Appreciation for the military from the civilians

[yamiyugikun]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your opinions. One of the things that has fusterated me about academia is living in a cloistered world. It's as if a "religion" is made about intellectualism and theories can solve the world's problems. As one of you said, academics talk a lot about social justice. I didn't know why I admired the editorials and honesty on armytimes.com and other military sites, but I think I understand that the armed forces practice REAL social justice in action.

What exactly do the Civilian Corps do to help service people? I've thought about a civilian job possibly in the armed forces, since a lot of service personnel are being deployed to Afganistan. Or what is it that service personnel would like to see civilians/academics do to support them?

Naomi

[Majormarginal]

Not only am I married to an academic I found out about SWJ from an article in the New Yorker Magazine.

[davidbfpo]

Naomi,

You asked how can academics help the (US) military?

Try the thread(s) on Human Terrian Teams and the recent SWJ Blog series on co-authored papers - both provide an indication. Also the paper(s) which non-miltary SWC members helped military members with.

Other places comment on the need for intelligence training and how outsiders can help.

davidbfpo

[marct]

Hi Naomi,

One of the things that has fusterated me about academia is living in a cloistered world. It's as if a "religion" is made about intellectualism and theories can solve the world's problems. As one of you said, academics talk a lot about social justice. I didn't know why I admired the editorials and honesty on armytimes.com and other military sites, but I think I understand that the armed forces practice REAL social justice in action.

I always get worried when I hear academics (including me) talking about "social justice". All too often, that has become a signifier for "institute MY version of reality" - a version I often disagree with. Maybe I've just spent too much time hanging out with Parlour Pink Marxists (who dominate my university), but I find that academics are the LAST people I want to see running a society.

"Cloistered"? The perfect term for it! Then again, it's not really surprising since most of Western academia comes out of schools run by the Church .

What exactly do the Civilian Corps do to help service people? I've thought about a civilian job possibly in the armed forces, since a lot of service personnel are being deployed to Afganistan. Or what is it that service personnel would like to see civilians/academics do to support them?

David point to some excellent examples but there is one other thing that we do, whether you like it or not . We can and, IMO SHOULD, act as a "conscience" for social actions.

Cheers,

Marc

[selil]

Marc,

I have some respect for a few institutions that "preach" social justice. Earlham seems to be a good program. It is NOT a military school, but the live what they preach and they are pretty open about it. Yes they are basically (though not always) pacifists.

See that is the problem with putting people in boxes. They have a tendency to jump out of them when you least expect it.

[Majormarginal]

I like "institute My version of reality"

[yamiyugikun]

I like the military's version of "communism."

[Van]

... but I think I understand that the armed forces practice REAL social justice in action.

Naomi,
Sorry about the "social justice"threadjack...

Actually, what I was getting at...

A segment of American society works for the good of others, practicing self-sacrifice in material benefits, personal recognition, and personal physical safety. They embody the Marxian concept of "from each according to their ability, to each according to their needs". They receive both the benefits and drawbacks of socialized medicine. For the most part, they believe in a common cause, and the betterment of the nation and the world. The desparity of wealth between the most and least affluent of this segment is much narrower than the United States as a whole.

Holy crap. The military is Communist.