Back Guys

[inabottle]

Who knows why we would want to track bee's, but all I know is that we CAN...!

[Egg Bramhill]

Who knows why we would want to track our citizens, but all I know is that we CAN...!

Who knows why we would want to tap telephones, but all I know is that we CAN...!

Who knows why we would want to track internet traffic, but all I know is that we CAN...!

That's a very dangerous argument!

Egg

[Availor]

Why would anyone want to join the army?! I had no choice, but sriously... it's a waste of time.... no relation between the military and the "real" world. It's like living in a virtual world, but with hard workouts. Besides, bootcamp is just a game, it has nothing to do with the real service, in here whatsoever.

[GroWeb]

Who knows why we would want to track our citizens, but all I know is that we CAN...!
Who knows why we would want to tap telephones, but all I know is that we CAN...!
Who knows why we would want to track internet traffic, but all I know is that we CAN...!
That's a very dangerous argument! Egg

Now, I am anything but an apologist for the military, especially the rather overgrown (and overfunded, and overinvolved where they do not belong) American military. However, out of sympathy for Rian and the military men and women I work with every day in my job at an addiction treatment centre, I need to point out that there are some very legitimate reasons to track SOME citizens, to tap CERTAIN telephones, and to track SOME internet traffic.

The military people I know are, like Rian, very sincere people who actively put their lives on the line regularly, motivated by a desire to do good things for international well-being (eg. in Afghanistan, Pakistan, earthquake and tsunami zones, etc.) and for the protection of their own countries. Some members of the military join up because it is the only way out of intolerable life situations, or the only legal way they can picture for themselves to earn a living -- but even those are better choices than the ones many people make in their lives.

There is nothing wrong with the military or its equipment per se; in fact, it is a highly necessary and valuable entity. The problems lie in how it is used by its political masters. And (hold on to your hats) its political masters, ultimately, are you and me. (Now I've opened up a can of worms, eh?)

Respectfully,
Glen