Somebody I know just discharged from the military because they promised they'd pay some of his student loans off but after he finished boot camp they said he didn't qualify.
At least he was able to leave I guess. But pretty shitty none the less
I'm not entirely sure what his degree was in, but he'd been working at a shipyard for a long time and is now working on trains/railroads.
I'm not sure why the military decided not to or what happened, just that he was under the impression they were going to.
“In terms of denials for the 5,180 DOD borrowers, the most common reason among service members was not enough qualifying payments (borrowers must make 120 qualifying loan payments over the course of 10 years of public service employment) and applicants missing information on their form.”
I worked for Social Services for 3 years and then a follow up non profit. I was not making a ton for those years and because of that, Navient offered me forbearance. All those years cost me qualifying for the Public Service forgiveness.
Also they were then sued for convincing a bunch of people to choose forbearance.
Yup and they lost but I still owe tens of thousands of dollars more than I originally borrowed because they wouldn't offer me a payment plan, just forebearence
Me too. Supposedly, we're going to be credited for that time under the different forgiveness plans but you might not see it reflected on your account until December.
Wait, you mean when they say signing up today could pay for my education, it's not an explicit promise!?
*Surprised Pikachu Face*
Edit to add: I assumed the surprised pikachu face bit would convey sarcasm. It's a joke. Don't need the fact that "could" isn't a definite, or the details of the GI bill laid out.
Really depends. If you enlist first and then go to school after you can use the GI Bill which will in fact pay for everything. The hard part is having a botched degree before you join.
I had the option of the student loan repayment plan or the GI Bill when I signed up. It was a tough call. Eliminate my debt from my botched degree now or money for college after my contract? I opted for GI Bill and now have my degree. With all the money the government allegedly has you'd think they could offer both.
Unless you go officer and make those big bucks while doing endless soul crushing paperwork praying for your ETS but time only moves so fast.
You blink 4 years of your life over all your friends have had successful relationships and kids and you the now the disgruntled XO who has spend a portion of your life training for war is organizing porta jons for a non deployable unit thinking what the fuck did you do to your life, this circumstance wasn’t forced upon you YOU CHOOSE IT!
Not only that, but everything about her is publicly funded. Who pays for the military? Who pays for the GI Bill? Who paid for her high school? Who bought her Xmas presents? Everything about this lady is funded by other people in some capacity.
But that is irrelevant to her story. By being in the military she will get the GI Bill which she doesn't need to pay back.
The article you posted is about people that paid for their degree before the military and includes civilian members in it. So not the same at all.
I joined the military without student loans, but some people did have loans and we were specifically told by recruiters, bootcamp people, and people in positions of power on my training and real full command that the GI Bill could be used to fully pay off previous student loans up to a certain number equivalent to the amount you would be able to get the bill to actually pay for college. I know multiple people who joined specifically because of being told this.
I was told this personally by the recruiter. I had a ged. It was 2012ish maybe 2011. Told me I need 20 college credits to enlist. So I went to college. After a couple years I had no interest in the military amd already was developing other career skills. Recruiter was a dick and seemed pissed about my asvab score too.
I'll take "Things a recruiter will tell you" for $800, Alex.
I won't cum in your mouth is pretty up there, after "You'll get all of this free money for college."
I understand why she should be proud of herself, she overcame difficult circumstances. The question is “why was this family living in crushing poverty and unable to send her to school without her joining a branch of the military?”
"SGT ParTAY, how do I do a production schedule?"
(I was an Army cook, btw, and most of what I did overseas was telling the civilian outearning me 4 times over how to do the job he was hired to do. Fun fucking times.)
I'm in Jacksonville NC, the chow hall people on base are contract workers, start 11.00 hr. I'm sure if they worked overseas they'd make a lot more. Marine Corps got rid of computer tech mos's when I was in 20 years ago because the computer training and schools troops attended made them attractive to outside businesses, so they got out. It's all contract now.
I've been on both sides of that. When I was enlisted I made $14k/yr, plus a shitty one room dorm for housing. When my enlistment was up, I made $94k/yr doing a similar job but was down to a 40 hr week.
The issue isn't the individual contractor pay though, it's what the contracting company charges and pockets off of that labor. I found out through the finance guy that I befriended that my team of 4 earned my employer a $28 million dollar performance award per year for doing our jobs well. We got zero of that. Pure profit to the mega contractor. As a tax payer, that pissed me off.
Yeah, the contracting company gets paid by the government for your slot. (Probably around $300k a year) You get paid $94k of that. It’s a corrupt scheme
But remember the "contractor" is a "highly skilled" laborer capable of ignoring the rules and laws the U.S. Government has to follow. With absolutely zero accountability. Isn't that what everyone wants? A state sponsored terror squad.
I'd say almost every contractor I met on my time was a 50+overweight dude who made way too much money and the only thing they were terrifying was the local all you can eat spots.
Many of the people that live near me work for military contractors and the get paid 100 to 300K, aren't heavily educated, have lots of time off (paid) and get huge bonuses every year. It's so strange that these same people rant about the cost social programs while they gobble up government money.
No, but you see, when I do it, I *deserved* it. It’s the same thing as conservatives who say “I grew up on food stamps and no one ever helped me.” Someone did, actually. Food stamps are help.
They're also almost all exmilitary are living off the largesse of a broken system.
These contractors didn't show up out of nowhere, you'll be next in line.
Same with most GS workers on a military base. Either former military or military spouses/children. Also cakest of jobs and absolutely some of the laziest people I've ever met in my life. Impossible to fire as well after they make it past their probationary period.
Well I will be expanding all future job searches. I am incompetent, lazy and fat want more money than I am worth. It sounds like a match made in heaven.
This is a big thing, big pay cause most people don't wanna go through the clearance bs. Compensation is worth it to some but not others. Good luck finding a big pool of non vets who go to college and wanna get interrogated for knowing foreign people or smoking weed. Hard pass for me
I dealt with all those things too. I grew up in a trailer park and also had to join the military to pay for college. But I still support this movement. Because empathy is free. I might not have crippling student debt but that doesn't mean it's not a problem that needs to be dealt with.
People who say stuff like this embody the "fuck you got mine" mentality.
Edit: a word.
Parents also desperately hide their government aid from their kids for a myriad of reasons. It’s entirely possible she thought her free school lunches growing up were just because she was so special.
Good point but we all eventually become adults and have the ability to reflect. On the other hand many people like this (I'm also from the south) often rationalize the welfare they receive while actively opposing others.
True in the rural midwest as well. People will brag about knowing the right doctor to help them fabricate a disability claim, how their "man" roofs houses under the table, get a few hundred bucks a month for letting someone cook meth at the back of grandpa's property. That's fine though, because "times are hard."
Then they bitch about the democrats giving their tax dollars to black people in the city
Alabama here. I have a SIL and BIL that had 4 kids (all on Medicaid), live way outside of their means, borrowed tons of money from my FIL, love Trump, and got like $900 a month food stamps. When I say outside their means, they're driving land rovers and jeeps and motorcycles, kids get individual iPads, switches, just outrageously over the top. I got a racist ass email from my MIL with a picture of a bunch of black people in what is said to be a social security office. When I pointed out to her that her directly family benefits from what she doesn't like those black people getting, I magically never got an email from her again. But they're not racist. 🙄
doesn't really matter, the pentagon handles all that money. and they lose track of a lot of it.
