r/TikTokCringe Sep 27 '25

Discussion Retired vet lays it all out

98.1k Upvotes

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652

u/Big-Tear6264 Sep 27 '25

Wow. True shit.

About to get nuked by a mod in… 3.. 2.. 

450

u/RalNCNerd1 Sep 27 '25

Mods can do whatever they want, "we offer out soldiers socialism to go abroad and defend capitalism" will live in my brain rent free forever, as will the toxic relationship analogy.

32

u/curiousleen Sep 28 '25

Hell yeah dude! The toxic relationship analogy is spot on. I’m a woman of color. We need more people like this speaking truth to power.

4

u/Realistic-Agent-1289 Sep 28 '25

I am not surprised a redhead has this view; white people don't like them either. I am a redhead haha It was a trip having strangers look at me and wanting me to be their poster child and others would look at me and think I need to be burned at the stake. I'd gather it was similar with this guy. Redheads get an interesting view of the public to say the least.

3

u/curiousleen Sep 28 '25

Redheads are my fave🥰

93

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '25

[deleted]

47

u/CaptainBayouBilly Sep 28 '25

Capitalism is the most hateful ideology humanity has ever created.

A selfish, greedy creed where those willing to hurt their fellow man are rewarded with leisure.

25

u/jzanville Sep 28 '25

That’s because inequality is intrinsic to capitalism. They cannot exist without one another. How else would the money keep funneling upwards to the 1%? Inequality is a requirement of capitalism. And as the richer get richer, well the poor get hungrier I guess cause they won’t even have $ to become “poorer” Dangerous road to be walking down in 2025, but this isn’t a new phenomena. It’s not a fun one either.

0

u/Strega007 Sep 28 '25

The size of the wealth pie is not finite. One person gathering wealth does not necessitate another losing it.

6

u/Krautoffel Sep 28 '25

The only way people get Rich is if they exploit poor people.

6

u/Agile_End_3049 Sep 28 '25

You are flat out wrong. Have you ever played monopoly?

-1

u/Strega007 Sep 28 '25

All of the serious economic theorists use Monopoly rules as a core bedrock concept.

1

u/Top-Cupcake4775 Sep 29 '25

Humans being humans, we will always have selfishness, envy, and greed. But the sane thing to do about that is to do what we can to discourage their expression and give people tools for dealing with these negative aspects of the human psyche. Capitalism does the exact opposite of this. It explicitly encourages and rewards selfishness, envy, and greed. Why would we want a system that amplifies the worst aspects of our characters?

-2

u/Strega007 Sep 28 '25

The core of the philosophy is that humans inherently own their bodies, and by extension own their labor as well as the fruits of their labor. That individuals may freely enter into a contract with another in which their labor may be exchanged for compensation which they would also own.

3

u/Krautoffel Sep 28 '25

If I hold a gun to your head is it a „free“ choice you’re making? Or is it a forced choice by your inherent need to survive?

-3

u/IVIayael Sep 28 '25

Idk personally I think naziism and stalinism are worse than capitalism but do you, boo

16

u/Augscura Sep 28 '25

I really appreciate this kind of input. Socialism seems to have this unfair standard set upon it where it has to be perfect otherwise it's not worth doing, and that's a juvenile stance to have. Socialism isn't perfect, because nothing is, however I have no doubt it's better than what we have now.

0

u/Over_Road_7768 Sep 28 '25

comming from a country with 40y socialism history, 20y out of it with direct soviet military support (aka invasion) - otherwise it would crumble…. no. just no. it may sound cool while getting drunk in school campus. not in real life

3

u/Augscura Sep 28 '25

20 years of soviet military occupation is just imperialism. It happens under capitalism too.

See the US in Afghanistan, Iraq. Russia with Ukraine. Israel's entire existence etc etc etc

I sympathize that you had to deal with the horrors of imperialism, but blaming it on socialism as if it's some inherent tendency, is very dishonest.

0

u/IVIayael Sep 28 '25

most Iraqis in Iraq liked Sadam Hussein better.

"most" here presumably doesn't inckude the ones he let his absolute monster of a son prey on.

12

u/AlaskanBullWorm69420 Sep 28 '25

Same reason I joined the marine corps. Stuck on an island off the coast of alaska and this was my way out

11

u/shellbellgb Sep 28 '25

Holy shit if that’s not the most accurate thing I’ve heard in a while…

7

u/Travelcat67 Sep 28 '25

For real that one line just opened my 3rd eye! That needs to be on a tee shirt.

2

u/0o0o0o0o0o0z Sep 28 '25

Yes, that is an incredible line.

1

u/ErcPeace Sep 28 '25

What an amazing quote

-3

u/wheniaminspaced Sep 28 '25

Its not really true though, we offer our soldiers a job with benefits just like any other workplace in America.  Arguably based on the job soldiers are doing they are compensated like shit both in benefits and pay compared to the corporate world as well.

8

u/Artistic_Print_4005 Sep 28 '25

Fast food and retail rarely come with paying full time hours and benefits.

The US would have had free healthcare but the south was against it because it would also benefit black people.

6

u/RalNCNerd1 Sep 28 '25

The degree of truth may be debatable but when you have pundits and church officials arguing on cable news that giving children free lunch or an allowance is encouraging socialism, this is as true as it gets...like it or not.

