There might be trouble ahead for the Pentagon. Even though every branch of the military recently met its recruitment goals, there’s reason to fear they won’t be so lucky in the future. According to an article in Wired, the upcoming generation of potential warriors is just too damn fat to make good soldiers:
More than three-quarters of the nation’s 17- to 24-year-olds couldn’t serve in the military, even if they wanted to. They’re too fat, too sickly, too dumb, have too many kids, or have copped to using illegal drugs.The armed services are willing to grant waivers for some of those conditions — asthma, or a little bit of weed. But the military’s biggest concern is how big and how weak its potential recruits have become.
“The major component of this is obesity,” Curt Gilroy, the Pentagon’s director of accessions, tells Army Times’ William McMichael. “Kids are just not able to do push-ups… And they can’t do pull-ups. And they can’t run.”
America might be forced to abandon war as the basis of its foreign policy because we just don’t have enough people who are physically or mentally able to fight.
Who would have thought that being fat, lazy and stupid would turn out to be our salvation? Blessed are the peacemakers:
This has happened to me over the years. In college I was a distance runner, less than 150 lbs at my best running weigh before a knee injury permanently knocked me out of the sport(it's fixable now either with the proper stretching or surgery, but then doctors didn't even know what iliotibial friction syndrome was). I was at one time the thinnest guy in most of my classes. And there were few fat kids around.
McDonalds appeared on our campus during my second or third year at college (1975 to 1982). Our lifestyle has changed and mass market foods have replaced healthy meals almost everywhere so we can't just blame the kids. It's there, it's fast and it makes more time for study. The kids who can't afford college are in the same boat, McDonald's has appeared in most towns. Not that it's just McDonalds that is the problem. But they are a bellweather in my opinion. As is the problem of no one at home to fix good meals. We've got to structure society so we have places that serve good healthy food and make it available and tasty (and it IS tasty).
Restructuring our society is the only way to fix it. We must go back to some of what people learned in the early 1900's about nutrition. Although providing unpasteurized cow's milk to everyone might not be possible or even wise. Get it if you can and want to take the chance though. (that part is for Jerry)
Maybe we progressives should find a way to buy all the McDonald's stock out there and fix it ourselves by owning the company and until then, buying enough to get ourselves in, and then show up at shareholders meetings and raise hell. Fix that company, then move on to the others. It could be done.
But there are a hundred other problems in this society to attend to. Well, I"m working on my weight. Down 60 and 90 to go but running is out of the question now. Although the lure of the fast food is impossible to completely break. They've got me but I'll get them to the mat eventually. Too bad I didn't get those wrassling lessons some other people know. But I'm working on that too.
Posted by: Buck on November 5, 2009 4:02 PMNo problem; mercenaries can keep the armed forces and the empire going for another 100-150 years. Blackwater is happy to oblige. Also, look for right-wingers to make exceptions to their harsh and shortsighted immigration policies for recruits.
Bread and circus more than consistent with empire for a long time to come.
Posted by: on November 5, 2009 10:58 PMYou don't have to be in shape to be an effective killer. Look at Hermann Goering. In fact you don't have to be more active than the average slug. Look at the geeks who sit in front of the monitor screens out in Colorado, firing drone missiles. Look at Cheney. The heaviest thing he can lift is a shotgun, just ask his hunting buddy.
Posted by: Aitch Jay on November 6, 2009 9:48 AMGibbon, on the Roman legions' military engines (catapults, etc.):
"...We may observe, that the use of them in the field gradually became more prevalent, in proportion as personal valor and military skill declined with the Roman empire. When men were no longer found, their place was supplied by machines. See Vegetius, ii. 25. Arrian."
-- Chapter I, Part II, Footnote 59
Posted by: Martha Bridegam on November 6, 2009 7:46 PMBlessed are the cheeseburgers?
Posted by: Mike Goldman on November 7, 2009 4:50 AM