it means i can oppose war, american imperialism, the military industrial complex, and the cult of male violence without discounting the myriad factors that contribute to someone enlisting, including but not limited to millions of dollars spent annually to recruit children.
also means i’m disgusted with a culture that superficially venerates veterans for nationalist and capitalist purposes while simultaneously fucking them over re: housing and healthcare and suppressing veteran voices should their experience as a vet happen to inform anything resembling anti-military sentiment
[Image Description: White text on black background. A screenshot of tags: (1) this is what bothers me about lol dead soldiers posts, (2) military recruiters stalked the hallways of my high school all the time, (3) to trap and brainwash children into contracts that could kill them or end with them killing themselves, (4) with the promise of money for college and healthcare, (5) children are recruited by predatory adults to be fodder for the capitalist system that does not care about them.
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I totally agree with the OP. And this is not new. Here are some excellent articles about how the military preys upon low income and BIPOC children:
