This Country Will Never See Me Enlist
Renae Townsend | Opinion Editor
Yeah, I’m not joining the military. Ever.
I recently scrolled past a TikTok livestream of a teenager defending the U.S. military with hopes to enlist as soon as he turns eighteen; it’s been his dream since he was a kid. Good for him, as that’s his constitutional right. Personally, I’m good. I then found an article from the American Military University with an Air Force veteran expressing his confusion about some of Gen Z’s hesitance to enlist. He presents three possible reasons.
Being afraid of dying
Dying for no reason
Fighting in wars that have no meaning
Those claims are disputed in his article—and as one of the Gen Z’s who oppose the idea of volunteering for the armed forces, I’d like to present a few more of my opinions.
There are some aspects of the military that seem cultish. They rely on group cohesion and conditioning that shifts identity. Training can strip people of their personalities (shaving their heads, putting them in uniforms, taking away personal belongings) and they rebuild you in the image that fits the unit. During deployment or even during training, supervisors can control what you eat, sleep, and even where you go. While the military serves a vital national function, the psychological mechanisms it uses to build unit cohesion undeniably mirror the de-individualization tactics in total institutions. I’m not alluding to this point to disrespect anyone or claim that I look down on them. I have nothing but respect for troops, for men and women who put their lives on the line to keep us safe; it takes an immense amount of courage. I bring this up to say that I believe that getting soldiers to pledge their lives and their personalities to the military is textbook cult—and the military is very good at it.
Theoretically, there should be a plethora of benefits to being a discharged veteran. They receive direct access to direct-hire authority for government jobs. There are loans and free healthcare opportunities as thanks for the service they do. While governments offer these programs to help veterans transition home, there are barriers that prevent this from happening.
The promise of low-cost or free healthcare is less effective when vets face administrative errors and geographic barriers to specialized care, especially mental health. 7% of all veterans will experience Post Traumatic Stress Disorder at some point in their lives—and half of those veterans will not have access to treatment.
There are programs like the GI Bill that offer the chance to get a college education as they continue to return to civilian life. And yet many veterans' face unemployment. Those jobs that have ‘direct hire authority’ can be difficult to obtain. Veterans often encounter implicit bias from civilians who see them as hyper-aggressive, or psychologically damaged.
When veterans cannot find a job, the benefits that are designed to help them collapse. Unfortunately, they can become homeless. 0.17 percent of all U.S veterans experience homelessness—and while this is lower than past decades—it shouldn’t be happening at all. In competitive housing markets, sellers may reject a VA loan.
When the risks of a job include giving up your identity and the reward is a broken safety net, it’s no wonder most of Gen Z looks somewhere else. The military asks for everything from their soldiers—soldiers sacrifice everything to protect this country. And yet when veterans return home, America fails to hold up its end of the bargain.
Comments