means, I suggest you look it up, since the analogy is extremely relevant here.
When people stop seeing the military as something that is untouchable because people invoke "The Old Lie" - and if you don't know what that is, look that up too...the military will go back to being a marginally funded halfway house for "scoundrels whose last refuge is patriotism", just like it is in most civilized countries, and just like it was in ours before the World Wars.
There's a damn good reason that militaristic expression is a felony in Germany. Because those people have learned the hard way - the
very hard way - where that thinking inevitably leads.
