Asklemmy

It is a necessary evil to protect yourself from enemies. Granted, my country's military wouldn't stand much of a chance if russia or america decided to move from persistent provokation to active invasion. We can hope that our allies would help us defend our lands in the same way we have supplied Ukraine with aid, but who knows.

It isn't fun being a small country who has pissed off two large nations because we support Ukraine's soverignty and because we aren't selling Greenland.

So yeah, maybe the military wouldn't be able to protect us for long against eastern and western enemies, but at the very least, it would do its best until we are being fucked from both sides.

I have a very low opinion on russian and american military, of course.

I don't even want countries to exist...

Similar to cops. Bullies can occasionally be useful to fight other bullies.

In my country it’s a jobs program for low skilled and undereducated workers that the wealthy use to protect and extend their imperial aspirations. Propaganda allows a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class upwards via the military industrial complex under the guise of safety.

The corrupt system is supported by liberals who enjoy the status and privilege that American force projection brings. The domination allowed by the system ensures cheap fuel and trinkets for the trough and has historically propped up the US dollar giving all the participants in the imperial core an outsized quality of life.

Idk about Lemmy's perception. My position is that the military is very expensive and doesn't bring much good to the people. What if instead of the military for a year, we modernized the grid with all the expensive eminent domain and construction? Or like help agricultural communities be less cancerous?

Which military?

I think my time as a conscript in the Finnish defence forces was a valuable experience. For Finland conscription is a cost-effective way of keeping a credible deterrent when you have a neighbour like Russia.

A friend got in the marines some years ago, specialty translator. He's 35 and soon to be retired. I guess that was a clever plan.