The social status of officers has fallen, causing the competition for those jobs to decrease, resulting in selection from a smaller, less capable pool of candidates. And incrementally reverting to the population intelligence norm.
I read this whole article and I think it’s missing the point.<p>I had a sky-high asvab score and was planning on using the GI Bill for my education. Then I received a scholarship and weighed the time commitment against what they were offering and my sense of morality. It wasn’t worth it. The loans I got (which were ultimately a lot) were far cheaper than the years I would have spent in uniform.<p>For me, I decided on following my conscience. I ultimately chose <i>not</i> to go to the military because I wasn’t sure we were the good guys after the invasion of Iraq and by the time I was graduating high school in 2006 we’d been at war nearly 5 years already. “Is it moral for me to participate in violence in exchange for money or an education? Even if I’m not directly carrying it out?” No. And looking back I feel this was a good decision.<p>I wasn’t (and still am not) a pacifist, but I did not want to subject myself to a machine that didn’t care about me and would force me to commit violence against people I didn’t think necessarily deserve it. Especially not for nearly a decade.<p>I imagine there are lots of people like me out there. People who could have but chose not to for one reason or another. I would like to think that in a world where people are better educated, that number is higher every year.
once we went off the gold standard and inflation became commonplace workers no longer shared in their share in the wealth of productivity.<p>and that's been going on for 50 years.<p>combine that with real estate prices and run away immigration for people coming to American to exploit it.<p>would anyone defend this country anymore?<p><a href="https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/" rel="nofollow">https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/</a>