Soldiers: Poor, Rich, or Sick?
There is an article in USA Today that debunks the myth that soldiers in our military come disproportionately from lower income groups. I’m willing to accept the conclusions of these writers, although I do reserve the right to some skepticism. I know full well how easy it is to selectively choose statistics to make any point you want to make.
All that aside, however, here is what I would like to see: since we have an all volunteer military, how many well-adjusted, psychologically fit volunteers do we have? With a draft, it was possible to have a truly balanced and democratic cross-section of the population. With a volunteer force, only certain kinds of people volunteer for the military. With the abuses at Abu Graib, etc, I just wonder what proportion of the military is sadistic or sociopathic? How many are well-adjusted and psychologically fit? Abuses like those we have seen don’t just happen by accident. There has to be an underlying cause. I’d like more attention paid to finding out what that cause is.
Technorati tags: war, military, soldier, Iraq,
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There is an article in USA Today that debunks the myth that soldiers in our military come disproportionately from lower income groups. I’m willing to accept the conclusions of these writers, although I do reserve the right to some skepticism. I know full well how easy it is to selectively choose statistics to make any point you want to make.
All that aside, however, here is what I would like to see: since we have an all volunteer military, how many well-adjusted, psychologically fit volunteers do we have? With a draft, it was possible to have a truly balanced and democratic cross-section of the population. With a volunteer force, only certain kinds of people volunteer for the military. With the abuses at Abu Graib, etc, I just wonder what proportion of the military is sadistic or sociopathic? How many are well-adjusted and psychologically fit? Abuses like those we have seen don’t just happen by accident. There has to be an underlying cause. I’d like more attention paid to finding out what that cause is.
Technorati tags: war, military, soldier, Iraq,
The Tao of George W. Bush
Still available
The Tao of George W. Bush
Perfect Christmas Gift
See my other books at right>
posted by Ed Bremson, MFA @ 12:59 PM
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