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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

I can't sleep...lot's going on in my life right now..this 
thread/conversation is officially bothering me now.

As you know, my son turned down a 4 year scholarship to join the Navy. 
He scored super high on the SAT(old score 1590) and the ACT tests(lowest 
was 32- two 35's and a 34.  He could have gone anywhere he wanted to go 
to school, IF that is what he wanted to do. He was accepted to multiple 
colleges but choose Berry and Georgia Tech as it was close to home and 
offered him the dual degree scholarship he was seeking.  Joining the 
Navy was not a desperate act for him. He had choices.


On this list, we are a bunch of folks who have gone our own way.  We 
have, in varying degrees, separated ourselves from the mainstream-in 
lifestyle, in thought, in the way we school(or not) our kids...all 
around we pretty much march to a different drummer.  Many of us here 
have made a choice of voluntary simplicity.  Those on the outside, they 
will never understand why choose 'less' when you can have more.  They 
just don't see the value in our "lesser" choice.  We see the value, and 
know that even if the mainstream labels our choices as less, they have 
value and in the grand scheme of things, our choices are GREATER, not 
lesser.

So here we are, talking about military service, and I think some folks 
see that service as a lesser choice.  They just do not seem to 
understand that people very often sign up for service because they feel 
a sense of duty, an obligation for continuity, and a sense of pride that 
they can make a difference.  There are many reasons for joining the 
military.

It saddens me to see that we, even some of us on this list, have 
traveled so far down the road of AmericaBashing, that we have lost sight 
of the fact that some people see value in serving their country, whether 
country itself is right or wrong in actions. So many people now see that 
service as a "lesser" choice or a last choice or even an only 
choice(they could have made more money elsewhere,  they could have gone 
to college, there were no other jobs, etc.) when in reality, the 
enlistee only saw the value and the need.

In my history on this list, I have remained quiet on political topics 
until these last few months.  Sometimes I have been in a majority, but 
mostly my opinion is/has been/would be the minority opinion.  I am 
certain things will not change in this thread.

Maybe we should ALL take a step back and remember not to judge and make 
assumptions, be it about Barack Obama or George Bush or all those kids 
who are serving their country.

Bev


EarthNSky wrote:

> > Enlistment percentages may be mostly an indication of family
> > financial status, boys and girls who find no better choice.
>
> I don't think of
> > military enlistment today as an expression of patriotism or as 
> > indicating feelings toward military enterprises or wars in general.

> I
> > believe that the lowest per capita incomes are in the South.

> > My curiosity was whether the apparently ongoing Southern feelings 
> > about the Civil War would translate into a greater antipathy toward
> >  war in general. Not sure how that might be measured. Where's our 
> > resident sociologist?

--
BevanRon of EarthNSky Farm   NW Georgia USDA Zone 7
34.498N 85.076W    Bev is Earth, Ron is Sky