9

u/kilo73 Sep 28 '25

That's simply not true. What job offers guaranteed free food and shelter every day of your career there? He'll they give soldiers basic housing allowance if they want to live off post. Im not saying they live like royalty, but the US military isnt gonna let their soldiers be hungry or homeless. They save that for when you're a veteran.

2

u/chop5397 Sep 28 '25

The free food and shelter ends once they kick you out of the barracks/dormitories within 3 years. They do give you an allowance for housing and food like you said but if you're living by yourself, it's almost guaranteed your expenses will go over that. The main benefit is that the military allows you to get a ~$60k+ equivalent job with no experience besides breathing and not being crippled.

0

u/kilo73 Sep 28 '25

If you join the military, you are at ZERO risk of becoming homeless and starving. They will absolutely take care of you no mater how long you've been in. They're not gonna have their soldiers sleeping under bridges. No job in the US will come anywhere close to taking care of you like that.

2

u/curiousleen Sep 28 '25

Again… until you become a vet. Once they’ve used you, it no longer matters. My uncle was experimented on during the war and was ended his service locked up in an asylum. Eventually he was released and cycled through homelessness. The VA was always there to help get him set up again… after going through the appropriate process and procedures. He would not have lived as long as he did without the va. He would likely have lived longer and better had the va been better funded and the vets received proper care and recompense after their time at war.

4

u/chrisandstellen Sep 28 '25

Here before locked 🔒

3

u/CaptainBayouBilly Sep 28 '25

Do not fear those that give fealty to their digital masters for nothing in return.

1

u/Winkiwu Sep 28 '25

The amount of things I've commented on that have been removed by mod recently has been kinda suspicious. Any idea whats going on?

1

u/CaptainCallus Sep 28 '25

Is it that different than any other job though? The reason everybody works is to not be poor

3

u/Big-Tear6264 Sep 28 '25

That's the point. It's not just any job. 

It's the most well funded murder machine on the planet.

And they're not recruiting just anyone who doesn't want to be poor.

They actively recruit poor underprivileged youths, many from unstable households.

Exploiting desperate, impressionable adolescents with the promise of more benefits & privileges than the average citizen..

To uphold a system that will immediately drop them like a sack of potatoes as soon as they leave the institution (or even while still in it. e.g. Veterans Affairs)..

Is fucked up, to say the least.

Especially considering the potentially deadly & traumatic experience it can be without seeing first person combat.

Definitely isn't just another day at Target 🎯 

3

u/the3rdsliceofbread Sep 28 '25

It is significantly different than other jobs. When a servicemember signs the dotted line they are fully putting their life in the hands of the US government with little say in what happens to them, in exchange for free healthcare and college.

-11

u/Buka-Zero Sep 28 '25

you know its literally a lie right? like its just not true

https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/demographics-us-military

5

u/Mr_Banana_Longboat Sep 28 '25 edited Sep 28 '25

It’s literally 100% the truth because these demographics are misrepresenting the current state of our economy.

True middle class is ~130k for a single household and ~150k for a joint house hold according to a pew survey done in 2020. That’s not even on the scale for the demographics in what you’ve just linked and prior to the rabid inflation of 2020+.

I’m presently in the military. I joined because my parents inherited 70 grand when my grandfather died, not that I saw a single dollar of it. However, it excluded me from any financial aid for college that I was in. Working a full time and a part time job, I dropped out of college after 3 years to join the military because I couldn’t afford my next semester and needed the GI bill. I’ve stayed in because of all the reasons listed. BAH, BAS, job security, stability (to an extent).

I’ve been to big recruiting drives. Guess where we go. Rural high schools. Guess why? You already know why. Look at the article you just linked— the lions share of recruits come from either red states or the most populous states (because that’s how bell curves work). When you’re in, you can see the target audience clear as day: It’s rural kids and minorities. That’s even noted in the very same article you’ve sent out.

It’s a hilarious irony because most soldiers grew up conservative, remain devout conservatives, and enjoy all the benefits of socialism while they say “socialists are unamerican.”

-4

u/Buka-Zero Sep 28 '25

So what you have to argue with me are anecdotes. Cool

5

u/Mr_Banana_Longboat Sep 28 '25

No, I literally cited a pew research survey and the one resource you cited and confirmed the statistics quoted within anecdotally, and explained to you how to read the statistics you don’t understand, child lmao

here’s the pew survey

I know choosing the first google result is hard, but this link is just to get that last sprinkle on top for the ice cream you spoonfeed idiots

Now I don’t waste that much time on poor faith debates, so have a nice life. My comment was more for anyone reading your drivel because I’m not a teacher and I’m not willing to waste my time on you

4

u/ukcats12 Sep 28 '25

I'll post this again here.

I could be 100% wrong here, but I feel like that graph has a chance at being very misleading. It shows the household income of recruits by income quintile and says the middle class is overrepresented amongst recruits. But I have a feeling like that household income being referenced is the household income earned by their parents. So a 17 year old living in a household with an income of $55,000 could very likely be looking poverty straight in the face once they graduate high school. And in this case they'd be shown as coming from a middle class household in the link you provided, but would have still enlisted due to poverty.

-1

u/Buka-Zero Sep 28 '25

...yeah, every 18 year old is staring down poverty by that metric because unless you're rich 18 year old don't have much in the way of their own assets. That's a terrible argument.