Iraq by the Numbers - or how to be dumb.

[Hippikos]

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

Hippikos, running through everything Heinlein wrote is what might be called The Heinlein Lecture, as evident in ST as in anything else. I respond to the wisdom in The Heinlein Lecture very well. If you can't... well, I can't help you. God couldn't help you.

Having both read Starship Troopers and served two hitches in the military, I find what Heinlein has to say about military service to be quite real, and quite wise -- they compare well. Yattering about "glorifying" the military is mere dronespeak, of nil value. People who've done military, thus committing a portion (or even the entirety) of their lives to the protection of their societies, do not speak as you do, Hippikos.

There are the people who get Heinlein, and there are the groundlings. All I can suggest is more exposure. You'll still be you, Hipp, and not become me -- you'll just be smarter or wiser, is all.

I was drafted to military service when I was 18 for 1,5 years in the middle of the Cold War and have been stationed in Germany for some time. There was still a draft in my country when I was at that age. Believe it or not I was selected to become a Marine, but I declined because that meant 24 months of service instead of 18. As I was right at the start of a promising civilian career, had a good job with excellent prospects, you can imagine that I wasn't over-enthusiastic to start a military career instead. Despite having been in military service I still can't find any resemblance with a Star Trooper, unless you are gullible enough to spoon up everything politicians say. Because at the end of the line, it's the Politician who makes the decision to go to war, the military only obeys orders.