# on to crustier pastures (goodbye thread)



## The Hiker (Jan 18, 2020)

After my 1st full year out of brainwashing camp - I mean school, fuckin autocorrect - I'm going to the most well funded cult in the world, the marines. Last year was a good one, went to Costa Rica and all over the states, I met new and scary people, outwitted the man once or twice, and learned some shit.

Thanks to everybody who put up with all my edgelord bullshit in the past and I hope you all have kick ass times forever!


----------



## Deleted member 24782 (Jan 18, 2020)

Well spoken.


----------



## Deleted member 23824 (Jan 19, 2020)

Good luck, thanks for your service.


----------



## roughdraft (Jan 19, 2020)

will be interesting to hear back on how yr experiences within go


----------



## croc (Jan 20, 2020)

I gotta ask.... Wtf WHY


----------



## Matt Derrick (Jan 20, 2020)

croc said:


> I gotta ask.... Wtf WHY



agreed man. that's... incredibly disappointing. you're a great guy and we all loved having you as a part of our community. i know you're young and looking for _something_, but the marines are the exact opposite of freedom, and it's not something you can take back, or a job you can 'quit'. that alone should be a red flag. just ask many of the folks that drifted into this community after getting out...

i just wish you would have sought out some advice on this before committing, because now you're not going to get those years back, and believe me, when you're out, you're gonna wish you did something more productive with that time.

i can't fathom why you'd choose such a thing, but i hope you don't let the institution make you into a different person. and believe me, keeping that from happening is going to be an uphill battle you're probably not going to win.


----------



## Jerrell (Jan 20, 2020)

Don't do it homie. There's plenty of alternatives to more brainwashing. I've always wished I'd joined the Peace Corps or something similar instead of the military.


----------



## WyldLyfe (Jan 21, 2020)

Don't follow orders from the corrupt. You know its a cult, you say its a cult, if you do go in at least don't forget that while being in there...


----------



## mouse (Jan 25, 2020)

Matt Derrick said:


> when you're out, you're gonna wish



My own crystal ball isn't shiny enough for such bold predictions. 

There are people who benefit from a dose of discipline to develop into full adulthood. There are people who want the college money, security clearances, or training the military offers. There are people who feel a duty to serve quite removed from partisan agitprop or bumpersticker philosophies. There are people who want to continue a family tradition. 

Because people are different and want different things I do not encourage them to enlist, and I do not try to scare them off. 



Matt Derrick said:


> something more productive with that time.



I can't speak for how productive everyone else was in the late 80s, but: the work my unit did in [the former West] Germany led directly to the Reagan-Gorbachev INF treaty and the destruction/decommissioning of Soviet-era SS-20 nukes (among others) and indirectly to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the CCCP. The college money got me through a couple degrees, a VA loan helped finance my house when I had one, and now the VA provides my medical and psychiatric care.

So, no. I _don't_ wish I did something more productive.

I live in a van now and have few possessions. One of them is an old army field jacket with my last name and tabbed unit insignia on it. It's beat up, ugly, and still functional -- kinda like me. No regrets.


----------



## Matt Derrick (Jan 25, 2020)

mouse said:


> My own crystal ball isn't shiny enough for such bold predictions.
> 
> There are people who benefit from a dose of discipline to develop into full adulthood. There are people who want the college money, security clearances, or training the military offers. There are people who feel a duty to serve quite removed from partisan agitprop or bumpersticker philosophies. There are people who want to continue a family tradition.
> 
> ...



was i talking to you? no, i wasn't. thanks for sharing an opinion no one asked for.

i know the OP personally, and considering the amount of ex-military i talk to through this community, and hearing their thoughts on the subject after getting out, i feel like my opinion still holds true for the majority of people in this subculture, despite how great it worked out for you.


----------



## mouse (Jan 25, 2020)

Sorry, I thought a forum was a participatory thing.


----------



## The Hiker (Jan 26, 2020)

Replying to everyone here

I know what I'm getting into. I've talked a lot with family, mentors, a retired marine sniper (one of my mentors) and done lots of studying and I know what will happen to me more or less, and I know how fucked up it might be - to who I am as well as the things I might be told to do. Matt you're right that it's gonna change me a lot, and I appreciate your concern, but this has been on my mind for several years and it's no impulse choice.
This is the natural evolution of all the things I enjoy learning and doing - sort of. I'll be traveling, learning all the time and fighting which are all things I love doing. At the same time it will be total control which is my least favorite thing. Still, after the next 4 years I'll have training, connections and experience that will prepare me for all the craziness coming in the next 10 - 20 years.
Everyone here who spends all their time saying fuck the man has my respect (mostly) but that's not my thing. I'm about actions, not words, and this is what I need to do to become my best self.


