I feel as if Lemmings can be very politically polarizing. Definitely less so now than a few years ago, but I still see it from time to time. How does that effect the macro-community's general perception of the military? I looked and only found one community on any instance, and it was fairly small and inactive.

Idk about Lemmy's perception. My position is that the military is very expensive and doesn't bring much good to the people. What if instead of the military for a year, we modernized the grid with all the expensive eminent domain and construction? Or like help agricultural communities be less cancerous?

In my country it’s a jobs program for low skilled and undereducated workers that the wealthy use to protect and extend their imperial aspirations. Propaganda allows a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class upwards via the military industrial complex under the guise of safety.

The corrupt system is supported by liberals who enjoy the status and privilege that American force projection brings. The domination allowed by the system ensures cheap fuel and trinkets for the trough and has historically propped up the US dollar giving all the participants in the imperial core an outsized quality of life.

A friend got in the marines some years ago, specialty translator. He's 35 and soon to be retired. I guess that was a clever plan.

Indeed.

The army of the Epstenians mainly used for invasions and destabilisation is bad. The army that is mainly used against it is good.

Which military?

I think my time as a conscript in the Finnish defence forces was a valuable experience. For Finland conscription is a cost-effective way of keeping a credible deterrent when you have a neighbour like Russia.

Similar to cops. Bullies can occasionally be useful to fight other bullies.

I don't even want countries to exist...

It is a necessary evil to protect yourself from enemies. Granted, my country's military wouldn't stand much of a chance if russia or america decided to move from persistent provokation to active invasion. We can hope that our allies would help us defend our lands in the same way we have supplied Ukraine with aid, but who knows.

It isn't fun being a small country who has pissed off two large nations because we support Ukraine's soverignty and because we aren't selling Greenland.

So yeah, maybe the military wouldn't be able to protect us for long against eastern and western enemies, but at the very least, it would do its best until we are being fucked from both sides.

I have a very low opinion on russian and american military, of course.

To be honest, my perception of the American military is that it's a bit of a wet noodle. I wouldn't say they've exactly demonstrated strength in their recent adventures

The difference between tiny countries like mine my and the russian and american military is that they can afford to be incompetent. We can't.