Posted on 10/19/2009 7:14:17 AM PDT by chessplayer
Of course. Look at the way a chimpanzee can rip a human apart. The chimp isn’t supernatural. The human is just weaker. Well, then there’s the part about the chimp using its arms for locomotion all day every day. And they don’t fight fair that’s for sure, with a chimp, it’s a street fight from the word go.
You know, back when eugenics was not a dirty word, there was a lot of concern about the consequences of giving welfare support to those who could not take care of themselves, for just this reason. It allowed them to reproduce. It exacerbated the problem. It diluted the gene pool. There is something wrong with taking care of delinquents and criminals and layabouts yet putting our parents to death. THroughout successful human history, elders are revered for their experience, and for the stamina it took to survive and make it to old age. Now, not so much. I hate that.
We may not have the strength to wipe our asses.
People come in all shapes, sizes and abilities. The pencil-necked geek in high school finds his niche in the research laboratory. Isn’t that a story that has been told over and over and over again?
Back in the tribe, every individual couldn’t be the brave strong warrior. But everybody had to find a way to contribute. In the dark age monasteries, Benedictine Rule stated that if you didn’t work you didn’t eat. And if you wanted to eat meat, you had to do physical labor, if I remember correctly.
Find your niche. That’s the meaning of life right there.
Sir Francis Galt, cousin of Darwin cautioned early on that the Survival of the fittest model was only useful in the wild and would serve to be enervating and divisive in organized society through ‘misplaced’ compassion.
What I have come to think of as corrosive compassion — a process whereby interventionists, reformers and apologists band together to prop up the weakest and advance their progress and ensure their success, even in reproduction.
This sea of entitlement upon which we now all drift directionless, has been channeled by the narrows of government compartmentalization to where we must unavoidably find ourselves coursing downstream toward a rocky landing.
I enlisted in the Army in 1965, we ran with our Boots on, no Keds. The soft shoe thing came in when to many women were fracturing foot bones during the morning and afternoon four miles.
-Prerequisites to test for this badge are:
-Volunteer for EIB testing.
-He must meet the standard prescribed in AR 600-9, The Army Weight Control Program.
-Pass APFT with 70% in each event for his age group.
-Receive the recommendation of the current unit commander. Basically have no unfavorable personnel action (i.e. trouble).
-Qualify expert with the M16 series rifle/M4 carbine day (within last 12 months).
-Score expert on the 11C Gunner’s test, if an 11C MOS.
-Pass land navigation with AN/PSN-11 (PLGR) (day) and night land navigation within six months of testing date.
-Pass EIB standards for the 12-mile foot march within 90 days of testing date.
That is a good example of something that tests “all around” and has some meaning. Some guy that weighs in at 115 pounds and can score 330 points on a PT test if you had an extended scale but can't march with a ruck or is dumb as nails is worthless. The soldier needs to have good all around skills, and PT is just one aspect. Likewise if I have someone that is fantastic in combatives, but is an insubordinate dork that can't get along with his peers nor shoot straight if his life depended on it, is he a great soldier?
My point is simple- Don't emphasize physical fitness to much, it's but one aspect, and probably not even the most important. When it comes to physical fitness or shooting people often get tunnel vision.
.
.
.
Retired 18C,D,F
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.