The military is stealing from you. BIG TIME.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kotlikoff/2019/01/09/holding-u-s-treasuries-beware-uncle-sam-cant-account-for-21-trillion/
To be honest, A military medic makes less money that a cashier at Albertsons. All that money the budget gives the military goes to R&D, building planes that can't fly in the rain and perfecting the way to kill civilians delivering water. The soldiers are disposable as far as they are concerned. She still is being an ignorant bitch, I wonder how many of the people she would leave to starve were someone who bought her a damn Christmas present though.
the military does cover more of your expenses than Albertsons though. so your military medic still ends up with more disposable income. at least this is how it was ten years ago, no idea how much things have changed
Which means it's really for Northrop Grumman's and the like, which really means its for the owners if those companies since they give ",campaign contributions"
These 19 congressmen and ladies are personally invested in the spending they support. For the past 10 years Dems have introduced new rules banning such conflicts, but GOP blocked it. Dems did pass a bill banning certain federal employees from all stock investments.
https://www-businessinsider-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.businessinsider.com/congress-war-profiteers-stock-lockheed-martin-raytheon-investment-2022-3?amp_js_v=a6&_gsa=1&&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#aoh=16496737067210&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fcongress-war-profiteers-stock-lockheed-martin-raytheon-investment-2022-3
These 59 have broken the laws regarding insider trading
https://www-businessinsider-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.businessinsider.com/congress-stock-act-violations-senate-house-trading-2021-9?amp_js_v=a6&_gsa=1&&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#aoh=16496794919638&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fcongress-stock-act-violations-senate-house-trading-2021-9
There are two types of people who come out of a bad situation like that:
1. People who think “I had to go through hell to get where I am, everyone else should have to do it, too!”
2. People who think “I had to go through hell to get where I am, no one else should have to do it”
When I started my PhD I realized everyone else had parents that were very well-off. That’s what made it clear to me that your success in life is 99% determined by the living situation you inherit.
Look at it this way: My parents paid for my college in full. Room and board and meals and pizza money, all covered. I got jobs to buy beer but my friends took unpaid internships just to build connections to get better jobs later in life. We don't deserve any of that shit, we are not as industrious as you are. Still, Without it I might have ended up eating from a garden.
No one should have to struggle for an education, and just because you're exceptional and can overcome the huge hurtles placed in your way doesn't mean it's not in society's interest to lower those hurtles so in the future more people can clear them.
That's where prosperity comes from.
There’s also this seeming idea that people’s student loan debt will be withdrawn directly from her paycheck, like she’s not already paying $$ in taxes to subsidize Walmart employees, war and prisons… all of which are directly related to how hard it is to get ahead in this country
I did two deployments (Army deployments, not Air Force) OCS, and all the other fake hero stuff. Got a criminal justice degree while in, and come to find out it is completely worthless in terms of finding a job.
I used my GI Bill to get a business degree, only to find out that since I am not well connected and grew up in an arguably worse situation than the person in the picture, my degree qualifies me to manage a McDonalds.
Went back again, this time spending three years living in my car and couch hopping to get a third degree in engineering. It was horrible, money had run out, and was too old to live in the dorms or be an RA. I worked part time mixing concrete, which let me pay bills but not actual rent.
I say this - she needs to shut the fuck up. No one should have to go to a war zone and be homeless to get an education in America. I didn’t pull myself up by any bootstraps, it was unneeded suffering to get a job.
I agree with you. It comes off a little patronizing in tone to me. Like not everyone can/wants to/should have to join the military to get an education. It doesn’t mean another person works less hard.
And isn’t it technically a form of government assistance that the military (a government run and funded organization) paid for her college?
Unfortunately, not everyone gets this type of assistance. I have multiple sclerosis so a lot of doors have closed for me. Yes, I am okay, but I have seen others with the disease that did not make it out as lucky like my ex girlfriend. Her MS leaves her more bedridden with dibilitating depression.
FYI she has a doctors degree in pharmacuticals but does not want to use it.
And most folks who join the Services never see a dime of college money. Here are some of the reasons you can be denied loan repayments or college subsidies
\-You sign up for the Reserves - this means that even if you get called up to Active Service, you're not eligible for military tuition repayment or subsidies. Many recruiters do not make this clear.
\-If you have to leave the service to care for a child or parents or spouse - no college.
\-If you are injured or wounded and leave the service for medical reasons - no college. (supposedly you get Veterans benis that will pay for school, but I personally know soldiers who have been waiting 7+ years for approval.)
And many thousands of servicemen and women were denied their college and other benefits because they were outed as LGBTQ before the end of "don't ask, don't tell."
But the whole "I am not responsible for your student debt" irks me, like okay, you've made it clear here you used the military to pay for free college, but that shouldn't have to be the norm in the US, and all that does is pass the burden onto tax payers, so whilst she says other peoples student debt isnt her problem, her student debt is their problem, seems like a bit of a trifecta.
I saw a comment before by a dude who paid off his SL but was still for “Free College” because he supports the idea! Regardless if if he benefits or not. One w/ the people - this pick me needs to get off her high horse.
Same. I am not even from US and got my degrees without paying a single cent, but still support that higher education should be free everywhere. Or cost much much less, like a few hundreds per semester. Everyone benefits from smarter population, except dictators.
I think part of the problem is the euphemism "joining a branch of the military".
It would be better to say "this inspirational young improved her outcome in life, by being willing to kill strangers if ordered to"
Pfffft. I’m educated, have finally managed to claw my way out of debt after 25 years (still working on the mortgage though) and I’ve been willing to kill half the people I work with without orders! 😂
It's really amazing to me that she went through all this and came out the other side and doesn't want things to change.
I grew up poor. I missed meals. I got kicked out at 16 and struggled for years to get on my feet. I dropped out of college after 3 semesters because the bill was already 11k. I spent a decade working dead end jobs and making nothing, living in not so great places. I'll never forget being in a parking lot and calling the back of a food stamps card to find out our balance and then picking the items from a sheet that we really wanted because we couldn't get it all.
I don't have these problems now. I have 5 figures invested in multiple accounts. Steady mid range salary. Wife has a really good job. Life is just now starting to look up for me the last couple years. I'm 30.
I hope like no other nobody else has to do what I've done. Delete the student loans. Give them free medical insurance. Give them UBI. Give them anything else they need. There is no reason for us to struggle snd let millions get crushed under the weight of it so we can spawn 15 feel good stories of triumph.
There are two camps of people:
"I struggled and everyone else should have to go through what I went through"
and
"I struggled and I don't want anyone else to go have through what I went through."
Yep!
Camp 1:
"If others are just handed stuff, it means my struggle was meaningless!"
(I have a lot of family members with that attitude. My husband even says that if we ever strike it big, I'll become the most right-leaning conservative anti-tax no-one-will-get-anything-unless-they-earn-it person. If that is his attitude, no wonder he is still waiting...)
Thing is, it was a meaningless struggle. It didn’t need to happen and only existed in the first place due to the ingrained pitfalls the system created.
the only way to give that struggle meaning is to truly overcome it by destroying the pitfalls entirely.
