Posted on 04/11/2004 12:36:55 PM PDT by vanderleun
The arguing would start however,when you attempt to say why it is like this.At that point,many who consider themselves conservatives would be as far apart from each other as cool is from uncool.
God bless
(Only make it salt water, and have the shower on a gimble that rotates it through 45* on all axes every few seconds.)
It probably had to do with its close proximity to Camp Pendleton. And the stark contrasts that arise therefrom. As to the inherent conservatism of Orange County, I don't believe it's as conservative as you think. It was OC that sent Loretta Sanchez to Washington, after all.
The author directs you to contemplate the difference between the phrase "not many" -- which was what he wrote -- and "not any" which he assumes you read in a dyslexic fugue state.
Yeah right. Are these just California kids you are referring to? Do you think what you observed is somehow just isolated to California?
One other thing, when I was in the military, some of the wildest, some of the biggest drug users, and little criminals in training were kids of those in the military, "military brats" if you will. No, I didn't spend a day on a base like you, I spent years on bases, on and off posts around military bases, and I saw it close up and personal.
This author seems to assumes a whole lot of things.
I can tell you that from first hand experience. I joined the Army right out of high school, and I've been here ever since. Care to guess how many people from Orange County I've bumped into over the last decade, to say nothing of other people from Newport Beach? I've met three times more people from South Dakota.
Care to guess how 'cool' the people from my peer group thought joining the Army was at the time? Their reaction was substantially different than a round of high fives. There was widespread speculation that I was pulling their legs.
So, if the author wants to contrast two cultures, he'd have a hard time finding more divere ones than the Marines and Orange County. People from OC aren't bad, but, as a rule, they have different values, priorities, and world views than your average Leatherneck.
There's no bling bling to be had by being down with Allah, and who wants to join the list of premature funerals? Right now I'm looking at footage on CNN of dirt-poor fanatics who are desperate for whatever lies their mullah is selling. Since there are about 6 million of these people over here now I encourage the "homies" to keep their guns handy and clean for when those nuts get out of line. Because they're being encouraged to.They're rebuffing them too. Probably 99% of the Muslims over here are here to get away from the fanatics in their home nations. They certainly don't want to bring that clinton over here, any more than most Mexicans want to bring the padrone system or ultra-corrupt government here, or the Vietnamese wish to import communism.
We need to keep a close eye on the other 1%, but not at the expense of making the 99% into our enemies when they are inclined to be our friends.
-Eric
I'm not advocating general conscription for military training.What you're saying then is you want to build a second military. That wouldn't mess with the current volunteer force, but it would certainly take away resources. The result would be the equivalent of a conscript army....like Iraq's. We've seen twice in the last fifteen years what happens to a conscript army faced by a modern volunteer force, properly equipped and trained.I'm saying we should have a voluntary 'basic training' in full citizenship for every person who wants to vote.
We would still have completely independant fully volunteer combat forces structured as they are at present.
So this new force would be of marginal military utility. As for the "full citizenship training" part of it, no thanks. Never put something into place that you don't want your adversaries to be able to use. The Democratic crypto-socialists would love a shot at subjecting all American kids that will be able to vote to some of their own "training". It's too dangerous.
Finally, you said earlier that you came from a "culture of cool" that had one difference, a draft. I came from the cusp between the baby boom and "Generation X". We also had a "culture of cool". We had no draft. The difference was we still learned personal responsibility in school. Even in the public schools. Between that and the failures of liberalism and pacifism in the 1970s, my contemporaries supported Reagan 2-1 in 1984 and manned the all volunteer force that liberated Kuwait.
A draft isn't the key. Fixing the schools is.
-Eric
That thing is definitely NOT cool! It looks to have come straight of one of Kennedy's DT nightmares; no doubt the creatures that once scared him off a bridge.
I think, he deserves a box of these as pets.
Great article! Once again the Men of action define a culture while the children of consensus denegrate. Thank you Mr. Van Der Leun.
His article is skewed. Like I stated earlier, some of the biggest drug users, wildest kids, and little criminals in traing were kids from those in the military. Military brats, are some of the worst of the worst.
Care to guess how many people from Orange County I've bumped into over the last decade, to say nothing of other people from Newport Beach? I've met three times more people from South Dakota.
That's funny, I'd almost bet the rent there are more people from South Dakota in So Cal than there are in South Dakota.
Most in Orange County are from places like Colorada, Michigan, NY, Utah, Indiana, Ohio, very few in Orange County are actually from there.
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