Veterans Day not only honors those who have served and sacrificed in defense of our nation, but also recognizes the enduring spirit of duty, honor, and selflessness that characterizes our veterans. However, today the majority of American adults would not be willing to serve in the military if the U.S. were to enter into a major war, recent polling has found, while public confidence in the armed forces appears to be waning. Experts say there is a complex mix of factors contributing to the militaryundefineds recruitment issues, including adapting its messaging to a younger target generation more engrossed in modern technology undefined and they admit that their undefinedwokeundefined approach to recruitment has soured potential recruits, Tonight on Ground Zero, Clyde Lewis talks with U.S. Army Ranger veteran and co-host of the UN-SUPPRESSED podcast, Avery Kerr about CONTENTIOUS OBJECTORS - THE FEW THE PROUD THE SNOWFLAKES.
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https://aftermath.media/podcast/11-10-23-contentious-objectors-the-few-the-proud-the-snowflakes-w-avery-kerr/
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Today is Veterans Day undefined a day set aside that reminds me of men and women who are more courageous than I am served our country to defend my freedom and well-being.
For the members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), as well as the millions of others who have worn the cloth of our military, all veterans share a common bond.
At one time in their lives, they raised their right hand and solemnly swore an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” No matter if they served for two years or 42 years, all veterans sacrificed something to serve their country, and if called upon, to lay down their lives in defense of it.
Every one of them has a story to tell. However, those who have served only makeup roughly one percent of our nation’s population.
Veterans Day not only honors those who have served and sacrificed in defense of our nation, but also recognizes the enduring spirit of duty, honor, and selflessness that characterizes our veterans.
I often hear platitudes being given to veterans like undefinedThank You for your serviceundefined but that is a hollow and sometimes disingenuous axiom to make the person saying it feel better,
I always wonder when people say it undefined do they really care?
Beyond the free meals, discounts, tributes, and platitudes given to veterans on this day, there is also an opportunity to show them your appreciation truly. If you find a veteran, ask them a few questions.
Ask them if it okay to ask them when they served, where they served, in what branch they served, what they did while they served, what it was like to serve, and finally, why did they serve. Listen to their story and then you will truly know about the service you are thanking them for.
You will find some inspiration from a veteran undefined and you will realize why many are great individuals undefined and need more than lip service.
We live in times of dehumanization.
Our division and how we feel about each other and how we allow oppression to continue disrespect veterans undefined because they fought long and hard to keep our way of life intact,
When humans embrace the dehumanization of others, we release our ugliest, most destructive selves. Dehumanization is a perverse force that propagates violence and justifies the lust for war and its atrocities.
In these terrible times, we can hear the drumbeats of dehumanization in Ukraine, Israel, and the Gaza Strip, as grief explodes in the face of unimaginable violence, loss, injury, and the sort of pain that rips at the very fabric of our world. Human beings are once again being described as “animals.”
The other side is pure “evil.”
The only remedy for such a conflict, people imagine, is to wipe the enemy out and achieve “full victory.” Indescribable destructive force against the other is rationalized as necessary because of the terrible violence wreaked on us.
This is chump talk undefined because most of those people who cry out for incinerating lives are the same people who wouldnundefinedt lift a finger to fight.
Many veterans today live with the deep despair that accompanies military moral injuries. Yet they refuse to give up on life, hope, and the belief that there could be a different way forward.
They once dared to die undefined now most dare to live.
But the same cannot be said for a majority of young people today undefined and the hypocrisy and dehumanization are good sport on the internet undefined and anonymous hate just makes it painfully embarrassing.
Especially on this day when we celebrate the courage of those who fight for us.
Last weekend I got caught up in a College Football game on TV. This is pretty uncharacteristic of me because usually I am not into college football but I needed to do what every American man has a god-given right to do undefined and that is falling asleep on the couch while watching a game.
I guess I am practicing for Thanksgiving.
During a commercial break, I noticed an Army recruitment video that affected me undefined I guess it is because the soldiers looked very young, scared, and ready to deploy. I thought that it takes a lot of courage to follow through and serve-even if you are scared.
I also thought about my stepson Liam and what would happen if he was drafted to fight. What also hit me was the timing of this recruitment ad- especially given the war-like environment we are in now.
A week later I noticed that I was not the only one who was affected by the new Army recruitment advertisement,
it has raised speculation across social media that the United States is about to go to war as fears mount that the world is about to be plunged into WW3.
However, there was more to the video, than meets the eye according to those who saw it.