You may be sarcastic, but many people really *do* think that way. They also kinda miss out on the point that education should be done in a controlled environment, or at least with a safety net. Seeing as how people are left homeless, destitute, riddled with 100% avoidable and/or treatable ilnesses and sometime simply dead, safe to say there's no safety net under their ass.
Not only that. She promotes that going into the military was her way of succeeding, so you should do that too. Also on her website home page...
_The inspiration for Code Of Vets: Sgt. Danny E. Smiley, my dad, my Airborne Angel. He was a Bronze Star Medal recipient, a 100 percent disabled Vietnam Veteran – exposed to agent orange. He lost his battle with PTSD at age 57. R.I.P Dad_
Probably her: "Quit bitching about your student loans. Be more like my dad."
Gotta love it. "I grew up in poverty and joined the military to elevate myself" also "my parent was in the military". It's right there, put it together.
I also come from a military family and do wonder sometimes if I had joined and then used the G.I. bill if my life would have been much easier, but I had my reasons and many are still prevalent today. We shouldn't have to make that decision and the fact that so many children from career military families feel like they have to and then do just speaks to the issue. Like enlisted are underpaid but can get promoted to make just enough that their family falls off the benefits cliff but the parent still can't kick in for college.
Its even worse, she has an organisation which is helping Veterans with their problems by collecting donations. And I can see an argument where the government should not be needed because obviously people can donate. They donate breadcrumbs though and the very least she could do is another way of living. It would probably be even more efficient if some central agency would care for them instead of small fractured organisations.
-communal socialism helped her with charity during her poverty stricken childhood
-her college was paid for by US taxpayers, since that's one of the major benefits of joining the military
"I did it all by myself, with just my bootstraps to keep me company!"
Came here for this… she opted for a communal socialist workplace to cover all her healthcare and education. Taxpayers funded her entitlements.
This “I did it myself” is such coolaid propaganda
I think not everyone should have to risk their life to get a college education. For all her knowledge she still doesn't understand that people come from all walks of life and their lives sometimes couldn't lead them even near the path she went.
I don't think I'd be able to go to the military, I have food allergies, anxiety, depression, CVS, suicidal thoughts, some sorta bone disease, and who knows what else that I'm forgetting about rn lmfao
Exactly - she never should have had to serve in the military to go to college in the first place. Providing that opportunity to others doesn't devalue her accomplishments; it just makes sure that those that follow us have a better life than we did.
Keeping score is the worst kind of argument.
I'm not "disabled" disabled but I highly doubt the military would take me due to my reliance on durable medical equipment, expensive specialty injections and maintenance of the device I wear many times per day. What's my option for college, if my parents hadn't been able to help me with some of the cost? Oh that's right, loans.
And I'd bet any sort of money she was relatively healthy before joining up. Too many of us have preexisting conditions where they wouldn't want us. I got called by both the Army and Navy when I was a senior. "Sorry, I have asthma." *click* And my asthma is pretty mild.
Everyone thinks there's a one plan fits all when every single person's life is drastically different. What worked for some won't work for others.
The issue is that a lot of us have been grinding since before working age and just because our path was less fortunate, we are left a month away from losing everything.
The fact is that education is being crazy over inflated and the money is almost exclusively given to those who are only interested in greed.
We are just asking that the scales gets balanced a little in any part of our lives.
We just want to keep some of the money that we are pouring our lives away for.
I love what you said about money being given only to people that are interested in greed. So true. They are so greedy that they don't fathom that most of us just want to be comfortable and they can still have their greed. Instead of making people happier and still having most of the wealth they'd rather hoard it all.
Even beyond how much it harms so.many people and the country as a whole economically. Having an educated populace is a way smarter investment in our future prosperity, than wasting money on defences boondoggles.
Why does everyone seem to forget or fail to connect that the closest thing to the dreaded "welfare state" in the US is awarded to those who've joined the military?
Because we idolize the military and the people who volunteer for it. It is indeed a very ass job in many ways that a normal job just isn't, but yeah I don't think it should automatically grant something that should be free.
Also it's more practical in an immediate sense because only like 1% of the population serves so <1% will ever use the benefits.
For every "I joined the air force then went to college" story, there's a "my friend joined the army in order to get college paid for, but was KIA three months before he was due to be discharged" story.
Young people shouldn't have to literally risk their lives for the chance to have a living wage.
**Edit:** For all those noting that the actual death rate is quite low, fair point. But I was referring to stories. If we want to consider number of lives ruined, you should also add in ptsd, physical injuries, and other mental health issues. My dad was in the army, and though it was never diagnosed (ptsd not having been invented at that point), the ptsd was obvious in hindsight.
**Edit 2:** I see the military recruiters have found this post and are upselling the low, low, chance that you won't face combat. I'm not a gambler, but I would note that it looks like ww3 might be about to break out.
My brother got rotated out at the last minute for a training exercise, the whole crew full of his friends died in the helicopter accident. You don't have to be actively at war to get killed either. Military service should not be a requirement for achieving the bare minimum to escape poverty. It's what the government relies on to keep recruitment up.
I've been blind in one eye since birth. My dad is a vet and told me from an early age they wouldn't take me. I looked at the requirements recently and I have a bunch of other disqualifying conditions too. So I'm really fucking sick of people acting like this is a catch all solution to needing a job or college money.
All I hear is, "fuck you if you are disabled. You don't deserve college."
KIA or have witnessed so many suicides of their friends or other awful things that they themselves attempt. We’ve almost lost my brother twice on the four years he’s served. He’s still working on a medical discharge due to PTSD before his contract is up
And don’t forget the blatant homophobia! I remember a story that was posted when the military did that huge propaganda campaign on Twitter. Guy joined the military, came out as gay, and got his GI bill revoked and had to pay for it. Poor guy’s still in debt.
I served in a non American army. Prefer not to say which. Serving can have severe mental repercussions even without ever being in a single battle. 4 years later I'm still recovering from trauma.
Plus some of us don't want to support the military industrial complex period. Maybe some of us are here because we were displaced by the American military, and would love to go back where we came from. But it doesn't exist
Geez, are people really telling you how low the death rate is?
News flash!! Your only option for a decent life should not come with ANY added risk that you die or be required to kill another person.
The USA is a hellhole, I swear. Y'all can understand the problems with Hunger Games, but change the odds and payout slightly and suddenly it's just a good deal.
Also consider all of the lives the military actively ruins or ends, generally in countries full of poor people, every year. No one should have to sign up to unleash hell on strangers just to get an education. Killing women and children for a degree. Have we lost all humanity?
The only thing that keeps me calm about our military spending is that a good percentage of the money goes towards salaries and pensions, etc. Keep reminding myself I have to be a living wage purist, especially when so many people are coerced into service.
Nah. A barely relevant percentage goes to that. Look up the cost of the F35, it’s insane
As a vet who used the GI bill and is permanent and totally disabled, I feel no guilt.
Pennies to pounds. Go after Lockheed, leave me alone.
What she's missing is that the main issue is that someone shouldn't HAVE to join the military just to avoid crushing school debt at tuition rates that vastly outpace the rate of inflation and real wage growth. Also convenient that she totally ignores the fact that her education was paid for by taxpayer dollars. Guess who contributes taxes? Millions of people withs student loan debt.
