/lit/ - Literature

3) The Middle East and Africa are by far the foulest pits of humanity to stain this earth. In poorer nations (re: most of them) the "people" there are more akin to animals than anything a westerner would consider a civilized human being. The kill, enslave, rape, and torture one another openly and on a daily basis, and many of their laws/religious dogma espouse this sort of behavior. If they are already killing each other, what's the difference between them or a soldier doing it? There are no "innocent" people in those places. These cultures do not give a shit about your highfaluton western values. So why should we apply our values to these mockeries of humans? Note that I am not racist. If a brown Arab man can adopt a non-Muslim, Americanized lifestyle without the whole "women are our property ALLAH ALAHU AKBAR" shit then more power to him. What I'm advocating is more of a "culturism", the idea that American culture is inherently superior to third-world "civlization" and that we should not pretend that such cultures are somehow equal to ours and feel obligated to tolerate them.

Well?

>>1586718
>>1586723
the army isn't my whole life. I write fiction and plan to submit to a literary agency in 2012, if I start to make enough money to live from my writing then I may/may not reup depending on how I feel about being an officer versus sitting at home typing on my computer and going to nerd conventions

>>1586708
>romantic
I'm very pragmatic, I don't know where you get this. just because I cited the warrior ethos doesn't mean I'm blinded by it. it just happens to fit an opinion I already had.

>>1586713
and fuck you call of duty, nobody cares if you want to sham all day and avoid the stern gaze of your platoon sergeant. some officers actually believe in what they do and aren't just in it for the money, shitbag

>>1586702
if you pity them, then why not nuke them? you know, a pity nuke. it's like when Santiago hits the fish in the head with a club to spare it the pain of being flayed alive.

we can nuke them to spare them (and us) the pain of their miserable existence

>>1586696
okay? my point was that people who go to school and eat cheetos and play farmville should talk less shit about soldiers who stand up for what the think is right, have the potential to help millions of people, and could kick your asses IRL

tl;dr how is a skinny faggot like you guys who haven't done anything in life any better than a soldier?

>>1586674
skin color =/= culture, once again

>>1586675
please see the second point of my op, once again

>>1586677
>I could start a revolution right now if I wanted to
then why haven't you if america is so shit?

>>1586685
>noble profession
hold the phone, nobody said that bro

You detractors are pretty much all saying the same thing. You are bashing American culture but I bet if the government said "well fuck you then" and shipped you off to the middle east, you'd cry like a bunch of little bitches. You liberal college kids really do take your privileges for granted.

Also, I think you're all just mad because when you were awkward kids growing up the captain of the football team wedged your underwear up your asscracks and you've hated jocks ever since. Sure, the army is full of dumb country boys, but I'd take them over you barrel of nancies any day. What exactly have you done for your beliefs? Fucking nothing, you sit around and bitch on the internet all day. Soldiers actually stand up for what we think is right, and sometimes die for it.

You are physically weak. You are mentally weak. You have accomplished little in life and helped nobody. You may know a little more math and philosophy than me, but that's about it. This is my stereotype of the average /lit/izen, and I don't really give a shit about the opinions of such people.

Because that's all you're doing. Giving opinions. How about, I dunno, a real discussion? Some folks have at least contributed a genuine question in their posts and thanks to those who have.

>>1586651

>>1586635
>I couldn't be bothered to read everything you typed
ditto, I hate you shithead perma tripfags. I'm only using one in this thread to prevent trolls

>>1586637
>I will never accept defeat

part of the warrior ethos that we are supposed to live by. soldiers do not surrender, ideally.

I would probably use their own kamikaze tactics on the haj.

>>1586638
1) I'm sure pushing paper is more honorable for your boss is more honorable and makes you a better human being than me.
2) see the second point of my OP, it concisely refutes this point
3) you should be thankful you have the right to gossip about celebrities, faggot. I have been to countries where pasty white boys like you would get the death sentence for looking gay.
4) never said I was important and I think the whole "thank you for your service" thing is a bit overkill.

>>1586622
>dehumanise

your mistake here is assuming I give a shit about whether someone has hopes and dreams, can love and laugh, etc. so what? this sounds like an appeal to emotion. killing someone can be a repugnant experience, but that is just a visceral response to outside stimuli. and the end of the day, some people need to die, and just because death is a nasty affair and makes people sad doesn't mean it can't be used for the greater good

the bottom line here is that even though terrorists/rebels can feel the same thing as anybody else, they are still shitheads who wish us harm. they want to kill americans, so I don't feel guilty about killing them.

>>1586611
>killing
can be right or wrong. yes, sometimes a soldier shoots a man to death and nothing but good comes of it. that is when it is right to kill someone.

>would you feel as wrong selling people food?
wat

>>1586605

enlisted, will be dropping an OCS packet once I get my degree

I have been planning on reading starship troopers for years and shammed out of it. no idea why, I read all kinds of other books. meh

haven't been to /k/ much since everything thing became the "we hate nutnfancy" fan club and mfw clip threads, but I poke my head in there from time to time

>>1586596
talking about my specific job, not the war in general. and who says life in is inherently valuable? if the war killed 3423423423423423423423423423432424 cockroaches, does that mean it was a horrible war just because a lot of living things died? middle easterners pretty much = cockroaches

>>1586597
I sorry, will u b mai waifu?

pic related, my current waifu

>>1586598
the most tactless thing you can ask a soldier

>>1586581
>insensitive
cry more?

