check out , AWOL , by Frank Schaeffer .
The Unexecused Absence of America's Upper Classes from Military Service--and How It Hurts Our Country !
Editorial Reviews -- http://www.amazon.com/AWOL-Unexcused-Absence-Americas-Military/dp/0060888598
2007-03-17 09:14:12 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Military
http://www.nyu.edu/classes/siva/archives/001603.html
2007-03-17 13:41:21 · update #1
I think the military offers a way out, faced with no education, lack of skills and a dead end job many in the lower to middle class decides on the military and many make it a career for that reason. The rich and very rich with their better education and job opportunity's do not have to make this choice. They opt for private careers. .
2007-03-25 05:57:35 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually your post is incorrect.
The percentage of recruits from poor families ( those in the bottom 20% of wage earners ) is decreasing.
The poor are now under represented in the US Military.
The percentage of enlistees from the bottom 20% has decreased from 18% in 2001 to 13.7% in 2005.
Recruits from families making between $35,000 and $95,000 are over represented in the US Military today.
Recruits from families in the top 20%of wage earners, now make up 22.85% of the US Military, and the percentage is increasing every year.
So 66% more recruits come from the upper middle class and the wealthy than come from the poor.
2007-03-17 19:24:00 · answer #2 · answered by jeeper_peeper321 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Oh, get real. Quit trying to make it sound as if this is adeliberate act of economic social cleansing...
Our military is a VOLUNTARY force... We do not draft our young men and women... they choose to enlist. For many, the military offers one way to get out of a poverty-stricken life. I personally know of 3 young men who came from generational welfare families. These three young men broke that cycle and did so willingly.
It's not a matter of being "asked" to serve... all are "asked"... and some from all tax brackets join... some as enlisted men and some as officers. (Your question doesn't quote numbers or specify whether you're talking about enlisted or officer ranks) But the truth is, and this will ALWAYS be true... some folks can afford to choose a different life.. but many cannot.. and so the military is the one option they have that is, at least in the minds of many, an honorable option.
So, it's about options and choices... NOT about color or financial status.
2007-03-17 17:32:36 · answer #3 · answered by Amy S 6 · 1⤊ 3⤋
Would you want to be facing an armed enemy with your life depending on some inbred imbecile like Bush or Kerry?
Better they stay home.
2007-03-24 11:28:55 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Simple they can afford to go to college. The rest of us losers have to scramble to find a way. I did my part.
2007-03-23 16:56:29 · answer #5 · answered by RoxanneZG 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