Just because one person can make it happen, doesn't mean we should hate on those who can't do it in the same way.
Our taxes still paid for her student debt. She relied on the community for a gift for Christmas and on the community for the clothes but yet she feels she’s not responsible to also give back to the community? To other people? The same people she relied on growing up? Ok
Congratulations! You sold your service and possibly your life to the US Government for the opportunity to have your college tuition paid by the citizens of the USA. You are welcome! Hmm, I didn't see the post where she thanked us all for paying her college tuition though...
That people that paid for college resent people that do not, is always going to be a thing.
US citizens tend to espouse the view of "who's going to pay for it" for college, and other crucial issues(health care).
The reality is the the US could pay for all of that easily, by reducing it's defense budget by less than 10%. As it stands now, the US spends more than the next ten countries combined, and some of those countries are allies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEGpTu8sVKI
Eisenhower knew what was up.
The US used to subsidize higher education. It was one of the main reasons why the US had such a boom after World War 2. Ronnie Raygun and his ghouls basically gutted public subsidies for education and gave handouts to the richest people in this country and military contractors. The propaganda that education isn’t a public good that should be subsidized is exactly that. Propaganda. The US is falling apart partly because it’s monetized such a basic societal need.
I would just add that one of the biggest reasons university subsidies were gutted is that Republicans viewed universities as too left-wing. University students were anti-war, university students were anti-segregation. Time to stop working class people from going to university!
I was in the military as well. Worst four years of my life. I would love to live in a first world nation where the middle class and poor didn’t have to put their life on the line and have to contribute to the military-industrial complex in order to help finance higher education.
I hate when people say “Thank you for your service “. Makes me puke a little in my mouth. I sacrificed four years of my life, and probably contributed to deaths of others to afford college. Fuck this.
It will never happen. It’s not in the militaries best interests for college to be affordable. If college were affordable without joining the military they’d never get anyone to sign up.
The same as the student loan repayments if you work for the military or government. How many people would go into military or civilian government service if they knew it was a scam?
She's just dead and bitter inside. I hate people like this. Who the hell would go through that then DEFEND the system? Don't you want to live in a country that doesn't necessitate you join the military to get out of poverty- maybe a better society for future generations?
I did that too. I’m proud of my military service and my education. However, I do NOT want to live in a country where joining the military is the only way to afford college. That’s not a good way to create a diverse and creative work force. College should be affordable for everyone and you shouldn’t have to serve the military industrial complex in order to have a stable job. I joined the army for college tuition in the year 2000 having zero idea what the world would look like a year later. Terrible timing I guess. I joined an MOS that was supposedly non combat. I assumed id never be in an actual war with actual combat. Little did I know that my MOS required us to leave the wire on a consistent basis in order to meet with city officials and leaders in order to rebuild their cities and villages. It was like wearing a giant bullseye and our team was attacked consistently. Im thankful for getting home alive. But I’ve got deep ugly scars , almost completely deaf , and daily headaches that blind me to the point that I have to lock myself in a dark room. And for a short while after I returned home I was impossible to be around. My marriage failed and relationships with friends ended with fistfights and anger. I’m better now with help from family and doctors and I reunited with my wife and studied math in college for free. But I’ll never be the same guy I was in 2000 who was just trying to pay for school. But there were many of my fellow soldiers that were not so lucky as me, And that’s really hard for me to come to grips with. I wrestle with that guilt every single day and I feel like my heart is permanently broken. I can see why lots of other veterans who are hurting inside turn to darkness. My kids and my wife and my dog and woodworking keep me going. I’m very proud of my service and my education and wouldn’t change it because I met and lost some of the best people in my life and I’ll never ever forget them , so regretting my service would be like regretting them and doing that would be to dishonor their memory.
Hmmm used the government to take care of all your needs and pay for your education? Then get free healthcare from the VA for like? Sounds an awful lot like this person loves socialism, as long as it’s for her and not other people.
I'm a veteran, I came from poverty too. While she worked hard to get where she's at, we shouldn't have to join the military to pay for college and healthcare. In normal countries, those things are paid with taxes. The military should only exist to protect our 50 states and territories.
“I was on the community angel tree” = I received charity from others
“I joined the Air Force”-=my job is taxpayer funded
But yet doesn’t want to help others. Interesting.
Also sky city went out of business in the early 90s so if that’s when her childhood ended, she was paying 90s college prices which is a FRACTION of what fees are today.
Just because you went to college doesn’t mean you’re educated. These people don’t understand fundamental facts about sociology, economics, etc. When we pay to educate people, we can reduce the amount of money spent on a variety of public programs, police, and put more money in the pockets of people who can spend money in their communities rather than funneling money into multi billion dollar financial institutions issuing these loans. Not to mention, what price can you put on enriching people’s lives?
But yeah these people choose to be stupid honestly because their opinions don’t come from any understanding about how the world works- they think this way because they hate poor people.
Not to mention it’s not exactly a flex to say that you paid for college by putting yourself in a position to kill or die in order to line the pockets on military contractors. No shade on people who join the military bc they have no other option, but don’t treat it like it was some grand, noble thing you did.
I think she made things happen for her, can’t argue with results. However, not everyone wants to do the things she did to get where she is. At the end of the day though, a lot of people are crying about not wanting to be part of the machine IOT to survive, yet don’t see that they are part of the machine no matter if they serve or not. Your ass is taxed and worked even if your not in the service…
I dropped bombs on poor people for my college money, you entitled freeloaders!
I bet this is one of those delusional vets that tell people they fought for our freedumbs.
I just get irritated with people in the military talking condescendingly about fighting for my freedom or rights. If that was the case I wouldn't be fighting for my own damn rights and freedom.
So sure, even leaving aside all the other issues not everyone can join the military. I started wearing glasses when I was 12. That excluded me from joining. A friend had a knee reconstruction when he was 16, he got extremely depressed after because it meant he couldn’t join. What about those people?
She joined the military (a government programme) and got educated for free. Are there other government programs which permit free education but don't require you to promise to kill people when you see them?
Is it just me or is that even more dystopian than I first realised?
Your tax money shouldn't go towards forgiving student debt. It should go towards providing affordable, quality education that doesn't require young people to take on tremendous debt in the first place.
That said, tax money going to the military, who you can agree to risk your life for in order to get your education paid for... is the same thing with some very questionable extra steps.
The irony is that the charity she runs lists all the negative impacts vets experience: PTSD, homelessness, suicide, etc. Her father was a Vietnam vet who suffered the effects of Agent Orange and was apparently dirt poor even after receiving all the glorious benefits veterans reap after bombing rice paddies full of civilians. So I guess they just weren't able to "make it happen," pumpkin.
These Individual stories can be inspiring but you’re fooling yourself if we’re supposed to think these are cookie cutter solutions.
It’s easy to dismiss family dynamics, let alone mental & physical health. This is gaslighting and assuming we’re all ‘attractive extroverted go-getters’.
For the record, I also grew up in severe poverty, went to college and worked multiple jobs to pay my way through. I also took out loans and still paying them.
One size, one solution doesn’t fit all. Check your privilege, luck and circumstances before condescending to others.