The video showcases a predominantly white male squad, a major shift from the Army’s recent efforts to push inclusiveness and diversity in its ranks.
I wanted to know why this was even a concern.
Well, if you compare the video to the US Army’s previous campaign, which featured an animated film telling the story of a girl being raised by two lesbian mothers, it appears the military has ditched its progressive virtue signaling because they have much more important things to worry about, like going to war.
The latest video focuses on traditional images of the military, and camaraderie among a homogeneous group.
This particular ad Campaign was also talked about in NEWSWEEK:
The 30-second ad depicts a group of soldiers jumping from a Chinook helicopter and parachuting to the ground, together with the captions “Your greatest victories are never achieved alone” and “Be all you can be.”
The video has gone viral on X Twitter, racking up more than 11.3 million views. Many of the comments mock the ad for its perceived lack of diversity.
Writer and contributing editor of conservative publication The American Mind, Peachy Keenan, also responded to the video:
“The US Army’s new recruitment ad is so cynical. After 15 years of relentless progressive brainwashing and doing a literal ‘stand down’ to root out “extremists” (i.e., white conservatives), they are now facing an existential recruiting crisis and must return to seducing the children of said ‘extremists’ into fighting for their country. A country that no longer exists.”
US Air Force veteran and military analyst, Patrick Fox, suggested the new ad was a response to the Army’s recruitment problems.
He wrote:
“This is the recruiting ad equivalent of the US Army hitting the panic button. They were 25% short of recruiting goal targets this year.”
This ad did more than piss off the virtue signalers undefined it made the influencers and hashtag warriors concerned about the draft.
The same young people who voted for Joe Biden.
The irony and hypocrisy is dripping across social media as the younger generation undefined who have been supporting wars in Ukraine and Hamas are slowly beginning to realize that the consequences of their support for establishment elitism might come back to bite them in the ass.
These were the same people clamoring for hundreds of billions of dollars in American weapons and funding to be sent to Ukraine to prolong a losing war leading to the needless deaths of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian draftees.
These were the same people who applauded the argument that sacrificing drafted Ukrainian troops in an ideological proxy conflict with Russia was “cheaper” and more efficient than sending American troops to fight. Now, when they are faced with the possibility of being drafted into a different foreign quagmire, their blood thirst has suddenly abated.
The US military is already discussing the prospect of a “limited draft.” They are seeking 160,000 eligible people from a population of 30 million. The all-volunteer force has reached a “breaking point,” as Military.com put it, and the most effective way to solve the crisis is to force the youth into service. The military is now throwing around the idea of dedicating one month per year to recruiting a Selected Service to meet the annual recruitment goal.
Numerous countries ask all citizens to sign up for some type of service when they come of age. The US military never needed such a service as patriotism was high, and each branch offered numerous incentives to join.
I once dated a Jewish woman, who broke up with me saying she had to go back to Israel and do military duty. I had no idea that Israelis sign up for this undefined and so I thought it was a weird excuse to part ways undefined but no she was a tank commander in the IDF.
Every US military branch besides the Marine Corps has failed to meet its recruitment goals. We are low on ammo, as the commander-in-chief pointed out, and soldiers. The problem is two-fold. No one wants to enlist, and the number of young Americans who would qualify has reached a record low. A 2022 poll showed that only 9% of those eligible want to join the military, a major decrease from 29% in recent years.
Over half of the respondents (57%) were worried that they would suffer psychological damage from serving. A more recent poll from May 2023 indicates only 13% of 18 to 29-year-olds are “highly willing” to serve.
A poll by the research institute Echelon Insights of 1,029 likely voters, conducted between October 23-26, found that 72 percent of those asked would not be willing to volunteer to serve in the armed forces were America to enter a major conflict, compared with 21 percent who would. The remainder were unsure. The poll was conducted after Hamas led an unprecedented militant attack on Israel on October 7.
But those arenundefinedt the only polls:
At the start of October, a survey of 1,000 likely voters conducted by J.L. Partners for the Daily Mail found that while an overall majority of Americans said they would die fighting for their country were the U.S. invaded, when broken down by age this sentiment was lowest among those who were 18-29 years old.
Meanwhile, a Gallup poll in June found confidence in the military declined for a sixth consecutive year, to 60 percent.
So if the war escalates practically no one will show up undefined this is dangerous undefined because all it would take is another mass tragedy in the United States undefined to get enough isolationists to support the war effort.
The last generation had the hot topic issue of 9/11, terrorism, and protecting their country’s freedom.
This generation has been raised in classrooms where they sit for the pledge of allegiance and are taught that their country is inherently bad.
