Um...I Don't Think So...

I know slavery is alive in the world today. Slavery in the US, though? Well, Murdoc at Murdoc Online posts about one of the stupidist editorials I've ever seen, claiming that our volunteer armed forces are...wait for it...slaves! The original artical is available here.

Our military is one of the last bastions of slavery in the United States. At the moment, our slaves are stuck in a combat zone, getting killed and maimed, and there's nothing they can do about it except hunker down and pray.

Yes, our slaves signed up of their own free will, but most of them were as misled about their job as the rest of us were about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

And I don't think "slave" is too strong a word to describe someone who is not permitted to quit his job no matter how dangerous it becomes or how much he hates it. For most of us, the 13th Amendment abolished slavery and guaranteed that we have the right to withhold our labor. It doesn't protect soldiers.

Our armed forces recruiters are quite adept at making military service appear beneficial (it mostly is) and safe (it's not). The threat of war is minimized, because few rational people actually want to fight.

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! *gasp* BAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Ok, my Marine Corps recruiter sat me down and reminded me at least twice during his spiel that I could die in the service...and that I could "get my ass shot off" in Iraq. Not to mention the evening news loves to dump out casualty numbers every night.

Trying to say the military = slavery just proves the idiocy of some on the left. Slavery is something to be scorned. Somehow equating this with a contract that you AGREE TO FULFILL (and have several options for how long you serve) is rediculous. It's like saying that you're a slave to your new car. In fact, a commentor at murdoc online posted this excellent point:

I am always amazed at people's ability to bitch and moan when life doesn't just give them sparkling french lemonade in glass long-neck bottles.

I was a slave to my parents for eighteen years.

I was a slave to liberal Democrats' choice of President for eight years.

I am currently a slave to my employer, having freely signed a nine-year contract that lays out my responsibilities on a quarterly basis.

Fiona Apple is a slave to her cranky record label.

Lindsay Lohan is a slave to the public eye.

I am a slave to my landlords, having signed a lease.

I cannot re-negotiate my employment contract, my lease, or my life. I do not get everything I want. Sometimes things that people are supposed to do for me never happen, or they come late. Men I fall for do not always love me back. I was not genetically handed a perfect body.

But I will do what I am called to do when my time comes. Although my employment contract is with the US government (non-military), I do not pretend that they somehow OWE me a free education and I should be able to change my mind if they ask me to do something unpleasant later on. I committed to serve. And serve I will -- happily and gratefully. As we all will serve one master or another -- princes and paupers alike.

'Nuff said.