----------



## Matt Derrick (Jan 26, 2020)

feral wanderer said:


> Replying to everyone here
> 
> I know what I'm getting into. I've talked a lot with family, mentors, a retired marine sniper (one of my mentors) and done lots of studying and I know what will happen to me more or less, and I know how fucked up it might be - to who I am as well as the things I might be told to do. Matt you're right that it's gonna change me a lot, and I appreciate your concern, but this has been on my mind for several years and it's no impulse choice.
> This is the natural evolution of all the things I enjoy learning and doing - sort of. I'll be traveling, learning all the time and fighting which are all things I love doing. At the same time it will be total control which is my least favorite thing. Still, after the next 4 years I'll have training, connections and experience that will prepare me for all the craziness coming in the next 10 - 20 years.
> Everyone here who spends all their time saying fuck the man has my respect (mostly) but that's not my thing. I'm about actions, not words, and this is what I need to do to become my best self.



with all due respect my friend, you can do any/all of those things and more without becoming a jackbooted thug for those in power. let's meet up again in a few years and you can tell me how well it worked out for you.


----------



## The Hiker (Jan 26, 2020)

Matt Derrick said:


> with all due respect my friend, you can do any/all of those things and more without becoming a jackbooted thug for those in power. let's meet up again in a few years and you can tell me how well it worked out for you.


How? Where I'm going I'll be actually taught how to lead, plan, fight and do awesome shit without the cops/FBI coming after me for trying. I couldn't learn those things on my own anywhere near as efficiently


----------



## Beegod Santana (Jan 26, 2020)

Oh man, you drank the cool aide bro. The recruiters are lying to you. You ain't gonna lead shit, you're gonna be a sheep with a gun. I've known a few marine snipers and they all had the same mind set as you before going in and they all regretted the shit out of it. Two of them killed themselves, the other one went crazy and is now on the run in Australia last I heard.


----------



## The Hiker (Jan 26, 2020)

Beegod Santana said:


> Oh man, you drank the cool aide bro. The recruiters are lying to you. You ain't gonna lead shit, you're gonna be a sheep with a gun. I've known a few marine snipers and they all had the same mind set as you before going in and they all regretted the shit out of it. Two of them killed themselves, the other one went crazy and is now on the run in Australia last I heard.


You're not listening so fuck off. I know the recruiters lie about shit, I'm not doing this to serve corporate america and did I ever say I'm gonna be a sniper? No so either pay attention to what I'm saying or go bother someone else.


----------



## Matt Derrick (Feb 6, 2020)

feral wanderer said:


> You're not listening so fuck off. I know the recruiters lie about shit, I'm not doing this to serve corporate america and did I ever say I'm gonna be a sniper? No so either pay attention to what I'm saying or go bother someone else.



don't get mad at @Beegod Santana for sharing their experiences just because you don't agree with him. there's truth there, and like he said, those recruiters aren't on your side.

also it doesn't matter whether you're doing this to serve corporate america, you now have no choice in the matter. they officially own you.

i just wish you would have reached out and looked at some alternatives before making this decision, i've worked with anti-jortc campaigns and you'd be shocked at what those recruiters aren't telling you. hell, ever recruiter my dad took me to swore i'd only play in the army band and never see a lick of battle and come out with more money than i'd ever seen before.

there's reasons people write songs about this stuff:


----------



## Deleted member 125 (Feb 6, 2020)

the amount of dislikes and shit ratings in this thread is actually pretty eye opening how many fucking idiots we have on stp.

the united states military is not a cool place. its not a noble thing to join to kill for rich white peoples invested interests. you are not going to learn to be a leader or be given valuable life skills, you are going to learn to kill people a government that is currently ran by donald fucking trump says to. i truly can not believe that this needs to be explained to people on a website created and ran by anarchists. 

@feral wanderer i dont know you, but good luck i guess.


----------



## Deleted member 23824 (Feb 6, 2020)

@SlankyLanky , I would guess that the subset of members of StP who were also members of the armed forces is not so big.

My experience with those who have served, is that many, if not most, do not regret it, overall, though they hated parts of it, for sure.You’re painting using a very broad stroke if you consider them idiots, kool-aid drinkers, Trump-Lovers, or other derogatory names for people who disagree with you. I don’t like name-calling(much !)

I’d also guess that the members who consider themselves “anarchists” vs those who do not, may be smaller than you believe here, but I dunno. I strongly feel that those totally committed to divesting themselves of a society and way of life they profess to despise, is pretty small, in fact they partake of it quite freely.

I feel strongly that those who are housed, in one form or another are the majority here. I would guess most of them have a lifestyle/housing situation that more closely resembles mine, which is housed and a satisfied capitalistic free market participant.

Gotta say, that using a derogatory term to describe those who don’t agree with a position that one supports, is used by both anarchists/non-anarchists, the housed as well as the unhoused. We have to admit that much.


