[hn8788]

It could definitely be better, but I think there are more opportunities than most people realize. Joining the military is a big one; you get paid to learn a marketable skill, usually have your college tuition paid for, and you get to move out of your hometown. I knew a few people who joined because it was a quick way to get out of their shitty hometown where the options were sell drugs, or be poor.

Knowledge of what's available would probably go a long way towards helping people move up. My wife grew up in a small rural area with no job options besides Wal-Mart and fast food joints, and she hated it so much that she ended up getting enough scholarships to make money earning her undergrad. She's the first person in her family to go to college, and most of the rest think college is super expensive, and don't know about scholarships to help poor people go.

[tcmart14]

It really depends. Some jobs in the military don't gain you a lot of marketable skills. Infantry is a good example. If anything it shows you can complete a few years commitment. Then in some jobs, your military experience doesn't matter. Let take the example of a Navy Corpsman. Functionally, they are equivalent of a Medical Assistant, however when they get out, they don't have the necessary licensing requirements to be a Medical Assistant and may still have to pursue schooling before taking the licensing exam.

So, sometimes it leads to marketable skills, sometimes it doesnt. Sometimes it leads to skills that can transition out into the civilian world, but doesn't because of license and certifications constraints.

But yea, some people do join to get out of shitty small town. I did 5 years in the Navy because in my rural North Carolina town there were 2 other options, make the meth or consume the meth.

[pm90]

Joining the Military shouldn’t be the primary path to a better life; that seems incredibly dystopian.