>>1586581
>too much of a blanket statement to be right
this is too much of a blanket statement to be right

>>1586578
actually, not every job in the army is to "murder" or even kill anyone. although I am a trained marksman, my primary job deals with something else, not going into specifics. my job saves more lives than it ends, though.

that last part could be said for infantry in the long run.

>>1586571
it can't, but the reduction of human suffering should be our immediate priority. the ozone layer is important and pollution needs to stop, but it's those trees aren't going anywhere for a while, hippy

>>1586530
as a sentient being, I feel that the capable are morally obligated to minimize the amount of suffering in living organisms, subhuman mudslime included

that said, I have no qualms about quickly ending a life with a bullet. after all, when you shoot someone to death, you have probably decreased the net amount of pain they will experience in life by ending it prematurely. not that I think we should all just commit suicide, but that's a whole nother can of worms and outside the scope of this thread.

>>1586561
reasons I wouldn't join the air force:

1) they are essentially civilians in uniforms, disciplinary rankings as considered by most armed forces personnel:

1) marine corps
2) army
3) navy
4) chair force

I aint hating, I'm just saying. The air force is pretty much civilian government employment, not what I'm looking for. Also, the army has the most funding and more military schools, airborne, diver, ranger, special forces, sapper, etc.

And the drills aren't that bad. A lot of civilians think "oh god I'd never join the military because it's so strict" but our best kept secret is that sergeants are actually nicer than civilian bosses. Think about it. A sergeant might yell at you, but so will a civilian boss. The difference is that most of the time the sergeant actually gives a shit about you (or at least the unit) and wants to see you be a good soldier, whereas the civilian boss only cares about money and is actually butthurt when he yells. Soldiers don't give that much a shit about getting yelled at, we care about end results. A sergeant major can get in my face and yell for three hours, make me do pushups, and threaten me with all kinds of paperwork, but as long as he doesn't actually file any paperwork I don't give a shit and will probably be daydreaming catchy music videos in my head the whole time.

>>1586510
>3
it hurts everyone. if you have the power to intervene, you should, etc.

not necessarily applying that to the war, just a general statement

as for 2, I don't even know what you're saying

>mfw I've noticed that many times when people have nothing to say to an argument, they usually cry "you just want a fight you're not here for a debate"

but you see, I won the fight before it has even begun and that's why you mad

but like I said, it's not necessarily a debate

>>1586487
I just wrote this, but if you don't give a shit then why did you post?

>>1586488
This doesn't have to become a debate. It is possible to have a regular discussion you know.

But fine. My favorite book is City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers. It's about a Lindworm (Germanic dragon person) who searches the fantasy continent of Zamonia for the author of the greatest piece of fiction ever written, a ten page short story by an anonymous member of the extinct humans. On his journey he encounters all manner of shenanigans to include Mercenaries who try to kill him in the library-tomb-sewer underneath the capital city of Bookholm, an escape from a mad alchemists dungeon, and getting high with the fantasy equivalent of cajun witch doctors. It's awesome, but I don't give a shit what you think about it because you're all trolls anyway and will automatically bash me for liking speculative fiction.

>>1586480
good to know

>>1586481
I'd internet fist bump you

>>1586482
>implying /lit/ is about books

for actual literary discussion, go here
>>>/book/

3) The Middle East and Africa are by far the foulest pits of humanity to stain this earth. In poorer nations (re: most of them) the "people" there are more akin to animals than anything a westerner would consider a civilized human being. The kill, enslave, rape, and torture one another openly and on a daily basis, and many of their laws/religious dogma espouse this sort of behavior. If they are already killing each other, what's the difference between them or a soldier doing it? There are no "innocent" people in those places. These cultures do not give a shit about your highfaluton western values. So why should we apply our values to these mockeries of humans? Note that I am not racist. If a brown Arab man can adopt a non-Muslim, Americanized lifestyle without the whole "women are our property ALLAH ALAHU AKBAR" shit then more power to him. What I'm advocating is more of a "culturism", the idea that American culture is inherently superior to third-world "civlization" and that we should not pretend that such cultures are somehow equal to ours and feel obligated to tolerate them.

Well?

I am a US Army Soldier. Many of you are liberal college kid faggots. So let's have a discussion.

The argument I hear most about why I should quit my job is that the United States is an evil imperialist system of oilmongers who only use me to take money from poor third-worlders, but consider the following:

1) How is your job within the same capitalist system any different than mine? We both earn money for other people because for whatever reason, we lack the drive or ability to be financial alpha dogs. So you say I'm just a pawn in the scheme of a bunch of old rich white guys? How are you employed civilians any different? Even if this is true, consider the invasion of Kuwait. Would you rather have GW and co. controlling the world economy or crazy arab dictator #1,453,453,242,342 who may or may not use the funds to try and nuke your ass?

2) Contrary to popular belief, the military is still integral to protecting this nation from foreign threats. There are soldiers trained to deal with secret security clearance situations that don't make it into the media. So how can you say LOL THE MILITARY DON'T PROTECT ME FROM SHIT when you aren't even allowed to what the threats are?

(cont.)