----------



## Deleted member 125 (Feb 6, 2020)

...ok boomer

edit: @Faceplant ill elaborate for you, im not mad, im just disappointed. does that make more sense to you?

it doesnt surprise me that yer experiences with people who are ex military have been mostly positive, but what yer failing to see is that (and i dont mean this as a pot shot at you) but you are vastly different from the people who are actually part of this community and who dont just happen to have had a friend who took em on a train. 

the number of people who identify as anarchists on this site versus the number that arnt doesnt concern me, what does is when a actual member of this community (somebody matt said he knows personally and who has anarchist in his political beliefs in his fucking profile) decides one day to join the military. its a shame and forgive me if im not surprised that you dont understand why.

people being housed versus people being homeless has absoluetly zero to do with anything in this discussion.

and yes, i call people fucking morons when they dont agree with me because i dont sit on the fence on what i believe is right and what is wrong. if you join the united states military you are signing yer life away for a fucking lie. and thats a bummer.


----------



## Deleted member 23824 (Feb 6, 2020)

. . . And yet, if someone disagrees too vehemently, or slings names at another member, or one that wield the Ban Hammer, you can easily enter that famous Den

I make no pretensions of ever wanting to live an itinerant lifestyle, but I am happy to be learning a bit about trains. For that, I am glad for StP, and the people I’ve met here.The vast number here I don’t believe are true anarchists, or full time travelers. Those may be nice theories to espouse, but the realities , I think, are different.

I have thick skin, and did not get to be almost 60 by having my feelings easily hurt. I also do not believe it is right to sling names around and deliberately say things to hurt others. Well, O.K., maybe it’s right sometimes.I might agree in my mind, but think it is not productive, usually, to say what I might think.I’m also never been a fence-sitter, that much we have in common.

Are you fully living the anarchist/traveling lifestyle? I bet not. So, if it is simply a matter of degree, you’ll always be head and shoulders above me. But that does not matter to me.

If this place is to be welcome to the full menu of misfit travelers, there isn’t a real reason to be hostile, as a matter of course, to those with whom you disagree. I have lots of friends whose lifestyles I am diametrically opposed to, but somehow, because we are generally agreeable folks, it is not keeping us from being friendly toward each other. You seem to relish rudeness and contrariness, something usually more common in old fucks like me.It’s an ugly trait in the old people, but worse when it comes from younger folks. But if you are happy in your own skin, carry on, I’m happy in mine.


----------



## Beegod Santana (Feb 6, 2020)

Lots of people on this site are ex military and the traveler community is full of vets. You don't need to look long to find horror stories. Normally I just ignore the boot licking but in this particular instance I happen to know several people who went in for exactly what this kid is going for and as I mentioned above, it did not go well for any of them. You can literally walk out your front door and be immediately praised for joining the military. You don't need to come here looking for validation.


----------



## Deleted member 23824 (Feb 6, 2020)

@Beegod Santana , you are right, of course. I worked in Afghanistan and Iraq as a contractor. I literally cried upon seeing what I considered to be children (same age as my sons) fighting. Disillusioned some were, going directly from having mom and dad run their lives, to having Uncle Sam do that, with no in between time to figure out who they were. Some will never recover, many do, and will tell you they got something out of it.

Others benefited immensely, taking advantage of opportunities. I actually met another electrician from the UK who earned three full degrees on the Queens dime before retiring aged 38. He had three separate careers during his service. Some are smart/hard working enough to prepare themselves, some aren’t.

I know vets from the Korean war, Vietnam era, and sadly, a couple of the few remaining WWII vets. Most of them said it was kind of fucked up, but they had no regrets. I wished I had served. I hope he has someone to mentor him, if he does not, it could be bad years down the road, but if he is smart, it could be good for him. There are no guarantees in life, are there?


----------



## roughdraft (Feb 6, 2020)

tryin to be impersonal, here are two points of view I value in general in my personal life on this matter

- veterans - I respect them and don't shit on them for something that's already done, something they've experienced that they've literally no option to change. open to listen an shit. I don't dickride the military but i can't shit on people who fell for the op.

- people considering the military - i big-time discourage them from that and encourage other options, from basically what @SlankyLanky posted itt which is fucking quite true.


----------



## roughdraft (Feb 6, 2020)

i mean, i considered joining the military not that long ago, since i have a bachelor's degree i'd go "right to officer's school!!". it's one of a variety of traps set up for many types of folk, not just the lowest of low income folk. But thankfully I have enough perspective and people in my life, including my father who is a veteran, to say that the shit is fucked - and fuck that there's better shit out there.