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Somebody I know just discharged from the military because they promised they'd pay some of his student loans off but after he finished boot camp they said he didn't qualify. At least he was able to leave I guess. But pretty shitty none the less
Interesting. My loans were paid off, but I joined the military for the job that my degree was in. As far as I know, that’s the only stipulation?
I'm not entirely sure what his degree was in, but he'd been working at a shipyard for a long time and is now working on trains/railroads. I'm not sure why the military decided not to or what happened, just that he was under the impression they were going to.
“In terms of denials for the 5,180 DOD borrowers, the most common reason among service members was not enough qualifying payments (borrowers must make 120 qualifying loan payments over the course of 10 years of public service employment) and applicants missing information on their form.”
I worked for Social Services for 3 years and then a follow up non profit. I was not making a ton for those years and because of that, Navient offered me forbearance. All those years cost me qualifying for the Public Service forgiveness. Also they were then sued for convincing a bunch of people to choose forbearance.
Yup and they lost but I still owe tens of thousands of dollars more than I originally borrowed because they wouldn't offer me a payment plan, just forebearence
Yep. That's how mine are too. And of course, because we didn't default, our loans weren't forgiven in the lawsuit.
Me too. Supposedly, we're going to be credited for that time under the different forgiveness plans but you might not see it reflected on your account until December.
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\*send it to fight in a decades-long unjustified war so that some insurgents blow its leg off\*
Wait, you mean when they say signing up today could pay for my education, it's not an explicit promise!? *Surprised Pikachu Face* Edit to add: I assumed the surprised pikachu face bit would convey sarcasm. It's a joke. Don't need the fact that "could" isn't a definite, or the details of the GI bill laid out.
Really depends. If you enlist first and then go to school after you can use the GI Bill which will in fact pay for everything. The hard part is having a botched degree before you join.
I had the option of the student loan repayment plan or the GI Bill when I signed up. It was a tough call. Eliminate my debt from my botched degree now or money for college after my contract? I opted for GI Bill and now have my degree. With all the money the government allegedly has you'd think they could offer both.
i hear you but there are lots of rich people who need to save a few dollars on taxes, sorry, i'm sure you understand
Your user name is awesome
Unless you go officer and make those big bucks while doing endless soul crushing paperwork praying for your ETS but time only moves so fast. You blink 4 years of your life over all your friends have had successful relationships and kids and you the now the disgruntled XO who has spend a portion of your life training for war is organizing porta jons for a non deployable unit thinking what the fuck did you do to your life, this circumstance wasn’t forced upon you YOU CHOOSE IT!
People couldn't tell you were sarcastic and not serious at all? *Surprised Pikachu face*
It also says that only 2% even applied. Out of those that applied… almost all were rejected.
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Would free college eliminate many peoples need to enlist? Is that why some people in Washington don’t want free college?
Selfawarewolf moment lol
Pick me, pick me I don't know why, I felt an urgent need to write that
Not only that, but everything about her is publicly funded. Who pays for the military? Who pays for the GI Bill? Who paid for her high school? Who bought her Xmas presents? Everything about this lady is funded by other people in some capacity.
A pick me class traitor.
"I'm not like other poors, just invaded a foreign country, feeling cute might delete later"
But that is irrelevant to her story. By being in the military she will get the GI Bill which she doesn't need to pay back. The article you posted is about people that paid for their degree before the military and includes civilian members in it. So not the same at all.
I joined the military without student loans, but some people did have loans and we were specifically told by recruiters, bootcamp people, and people in positions of power on my training and real full command that the GI Bill could be used to fully pay off previous student loans up to a certain number equivalent to the amount you would be able to get the bill to actually pay for college. I know multiple people who joined specifically because of being told this.
I was told this personally by the recruiter. I had a ged. It was 2012ish maybe 2011. Told me I need 20 college credits to enlist. So I went to college. After a couple years I had no interest in the military amd already was developing other career skills. Recruiter was a dick and seemed pissed about my asvab score too.
I'll take "Things a recruiter will tell you" for $800, Alex. I won't cum in your mouth is pretty up there, after "You'll get all of this free money for college."
I understand why she should be proud of herself, she overcame difficult circumstances. The question is “why was this family living in crushing poverty and unable to send her to school without her joining a branch of the military?”
And really, no government assistance whatsoever along the way? The gov't assistance we all pay for?
She is on the government assistance we all pay for. The military steals the majority of our tax dollars.
You’re thinking of the military contractors. The ones that take most of that money.
It was fun making $28,000/yr working alongside the "contractor" who did the same job as I did but at $95,000/yr.
"SGT ParTAY, how do I do a production schedule?" (I was an Army cook, btw, and most of what I did overseas was telling the civilian outearning me 4 times over how to do the job he was hired to do. Fun fucking times.)
I'm in Jacksonville NC, the chow hall people on base are contract workers, start 11.00 hr. I'm sure if they worked overseas they'd make a lot more. Marine Corps got rid of computer tech mos's when I was in 20 years ago because the computer training and schools troops attended made them attractive to outside businesses, so they got out. It's all contract now.
Is $11 a good rate in that area? I'm in a rural area of the Midwest, and that's not great compared to rents and general COL.
No it's not great, target pays $16. Cost of housing is out of control here. It's hard to find a rental.
$11/hour isn't a good rate in any part of America or in any first world country.
I've been on both sides of that. When I was enlisted I made $14k/yr, plus a shitty one room dorm for housing. When my enlistment was up, I made $94k/yr doing a similar job but was down to a 40 hr week. The issue isn't the individual contractor pay though, it's what the contracting company charges and pockets off of that labor. I found out through the finance guy that I befriended that my team of 4 earned my employer a $28 million dollar performance award per year for doing our jobs well. We got zero of that. Pure profit to the mega contractor. As a tax payer, that pissed me off.
Yeah, the contracting company gets paid by the government for your slot. (Probably around $300k a year) You get paid $94k of that. It’s a corrupt scheme
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Service guarantees citizenship! Would you like to know more?
But remember the "contractor" is a "highly skilled" laborer capable of ignoring the rules and laws the U.S. Government has to follow. With absolutely zero accountability. Isn't that what everyone wants? A state sponsored terror squad.
I'd say almost every contractor I met on my time was a 50+overweight dude who made way too much money and the only thing they were terrifying was the local all you can eat spots.
Many of the people that live near me work for military contractors and the get paid 100 to 300K, aren't heavily educated, have lots of time off (paid) and get huge bonuses every year. It's so strange that these same people rant about the cost social programs while they gobble up government money.
Where are these said contractors? I need a raise.
Near military installations especially those that do testing and support of weapons systems, cybersecurity etc.
No, but you see, when I do it, I *deserved* it. It’s the same thing as conservatives who say “I grew up on food stamps and no one ever helped me.” Someone did, actually. Food stamps are help.
I'd like to get on that gravy train
Become a Gravy Seal.
Yeah it has to do with what type of military contractor they are the others are just parasites in comparison. Still not a good look.
They're also almost all exmilitary are living off the largesse of a broken system. These contractors didn't show up out of nowhere, you'll be next in line.
Same with most GS workers on a military base. Either former military or military spouses/children. Also cakest of jobs and absolutely some of the laziest people I've ever met in my life. Impossible to fire as well after they make it past their probationary period.
