Recent Posts

1

Off Topic / Re: Civ Div

« Last post by Ceist on Today at 09:18:43 PM »

i can agree that PMCs are dogstuff. but personally i see if you're joining a conflict for a reasonably righteous cause, such as in the case of fighting for the Kurds or the Ukrainians, you're not really on the same ground as PMCs. not in a similar vein but i myself thought about traveling to Ukraine for humanitarian causes. not fighting, but rebuilding or performing EMR work.

every voluntary soldier in the world should die immediately but especially the ones who do it for fun and/or youtube clout

gonna be real with you homie, this is a garbage take with not a lot of reality to back it up.
i understand the logic behind 'there shouldn't be any war', but there will always be war and people are going to fight for what they believe in, just or not.

2

Off Topic / Re: Civ Div

« Last post by Ladios on Today at 04:27:52 PM »

As a staunch anti-imperialist myself, I of course denounce the military industrial complex and the horrors we have committed as a nation at the behest of the multi-national corporations attempting to acquire new land for development or resource exploitation.

That said, many of the veterans I have met (and this may just be because of the bias of my own experience and people I associate with) have come from backgrounds that either left them with little other prospects to afford a higher education than a military scholarship, or grew up in families that supported imperialism to such an extent that they felt it was their civic duty to fight on behalf of our nation. Of these people, all of them have grown disillusioned when actually interacting with the people overseas and learning first hand the nuanced experience in a way that none of us civilians would be able to articulate, even if we were to travel abroad ourselves. All of the ones I know who have been in direct combat have stated how they regret what they had to do to stay alive in a situation where they would rather have talked it out. They are the ones who first hand could verify that we are fighting not just statistics but actual people who are driven through ideology or necessity to strike back against our troops. Upon returning home, they unanimously (the ones I know personally at least) have been driven from their conservative and/or centrist beliefs to strongly anti-war leftists.

Unfortunately our government is still doing its best to keep the pipeline to joining the military open, but fewer and fewer recruits are swayed each year. Hence this year they have announced a recall of all veterans under 50 years old to mandatorily re-enlist, even those who have since become jaded and realised what a stuffshow this all is.

All that is to say, the question of people "voluntarily" joining the armed forces is much less black and white than you are saying.

Except for PMCs.
Anyone who joins Academi/Blackwater or the like is absolute scum and just doing it for the pay check and to look cool getting all the top-end gear.

3

Off Topic / Re: Civ Div

« Last post by Foxscotch on Today at 03:40:12 PM »

is your take that people who go to foreign countries to engage in war as mercenaries for youtube views because they are bored are cool and good? or what is it you disagree with?
if it's only the first part, about all voluntary soldiers, then there is no sense arguing about it because your perspective (that war is good and we as a country are justified in blowing up the middle east a few times per decade, and therefore that the people who make an informed choice to be part of it are also good) is so normalized in this country that nothing I can say would mean anything to you

4

Off Topic / Re: Idle and Subpixel are no longer online??

« Last post by Defendor on Today at 12:12:17 PM »

year 13 of trying to pronounce Zapk's name

Zapgay

5

Off Topic / Re: Idle and Subpixel are no longer online??

« Last post by Epicduke on Today at 06:22:50 AM »

year 13 of trying to pronounce Zapk's name

6

Off Topic / Re: Civ Div

« Last post by Smashed_Eggs on Today at 05:08:41 AM »

every voluntary soldier in the world should die immediately but especially the ones who do it for fun and/or youtube clout

that's uhhh, a pretty interesting take

7

Off Topic / Re: The Chronology of the Blockland Forums

« Last post by CapTMeaT on Today at 12:05:04 AM »

Wild.

8

Off Topic / Re: Civ Div

« Last post by Blockomaniac on Yesterday at 11:35:21 PM »

never saw that thread back when it was active, so was he just bouncing around various military-esque groups? That's so weird to think about. I mean, I understand that some people have a hard time functioning in environments where they aren't told what to do, so they choose to stay in the military for that life. But it sounded like he wanted to experience combat specifically?

He replied to Aide saying that he joined "for the cause" a few times but that's still hard to wrap my head around. I understand people can develop a taste for military life, but I don't understand seeking out conflict if it doesn't have anything to do with you on a significantly personal level (like Ukrainian people signing up to defend their own country)

9

Off Topic / Re: Civ Div

« Last post by Foxscotch on Yesterday at 07:58:43 PM »

every voluntary soldier in the world should die immediately but especially the ones who do it for fun and/or youtube clout

10

Off Topic / Re: Civ Div

« Last post by Ceist on Yesterday at 06:30:52 PM »

that's uhhh, a pretty interesting take