Aside from that very basic point of view, I would say that there are *moral* reasons to absolutely avoid *the agency* - and no matter your personal experience or those of people close to you, joining *them* is going to backfire. It's nothing disrespectful to those who've "gone and served", it's more a question of one's future, and how that'll effect the future of those in their life.

so it's a matter of past, present and future along with a panorama of other variables (as usual) but i'm just sayin - just because you or so-and-so made out perceptively OK, doesn't mean "go make yr nation proud" is the absolute smartest shit; dissent is patriotic, and I really can't take the time to even recognize a political stance let alone claim "i'm an anarchist", but i gotta figure CONTRIBUTING to the aforementioned endless war is fuckin wack


----------



## EmmaAintDead (Feb 8, 2020)

Hope you don't die for Exxon, and I hope you don't kill any brown children for them either.


----------



## Deleted member 13433 (Feb 11, 2020)

This simple paragraph here completely sums it all up for me, and tells me that the original poster has completely thought this through:

"I know what I'm getting into. I've talked a lot with family, mentors, a retired marine sniper (one of my mentors) and done lots of studying and I know what will happen to me more or less, and I know how fucked up it might be - to who I am as well as the things I might be told to do. Matt you're right that it's gonna change me a lot, and I appreciate your concern, but this has been on my mind for several years and it's no impulse choice.
This is the natural evolution of all the things I enjoy learning and doing - sort of. I'll be traveling, learning all the time and fighting which are all things I love doing. At the same time it will be total control which is my least favorite thing. Still, after the next 4 years I'll have training, connections and experience that will prepare me for all the craziness coming in the next 10 - 20 years.
Everyone here who spends all their time saying fuck the man has my respect (mostly) but that's not my thing. I'm about actions, not words, and this is what I need to do to become my best self."


It also tells me that this person is perhaps seeing something coming, and wants to be ready for it, and that is something I can completely be on board with.


I have my own opinions regarding our government stemming from 1981, which was the very last time I was back in W.Berlin, which was still in E.Germany back then.

I have also my own opinions about our military stemming from 1982, when I made the one single choice which put me on a trajectory which is why I am where I am today, and it was not joining the U.S. Military, no... it was getting kick out - wheeled out - of high school in my junior year from severe alcohol poisoning at about 9.30 in the morning, on April 2nd if I recall........

A couple of weeks later, I decided after being told I was never going to amount to anything - I went to see the U.S. Navy recruiter above the Woolworth's building in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn only a couple of blocks away from where I lived.

I decided I was going to join the U.S. Navy once I turned 18, which would serve the purpose of getting out on my own, and also satisfy my childhood love of maritime and aviation, as my goal was to become a jet mechanic on an aircraft carrier.

Well, once my folks saw I was not kidding, things mellowed out some and after a good family discussion it was decided that going to aviation school might be a better option, and since schools were affordable back then, that's the path I took....

This has led me on a path for well over 30 years working for a defense contractor, and believe me if you want to know the truth about how our government/military works, there is no better way to do so.

It has also given me great insight on numerous world conflicts, from the Korean War up to the present, which I would otherwise never had the opportunity to truly learn about, from the folks who were actually there...

Now by no means am I pro war, quite the contrary.... I was one of the first to scream No Blood For Oil back during the early 1990s, and regarding the whole Somalia thing in 1993, we could start a seperate thread on that single conflict going into everything that is right and wrong about U.S. Foreign Policy, and I could explain at length my own personal experience regarding that conflict [*and before you ask, no I was not there - but I briefly dealt with soldiers who were being sent over from either the Night Stalkers/Rangers or the 10th Mountain Div.] which for me was a life changing experience.


I know it's hard to agree with someone who is thinking of joining the service today, or who has made up their mind and is doing so as I type these words, but based on what the original poster has stated in the paragraph which I have copied here, I for one got his back, and hope that it is a very valuable experience, especially in that it appears to be one which is felt as being necessary.

Good Luck Friend.... 

May your service bring you much enlightenment and personal growth.

Please let us know how it goes for you.

Respect,

Big George + Loki the Dog.....


----------



## Coywolf (Feb 11, 2020)

Well, without wading through the septic tank that this thread has become I will say this:

For the love of everything that is Satan, PLEASE wear that vest you got at the at Jambo last year when you step onto that bus headed to basic!!!

Also, have someone take a picture of that shit and send it back to us....the StP meme thread will go completely insane with it.

Good luck, I may not agree with your decision, but it is yours, and you are enough of an adult to understand the consequences, good or bad.

I really hope the Orange ass-clown isint your commander in cheif when you get your first assignment.

I considered joining the millitary for a long time because I was completely and totally lost. Thought about the 'maybe some discipline would do me good'. I applied for the Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer program....ya know what they told me? I was too old and stupid for their liking.

Fucking wonderful, because I hit the road for the first time ever directly after that, and I wouldnt trade my experience traveling for anything else in the world. I may have committed suicide by now if I did get accepted.

When you are in, you are in for 8 years with active and reserve duty. So just know that. That is a long time. That is my entire traveling career to this point, and I'm 31.


----------