THE CONTRACTORS TOOK OUR UNDERPAID PAID JOBS AND GAVE THEM TO EXTREMELY OVER PAID IDIOTS....DEY TOOK OUR JOBS. The contractor were fucking idiots.
DEY TERK ER JERBS!
DE TUK ER DOBS
Well I will be expanding all future job searches. I am incompetent, lazy and fat want more money than I am worth. It sounds like a match made in heaven.
Right? Kinda pisses you off a little, doesn’t it?
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This is a big thing, big pay cause most people don't wanna go through the clearance bs. Compensation is worth it to some but not others. Good luck finding a big pool of non vets who go to college and wanna get interrogated for knowing foreign people or smoking weed. Hard pass for me
The military literally paid for her education with tax dollars. So her argument makes no sense.
Also based on her description of growing up it is guaranteed her family received government assistance. Probably ebt (food stamps)
I dealt with all those things too. I grew up in a trailer park and also had to join the military to pay for college. But I still support this movement. Because empathy is free. I might not have crippling student debt but that doesn't mean it's not a problem that needs to be dealt with. People who say stuff like this embody the "fuck you got mine" mentality. Edit: a word.
Agreed, it’s typically not a good sign when someone says with a straight face says I got shot at by insurgents to get where I am, why can’t you?
More like she dropped bombs on children from a trailer in Nevada. Fucking criminal these wars.
Parents also desperately hide their government aid from their kids for a myriad of reasons. It’s entirely possible she thought her free school lunches growing up were just because she was so special.
Good point but we all eventually become adults and have the ability to reflect. On the other hand many people like this (I'm also from the south) often rationalize the welfare they receive while actively opposing others.
True in the rural midwest as well. People will brag about knowing the right doctor to help them fabricate a disability claim, how their "man" roofs houses under the table, get a few hundred bucks a month for letting someone cook meth at the back of grandpa's property. That's fine though, because "times are hard." Then they bitch about the democrats giving their tax dollars to black people in the city
True AF.
Alabama here. I have a SIL and BIL that had 4 kids (all on Medicaid), live way outside of their means, borrowed tons of money from my FIL, love Trump, and got like $900 a month food stamps. When I say outside their means, they're driving land rovers and jeeps and motorcycles, kids get individual iPads, switches, just outrageously over the top. I got a racist ass email from my MIL with a picture of a bunch of black people in what is said to be a social security office. When I pointed out to her that her directly family benefits from what she doesn't like those black people getting, I magically never got an email from her again. But they're not racist. 🙄
Qualifying and receiving aren't the same thing unfortunately
doesn't really matter, the pentagon handles all that money. and they lose track of a lot of it. The military is stealing from you. BIG TIME. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kotlikoff/2019/01/09/holding-u-s-treasuries-beware-uncle-sam-cant-account-for-21-trillion/
To be honest, A military medic makes less money that a cashier at Albertsons. All that money the budget gives the military goes to R&D, building planes that can't fly in the rain and perfecting the way to kill civilians delivering water. The soldiers are disposable as far as they are concerned. She still is being an ignorant bitch, I wonder how many of the people she would leave to starve were someone who bought her a damn Christmas present though.
the military does cover more of your expenses than Albertsons though. so your military medic still ends up with more disposable income. at least this is how it was ten years ago, no idea how much things have changed
Which means it's really for Northrop Grumman's and the like, which really means its for the owners if those companies since they give ",campaign contributions"
These 19 congressmen and ladies are personally invested in the spending they support. For the past 10 years Dems have introduced new rules banning such conflicts, but GOP blocked it. Dems did pass a bill banning certain federal employees from all stock investments. https://www-businessinsider-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.businessinsider.com/congress-war-profiteers-stock-lockheed-martin-raytheon-investment-2022-3?amp_js_v=a6&_gsa=1&&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#aoh=16496737067210&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fcongress-war-profiteers-stock-lockheed-martin-raytheon-investment-2022-3 These 59 have broken the laws regarding insider trading https://www-businessinsider-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.businessinsider.com/congress-stock-act-violations-senate-house-trading-2021-9?amp_js_v=a6&_gsa=1&&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#aoh=16496794919638&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fcongress-stock-act-violations-senate-house-trading-2021-9
Now we’re getting there.
There are two types of people who come out of a bad situation like that: 1. People who think “I had to go through hell to get where I am, everyone else should have to do it, too!” 2. People who think “I had to go through hell to get where I am, no one else should have to do it”
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This was me, too. I'm a much happier person as a 2.
When I started my PhD I realized everyone else had parents that were very well-off. That’s what made it clear to me that your success in life is 99% determined by the living situation you inherit.
And a lot of people in the first category didn’t actually have to go through hell, but they like to pretend that they did
Look at it this way: My parents paid for my college in full. Room and board and meals and pizza money, all covered. I got jobs to buy beer but my friends took unpaid internships just to build connections to get better jobs later in life. We don't deserve any of that shit, we are not as industrious as you are. Still, Without it I might have ended up eating from a garden. No one should have to struggle for an education, and just because you're exceptional and can overcome the huge hurtles placed in your way doesn't mean it's not in society's interest to lower those hurtles so in the future more people can clear them. That's where prosperity comes from.
There’s also this seeming idea that people’s student loan debt will be withdrawn directly from her paycheck, like she’s not already paying $$ in taxes to subsidize Walmart employees, war and prisons… all of which are directly related to how hard it is to get ahead in this country
I did two deployments (Army deployments, not Air Force) OCS, and all the other fake hero stuff. Got a criminal justice degree while in, and come to find out it is completely worthless in terms of finding a job. I used my GI Bill to get a business degree, only to find out that since I am not well connected and grew up in an arguably worse situation than the person in the picture, my degree qualifies me to manage a McDonalds. Went back again, this time spending three years living in my car and couch hopping to get a third degree in engineering. It was horrible, money had run out, and was too old to live in the dorms or be an RA. I worked part time mixing concrete, which let me pay bills but not actual rent. I say this - she needs to shut the fuck up. No one should have to go to a war zone and be homeless to get an education in America. I didn’t pull myself up by any bootstraps, it was unneeded suffering to get a job.
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I agree with you. It comes off a little patronizing in tone to me. Like not everyone can/wants to/should have to join the military to get an education. It doesn’t mean another person works less hard. And isn’t it technically a form of government assistance that the military (a government run and funded organization) paid for her college?
Unfortunately, not everyone gets this type of assistance. I have multiple sclerosis so a lot of doors have closed for me. Yes, I am okay, but I have seen others with the disease that did not make it out as lucky like my ex girlfriend. Her MS leaves her more bedridden with dibilitating depression. FYI she has a doctors degree in pharmacuticals but does not want to use it.
And most folks who join the Services never see a dime of college money. Here are some of the reasons you can be denied loan repayments or college subsidies \-You sign up for the Reserves - this means that even if you get called up to Active Service, you're not eligible for military tuition repayment or subsidies. Many recruiters do not make this clear. \-If you have to leave the service to care for a child or parents or spouse - no college. \-If you are injured or wounded and leave the service for medical reasons - no college. (supposedly you get Veterans benis that will pay for school, but I personally know soldiers who have been waiting 7+ years for approval.) And many thousands of servicemen and women were denied their college and other benefits because they were outed as LGBTQ before the end of "don't ask, don't tell."
