To everyone saying "the military is cucked, we are doomed"...
Well, you are partially correct. The current trajectory is tragically bad. But there is a factor that is being overlooked and it is of critical importance:
Humans are near infinitely adaptable.
A man can be convinced of something, and then suddenly a major event occurs, and that same man has a completely different worldview afterwards. We can hold convictions, and then discard that very belief some moments later, given a certain stimulus that enacts a change of perspective.
To give a pseudo example: you are a cadet and your leadership tells you the enemy is over there, and to subdue them. Your first inclination is to use your training and to subdue your enemy. So you do that and then quickly realize your enemy is actually peaceful grandmas and grandchildren that pose no actual threat to you. This realization rocks you to your core and you take pause, and turn to your leader. "Is this really what you want me to do" they ask.
From that point forward, you have a moral dilemma. Some cadets are going to reject the clearly unethical directive. A smaller faction will carry out the directive no matter how unethical it is. But in the end, you'll have a balancing factor. The more heinous the directive, the more good men will stand in opposition to it, and the more opposition that is made apparent, the more the fence sitters come to the realization that the directive was bad and that the only ethical path is to oppose the leadership.
This is all human nature 101 stuff. Yes, there will be sycophants that toe the tyrannical line. But there will always be a multitude of good men who know better. We need to foster the acceptance of the good man and their push back on evildoers. We need to support those who go out of their way to right wrongs, even when doing so is controversial and costly.
We need to send the signal that there are consequences for each and every action. Only then will the perpetrators think twice before enacting their sick plans. If there are no consequences for them, expect them to run rampant.
I think you have a good point when it comes to regular good old American troops from good homes, but the entire point of this political purge of the military is to get rid of those types. Once a military starts selecting for vicious monsters with a political axe to grind, it's all downhill from there. Just ask all the babies the Japanese skewered, or the women the Russians brutally tortured and raped.
To everyone saying "the military is cucked, we are doomed"...
Well, you are partially correct. The current trajectory is tragically bad. But there is a factor that is being overlooked and it is of critical importance:
Humans are near infinitely adaptable.
A man can be convinced of something, and then suddenly a major event occurs, and that same man has a completely different worldview afterwards. We can hold convictions, and then discard that very belief some moments later, given a certain stimulus that enacts a change of perspective.
To give a pseudo example: you are a cadet and your leadership tells you the enemy is over there, and to subdue them. Your first inclination is to use your training and to subdue your enemy. So you do that and then quickly realize your enemy is actually peaceful grandmas and grandchildren that pose no actual threat to you. This realization rocks you to your core and you take pause, and turn to your leader. "Is this really what you want me to do" they ask.
From that point forward, you have a moral dilemma. Some cadets are going to reject the clearly unethical directive. A smaller faction will carry out the directive no matter how unethical it is. But in the end, you'll have a balancing factor. The more heinous the directive, the more good men will stand in opposition to it, and the more opposition that is made apparent, the more the fence sitters come to the realization that the directive was bad and that the only ethical path is to oppose the leadership.
This is all human nature 101 stuff. Yes, there will be sycophants that toe the tyrannical line. But there will always be a multitude of good men who know better. We need to foster the acceptance of the good man and their push back on evildoers. We need to support those who go out of their way to right wrongs, even when doing so is controversial and costly.
We need to send the signal that there are consequences for each and every action. Only then will the perpetrators think twice before enacting their sick plans. If there are no consequences for them, expect them to run rampant.
I think you have a good point when it comes to regular good old American troops from good homes, but the entire point of this political purge of the military is to get rid of those types. Once a military starts selecting for vicious monsters with a political axe to grind, it's all downhill from there. Just ask all the babies the Japanese skewered, or the women the Russians brutally tortured and raped.