They watched the Commander in Chief abandon their mission in Afghanistan and continually disrespect members of the military. Not to mention the military fired servicemembers who declined to take the COVID vaccine. One proposed solution was to offer citizenship to illegal immigrants who enlisted.
The US military could go into a hybrid model of recruiting new soldiers.
War is coming either way.
But with all the talk about people rising up to the fight and protecting freedoms, some believe that the United States is no longer worth fighting for.
The majority of American adults would not be willing to serve in the military were the U.S. to enter into a major war, recent polling has found, while public confidence in the armed forces appears to be waning.
Experts say, though, that there is a complex mix of factors contributing to the militaryundefineds recruitment issues, including adapting its messaging to a younger target generation more engrossed in modern technology undefined and they admit that their undefinedwokeundefined approach to recruitment has soured potential recruits,
This would explain the reason for the new Army commercial featuring a young undefinedall-whiteundefined unit.
Several attempts at military PR this year have sparked social media outrage and accusations that it was going undefinedwokeundefined and, in doing so, deterring those most likely to sign up.
In May, the Navy came under fire for inviting Yeoman 2nd Class Joshua Kelley, a drag queen by the name of Harpy Daniels, to become a digital ambassador to undefinedreach a wide range of potential candidates.undefined At the time, a spokesperson said it undefinedstands by any person who is willing to take an oath to put their life on the line in defense of this nation.undefined
Then, in July, the Army received backlash for publishing a profile of Major Rachel Jones, a transgender servicewoman. Now, even ads that hark back to previous slogans and predominantly feature male recruits are being described as undefinedcynicalundefined online.
The military is also facing a high level of unfitness to serve among the general population: as of 2020, it assessed that 77 percent of those aged 17-24 were unqualified due to medical reasons, drug use or criminal records.
In some cases, the DoD has been forced to build pre-boot facilities called “fat camps” just to get recruits physically ready enough to survive normal boot camps.
This is setting aside the fact that the majority of modern youth are completely devoid of the mental toughness and discipline required for basic training. As of 2022, it is estimated that over 42% of Gen Z has been diagnosed with at least one mental illness, but prospects are even dimmer than that. It is also estimated that another 20% have not sought help for their mental health problems, with 62% of Gen Z taking medications to help with conditions such as “anxiety.”
This month, Google searches for “Will I get drafted into war…” hit the highest number since the 2007 Iraq war surge; people are getting worried. If the US is dragged into a multi-front conflict in the Middle East, then a new draft is almost assured.
Young adults have taken to TikTok and other media sites to proclaim that they are not capable of fighting in a war and will avoid a draft at all costs. Remember when internet warriors demanded more gay and trans representation in the military? Well, now they’ve changed their minds – They are far too gay and weak to go into combat and want 2nd Amendment conservatives to fight instead.
The fight just got real for them undefined and I am sure Instagram and TikTok reels are going to feature Transgender or misgendered young people crying about how they have been drafted,
I goes to show how much of a cartoon world we live in undefined and once we see a draft we won’t be seeing lapel pins supporting Ukraine or Israel. Maybe the Hamas rallies will also disappear.
Wishful thinking.
But I think there are a lot of young people who see our leaders as corrupt psychopaths undefined there is a backlash,
The fact is most of us are not psychopathic, we need to believe that we are not living in a psychopathic society. When this human need clashes with political reality, examples of cognitive dissonance abound – psychopathic circles have been telling us that 2 + 2 equals 5 for too long. This is the task of the propaganda system comprised of the ‘respectable’ political, media, and religious institutions of our society.
It is confusing -and when Americans are confused they do nothing.
The confusion is passed down to young people and they become cynicalundefined a lot would rather die undefined but not for their country.
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SHOW GUEST:
Avery Kerr is a U.S. Army veteran, with military experience of 4 years and was in the 2nd Ranger Battalion at FT Lewis WA. He is an 18-year Oregon National Guard, having achieved the rank of E7. Avery served as an infantryman, Squad leader, PLT Sergeant, acting 1SG, Supply NCO, Training NCO, Readiness NCO, BN logistics NCO, and Assistant Recruiting NCO. His military schooling consisted of Ranger school, Airborne, Air Assault, Rappel master, Less Lethal Instructor course, and 2 overseas deployments. Currently, Avery is the Director of Operations for Grey Ghost, and work for Milsimwest as a Cadree member. Heundefineds also a co-host with Wes, Bill, and Patrick on the popular podcast, UN-SUPPRESSED on https://groundzero.radio
