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More people are joining the military. A shaky US job market could be boosting the numbers.

⁨238⁩ ⁨likes⁩

Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨return2ozma@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨aboringdystopia@lemmy.world⁩

https://www.businessinsider.com/jump-in-us-military-recruiting-numbers-job-market-other-factors-2025-6

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Comments

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  • NJSpradlin@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    That’s the entire point. As long as life on the outside of the military is slightly worse, they’ll continue to have meat for the grinder. Why do you think the military has ‘not terrible’ social programs and education benefits?

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    • rhvg@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      Similar to Russia, as the government makes the economy worse, more people will be willing to join the army. In the US&A, it’s a much easier decision compared to Russia. Most soldiers don’t risk their lives and get killed by drones; they just need to overcome their conscience and commit atrocities against innocent people.

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      • NJSpradlin@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        I know a young woman who told me the other day… that she thought hard about it but decided to volunteer to do a DHS ICE mission because ‘if the shoe were on the other foot, they’d do it to me’ and because she really needed to make ends meet.

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    • Doc_Crankenstein@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      Isn’t called the military-industrial complex for nothing.

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  • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    I was recruited for two tacos and a large horchata.

    dead ass, was walking from high-school with a friend, and two sailors pulled up along side us and told us they’d buy us mexican food if we came with them to the recruiter station. and naturally, of course we got into the strangers car who promised us tacos.

    Turns out they were two sailors who had just graduated basic and we briefly back of leave and decided to drop in on their recruiter. Anyways, they made good on their promise of tacos, so I went ahead and took the asvab then and there. Did well enough to get a 10 grand signing bonus offer on the spot (this was in 2001, before 9/11). And realistically, I didn’t have any plan for after I graduated (I was a few years early to graduate because I was doing dual enrollment). So I kinda just said… fuck it and signed up.

    My thinking at the time? It was a guaranteed paycheck; I knew I wouldn’t starve; it would eventually pay for college; and it was going to give me a hiring preference for other federal jobs down the line. It would give me time to figure things out, and it wouldn’t be wasted time. Also, it would get me out of the house and let me “have a plan”, and maybe I’d actually get to see some places. Growing up as poor as I did, the military was basically the only option I would have to do those kinds of things.

    Anyways, a few months later 9-11 happened. They gave me the option to drop (I had depped in but hadn’t shipped out yet). But nah. I stuck with it. It really did give me advantages later in life, and because of my rate and the timing, I didn’t get wrapped up in WoT/Iraq/ Afghanistan. Did my time, got out. Very close friends of mine weren’t’ so lucky.

    And honestly it was a hugely eye opening experience and really guided my politics. I would download shows like Democracy Now! because I could download it for free and was something I could put on mp3 and rip to a CD. The US military, at least the enlisted ranks, is one of the most diverse work forces on the planet. It really gets you out of your space and shows you the true diversity of (at least, the poor/ working class) of America.

    I’m communicating this not because I think it in any way justifies what I did or what new recruits might decide to do. I’m mostly putting this out there to give one example of what a teenager who goes and signs up might be thinking.

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    • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      You allegedly signed up when only the most tuned in people expected a war.

      These fuckers are signing up when we just got done a forever war and are threatening to invade Canada. And the military is increasingly being used against the US domestically.

      So fuck off with that “understand where the SS are coming from” bullshit.

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      • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        Say you’ve got a young relative or some one you are mentoring who is considering this kind of decision?

        How would you expect to convince them to make a different decision if you yourself don’t understand or can’t empathize with why they are making a decision?

        Its a 🪱 🧠 level of understanding to think that understanding why some one makes the decisions they make or has the thoughts they have indicates in any way that you agree with them. Understanding why someone makes a decision they make is not equivalent to agreeing with them, and its a mental deficient to avoid understanding someone because you don’t agree with them. Its precisely because you don’t agree with them that you should strive to understand them.

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    • resipsaloquitur@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      Image

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      • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        It was the kind of horchata you get in those styrofoam cups with the tiny little ball ice.

        you know, the good ice.

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    • henfredemars@infosec.pub ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      Thank you for sharing your personal experience.

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  • tryagain@lemmy.ml ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Why don’t presidents fight the war? Why do they always send the poor?

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  • meme_historian@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    🌍: “Soo America, why did you start that war?” 🇺🇲: “idk man…I suddenly had all these guys sitting around and it kinda started getting a bit expensive 🤷‍♂️,”

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    • bigfondue@lemmy.world ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      This is the exact reason the Continental Army was disbanded after the revolution, to prevent this from happening.

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      • captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        The US constitution implies we’re not meant to have a peacetime army. It gives congress powers to “raise” an army and “raise and maintain” a navy.

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  • gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    This reminds me of when germans were excited about Hitler because he gave people jobs … in weapons factories and in the military.

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    • givesomefucks@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      No. This is reluctant people who don’t like trump joining the military because there are no other options

      This lowers the percent of boots on the ground personal willing to do anything trump says.

      Which…

      Honestly should be obvious, but people still don’t want to think more than a step ahead for some reason. Which is the whole reason we’re in this mess to begin with; people not planning ahead.

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    • queermunist@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      Yeah my factory built out a lot of production and hired a bunch of people to make battery components, and it looks like that’s drying up. I wouldn’t be surprised if we retool and start making bomb parts. 💀

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      • fullsquare@awful.systems ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        there’s little overlap unless usaf decides to use samsung galaxy note 7 as warheads

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  • technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Yeah, this is a key component of the fascist agenda of both “parties”.

    It’s part of why they want to make people’s lives more miserable, so their only option is murdering/dying for the state.

    • cbsnews.com/…/trump-touts-record-breaking-militar…
    • politifact.com/…/military-recruitment-is-up-donal…
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  • apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    American jackboots.

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  • alsaaas@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    You want völlige, bud?

    You better get ready to kill brown people, ruin your (mental) health and be the boot the plutocratic policeman of the world presses on the necks of the majority of nations on this planet!

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  • Zephorah@discuss.online ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    So it’s all going to plan.

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  • yardratianSoma@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    I mean, ngl, even as a Canadian, the idea of joining the military is always my plan Z, if all else fails.

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    • betterdeadthanreddit@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      Yeah but you call it “zed”, hoser.

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