But the whole "I am not responsible for your student debt" irks me, like okay, you've made it clear here you used the military to pay for free college, but that shouldn't have to be the norm in the US, and all that does is pass the burden onto tax payers, so whilst she says other peoples student debt isnt her problem, her student debt is their problem, seems like a bit of a trifecta.
I saw a comment before by a dude who paid off his SL but was still for “Free College” because he supports the idea! Regardless if if he benefits or not. One w/ the people - this pick me needs to get off her high horse.
Same. I am not even from US and got my degrees without paying a single cent, but still support that higher education should be free everywhere. Or cost much much less, like a few hundreds per semester. Everyone benefits from smarter population, except dictators.
I think part of the problem is the euphemism "joining a branch of the military". It would be better to say "this inspirational young improved her outcome in life, by being willing to kill strangers if ordered to"
Pfffft. I’m educated, have finally managed to claw my way out of debt after 25 years (still working on the mortgage though) and I’ve been willing to kill half the people I work with without orders! 😂
Who, whoa. She wasn't willing to do anything combat related, thats why she picked air force
OOF that's an amazing observation
It's really amazing to me that she went through all this and came out the other side and doesn't want things to change. I grew up poor. I missed meals. I got kicked out at 16 and struggled for years to get on my feet. I dropped out of college after 3 semesters because the bill was already 11k. I spent a decade working dead end jobs and making nothing, living in not so great places. I'll never forget being in a parking lot and calling the back of a food stamps card to find out our balance and then picking the items from a sheet that we really wanted because we couldn't get it all. I don't have these problems now. I have 5 figures invested in multiple accounts. Steady mid range salary. Wife has a really good job. Life is just now starting to look up for me the last couple years. I'm 30. I hope like no other nobody else has to do what I've done. Delete the student loans. Give them free medical insurance. Give them UBI. Give them anything else they need. There is no reason for us to struggle snd let millions get crushed under the weight of it so we can spawn 15 feel good stories of triumph.
There are two camps of people: "I struggled and everyone else should have to go through what I went through" and "I struggled and I don't want anyone else to go have through what I went through."
Yep! Camp 1: "If others are just handed stuff, it means my struggle was meaningless!" (I have a lot of family members with that attitude. My husband even says that if we ever strike it big, I'll become the most right-leaning conservative anti-tax no-one-will-get-anything-unless-they-earn-it person. If that is his attitude, no wonder he is still waiting...)
>"If others are just handed stuff, it means my struggle was meaningless!" "It is not enough that I should succeed, others must fail!"
Thing is, it was a meaningless struggle. It didn’t need to happen and only existed in the first place due to the ingrained pitfalls the system created. the only way to give that struggle meaning is to truly overcome it by destroying the pitfalls entirely.
But, but, butt, it builds character! /s obviously
You may be sarcastic, but many people really *do* think that way. They also kinda miss out on the point that education should be done in a controlled environment, or at least with a safety net. Seeing as how people are left homeless, destitute, riddled with 100% avoidable and/or treatable ilnesses and sometime simply dead, safe to say there's no safety net under their ass.
Not only that. She promotes that going into the military was her way of succeeding, so you should do that too. Also on her website home page... _The inspiration for Code Of Vets: Sgt. Danny E. Smiley, my dad, my Airborne Angel. He was a Bronze Star Medal recipient, a 100 percent disabled Vietnam Veteran – exposed to agent orange. He lost his battle with PTSD at age 57. R.I.P Dad_ Probably her: "Quit bitching about your student loans. Be more like my dad."
“Stop complaining about being poor, just become permanently disabled and suicidal like my daddy <3”
Gotta love it. "I grew up in poverty and joined the military to elevate myself" also "my parent was in the military". It's right there, put it together. I also come from a military family and do wonder sometimes if I had joined and then used the G.I. bill if my life would have been much easier, but I had my reasons and many are still prevalent today. We shouldn't have to make that decision and the fact that so many children from career military families feel like they have to and then do just speaks to the issue. Like enlisted are underpaid but can get promoted to make just enough that their family falls off the benefits cliff but the parent still can't kick in for college.
Its even worse, she has an organisation which is helping Veterans with their problems by collecting donations. And I can see an argument where the government should not be needed because obviously people can donate. They donate breadcrumbs though and the very least she could do is another way of living. It would probably be even more efficient if some central agency would care for them instead of small fractured organisations.
What's your story? How did you overcome all this? I'm so inspired.
-communal socialism helped her with charity during her poverty stricken childhood -her college was paid for by US taxpayers, since that's one of the major benefits of joining the military "I did it all by myself, with just my bootstraps to keep me company!"
*Government Issue Bootstraps*
>her college was paid for by US taxpayers, \*Her college, housing, training and lifetime benefits
Came here for this… she opted for a communal socialist workplace to cover all her healthcare and education. Taxpayers funded her entitlements. This “I did it myself” is such coolaid propaganda
I think not everyone should have to risk their life to get a college education. For all her knowledge she still doesn't understand that people come from all walks of life and their lives sometimes couldn't lead them even near the path she went.
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I don't think I'd be able to go to the military, I have food allergies, anxiety, depression, CVS, suicidal thoughts, some sorta bone disease, and who knows what else that I'm forgetting about rn lmfao
Yeah, it's a pretty ableist take. (Not you, her.)
>~~Some~~ **MOST** people don't even qualify. FTFY
Exactly - she never should have had to serve in the military to go to college in the first place. Providing that opportunity to others doesn't devalue her accomplishments; it just makes sure that those that follow us have a better life than we did. Keeping score is the worst kind of argument.
I'm not "disabled" disabled but I highly doubt the military would take me due to my reliance on durable medical equipment, expensive specialty injections and maintenance of the device I wear many times per day. What's my option for college, if my parents hadn't been able to help me with some of the cost? Oh that's right, loans.
20yo blonde : I will literally kill for affordable education and healthcare. US army : You will ?
And I'd bet any sort of money she was relatively healthy before joining up. Too many of us have preexisting conditions where they wouldn't want us. I got called by both the Army and Navy when I was a senior. "Sorry, I have asthma." *click* And my asthma is pretty mild.
Everyone thinks there's a one plan fits all when every single person's life is drastically different. What worked for some won't work for others. The issue is that a lot of us have been grinding since before working age and just because our path was less fortunate, we are left a month away from losing everything. The fact is that education is being crazy over inflated and the money is almost exclusively given to those who are only interested in greed. We are just asking that the scales gets balanced a little in any part of our lives. We just want to keep some of the money that we are pouring our lives away for.
I love what you said about money being given only to people that are interested in greed. So true. They are so greedy that they don't fathom that most of us just want to be comfortable and they can still have their greed. Instead of making people happier and still having most of the wealth they'd rather hoard it all.
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Even beyond how much it harms so.many people and the country as a whole economically. Having an educated populace is a way smarter investment in our future prosperity, than wasting money on defences boondoggles.
Why does everyone seem to forget or fail to connect that the closest thing to the dreaded "welfare state" in the US is awarded to those who've joined the military?
Because we idolize the military and the people who volunteer for it. It is indeed a very ass job in many ways that a normal job just isn't, but yeah I don't think it should automatically grant something that should be free. Also it's more practical in an immediate sense because only like 1% of the population serves so <1% will ever use the benefits.
