[derefr]

But why not make them do productive things? If The People are investing in "a bunch of buff guys with guns that can take orders well and haul ass", then they should just be able to rent them out in peacetime to, well, take orders and haul ass (but not with guns, hopefully.) The military should be making money for the government during peace time to offset the resource usage during wars.

[tdavis]

Soldiers are not machines which can be programmed once and then retain their skill set indefinitely. All that peace time is spent gaining additional training and maintaining readiness for a time of war. Not off helping unload water trucks or something.

It's interesting to read the thoughts from people on HN, RE the military, because they are almost universally preposterous.

[derefr]

I never said they shouldn't be "gaining additional training and maintaining readiness for a time of war." I just think there are more productive ways to do that. Have the engineers do civil projects; have the infantry work as policemen, or firefighters; have the officers work in management of various companies. Basically, keep them integrated into society.

I wouldn't trust my life to a general who hadn't also successfully run a company full of people who didn't care what he thought and quit when he did something stupid. You may be an experienced military X, but you'd probably be a better X if you also knew how to do X as a civilian. In fact, you'd better be ready to do X as a civilian when your service is terminated, however that may happen.

[jpcx01]

I would imagine the skillsets for making money and targeted distruction are very different.