My opinion: the US strives to make their warrior class one of some sort of privilege, or at least appearing to have privilege. They have had various amounts of success in doing so. Thank you for your service, here's your veteran discount. Have you decided which college you want to spend your GI Bill at yet? Don't worry about scam institutions, the FTC will protect you.
One of the reasons -- or maybe even the very reason -- for college not to be free in the US as it is in the EU because it's the chief recruiting tool. Read Lauren Hough on more, she is much more eloquent on this.
A career in the military (and, to a lesser extent, shorter stints) is in several ways a route to access European-like social services.
- Guaranteed housing—including for your spouse and kids.
- Healthcare for same.
- Free college education.
The pay sucks, but the benefits are pretty damn good. I do think universal healthcare and free public university would take a big bite out of military recruitment rates.
> The military has always been a caste, and will always be
The US made a very strong go, initially, at not doing that, with a cadre-style Army reliant on militia mobilization for significant action (and a somewhat similar situation for internal security).
The whole security forces as a separate caste with interests divorced from the population thing was something the founders were aware of and concerned about.
Fun fact, the GI bill is a revenue generating scam. Meaning, it makes more money than it pays out. I didnt know until bootcamp you have to PAY to get the gi bill and then they make it as complicated as possible to use so most people never end up using it. Under capitalism nothing happens unless someone's making money.
FUD. I don't recall paying anything into the (Montgomery) GI Bill. It wasn't hard to use. I got $50K of basically free money out.
Granted I went to basic training over two decades ago. Maybe the Post 9/11 GI Bill is different? But I doubt it. What I've heard from fellow veterans is it's better in so many ways. Apparently I'm even eligible for a year of its use even though I depleted my original GI Bill (with kicker).
Which part of capitalism causes the government to scam the state funded military. There doesn't appear to be any private ownership of capital involved at all.
I am not sure why the GI Bill started out as a free benefit, then they changed it into a revenue generating scheme. Its odd to say the least but wouldnt you agree that it at least "makes sense" under capitalism that the military is trying to increase its revenue streams?