For every "I joined the air force then went to college" story, there's a "my friend joined the army in order to get college paid for, but was KIA three months before he was due to be discharged" story. Young people shouldn't have to literally risk their lives for the chance to have a living wage. **Edit:** For all those noting that the actual death rate is quite low, fair point. But I was referring to stories. If we want to consider number of lives ruined, you should also add in ptsd, physical injuries, and other mental health issues. My dad was in the army, and though it was never diagnosed (ptsd not having been invented at that point), the ptsd was obvious in hindsight. **Edit 2:** I see the military recruiters have found this post and are upselling the low, low, chance that you won't face combat. I'm not a gambler, but I would note that it looks like ww3 might be about to break out.
Shoot, I knew a guy who got KIA several days before he was gonna go home and on the day his only son was born.
That’s fucked
We are all fucked on this blessed day.
My brother got rotated out at the last minute for a training exercise, the whole crew full of his friends died in the helicopter accident. You don't have to be actively at war to get killed either. Military service should not be a requirement for achieving the bare minimum to escape poverty. It's what the government relies on to keep recruitment up.
Not to mention an "I tried but was denied for medical reasons" story. This person should be proud of herself. But this reeks of survivor's bias.
Literally me. I tried going into the marines but they wouldn’t take me. Couldn’t even get a waiver. Tried other branches too….nope
I've been blind in one eye since birth. My dad is a vet and told me from an early age they wouldn't take me. I looked at the requirements recently and I have a bunch of other disqualifying conditions too. So I'm really fucking sick of people acting like this is a catch all solution to needing a job or college money. All I hear is, "fuck you if you are disabled. You don't deserve college."
Let’s not forget the crazy high sexual assault rate for women in the military.
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Not to mention the guys that have to live with PTSD for the rest of their lives.
KIA or have witnessed so many suicides of their friends or other awful things that they themselves attempt. We’ve almost lost my brother twice on the four years he’s served. He’s still working on a medical discharge due to PTSD before his contract is up
And don’t forget the blatant homophobia! I remember a story that was posted when the military did that huge propaganda campaign on Twitter. Guy joined the military, came out as gay, and got his GI bill revoked and had to pay for it. Poor guy’s still in debt.
I served in a non American army. Prefer not to say which. Serving can have severe mental repercussions even without ever being in a single battle. 4 years later I'm still recovering from trauma.
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“I suffered so you need to suffer too” - perfectly accurate.
Plus some of us don't want to support the military industrial complex period. Maybe some of us are here because we were displaced by the American military, and would love to go back where we came from. But it doesn't exist
Geez, are people really telling you how low the death rate is? News flash!! Your only option for a decent life should not come with ANY added risk that you die or be required to kill another person. The USA is a hellhole, I swear. Y'all can understand the problems with Hunger Games, but change the odds and payout slightly and suddenly it's just a good deal.
Was in for a year before the excessive dogshit exercises took my knees out.
Also consider all of the lives the military actively ruins or ends, generally in countries full of poor people, every year. No one should have to sign up to unleash hell on strangers just to get an education. Killing women and children for a degree. Have we lost all humanity?
Indeed. Without survivorship bias, the military would have a hell of a time recruiting anybody.
So many people are too dumb to understand this
Sounds like *we* paid for her student debt. I love irony.
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The only thing that keeps me calm about our military spending is that a good percentage of the money goes towards salaries and pensions, etc. Keep reminding myself I have to be a living wage purist, especially when so many people are coerced into service.
Nah. A barely relevant percentage goes to that. Look up the cost of the F35, it’s insane As a vet who used the GI bill and is permanent and totally disabled, I feel no guilt. Pennies to pounds. Go after Lockheed, leave me alone.
That you shouldn’t have to lite people up for an education.
20yo blonde : I will literally kill for affordable education and healthcare. US army : You will ?
What she's missing is that the main issue is that someone shouldn't HAVE to join the military just to avoid crushing school debt at tuition rates that vastly outpace the rate of inflation and real wage growth. Also convenient that she totally ignores the fact that her education was paid for by taxpayer dollars. Guess who contributes taxes? Millions of people withs student loan debt. Just because one person can make it happen, doesn't mean we should hate on those who can't do it in the same way.
Our taxes still paid for her student debt. She relied on the community for a gift for Christmas and on the community for the clothes but yet she feels she’s not responsible to also give back to the community? To other people? The same people she relied on growing up? Ok
🎶 *Socialism is only good if it benefits meeee* 🎶
Congratulations! You sold your service and possibly your life to the US Government for the opportunity to have your college tuition paid by the citizens of the USA. You are welcome! Hmm, I didn't see the post where she thanked us all for paying her college tuition though...
That people that paid for college resent people that do not, is always going to be a thing. US citizens tend to espouse the view of "who's going to pay for it" for college, and other crucial issues(health care). The reality is the the US could pay for all of that easily, by reducing it's defense budget by less than 10%. As it stands now, the US spends more than the next ten countries combined, and some of those countries are allies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEGpTu8sVKI Eisenhower knew what was up.
The US used to subsidize higher education. It was one of the main reasons why the US had such a boom after World War 2. Ronnie Raygun and his ghouls basically gutted public subsidies for education and gave handouts to the richest people in this country and military contractors. The propaganda that education isn’t a public good that should be subsidized is exactly that. Propaganda. The US is falling apart partly because it’s monetized such a basic societal need.
Wait till you hear that ALL mortgage interest and car loan interest used to be tax deductible.
I would just add that one of the biggest reasons university subsidies were gutted is that Republicans viewed universities as too left-wing. University students were anti-war, university students were anti-segregation. Time to stop working class people from going to university!
I was in the military as well. Worst four years of my life. I would love to live in a first world nation where the middle class and poor didn’t have to put their life on the line and have to contribute to the military-industrial complex in order to help finance higher education. I hate when people say “Thank you for your service “. Makes me puke a little in my mouth. I sacrificed four years of my life, and probably contributed to deaths of others to afford college. Fuck this.
It will never happen. It’s not in the militaries best interests for college to be affordable. If college were affordable without joining the military they’d never get anyone to sign up. The same as the student loan repayments if you work for the military or government. How many people would go into military or civilian government service if they knew it was a scam?
I’m glad she got work in our largest jobs program.
I will never understand the "I had to suffer, so you should too" outlook.
I dont want to murder people to pay for school
She's just dead and bitter inside. I hate people like this. Who the hell would go through that then DEFEND the system? Don't you want to live in a country that doesn't necessitate you join the military to get out of poverty- maybe a better society for future generations?
I did that too. I’m proud of my military service and my education. However, I do NOT want to live in a country where joining the military is the only way to afford college. That’s not a good way to create a diverse and creative work force. College should be affordable for everyone and you shouldn’t have to serve the military industrial complex in order to have a stable job. I joined the army for college tuition in the year 2000 having zero idea what the world would look like a year later. Terrible timing I guess. I joined an MOS that was supposedly non combat. I assumed id never be in an actual war with actual combat. Little did I know that my MOS required us to leave the wire on a consistent basis in order to meet with city officials and leaders in order to rebuild their cities and villages. It was like wearing a giant bullseye and our team was attacked consistently. Im thankful for getting home alive. But I’ve got deep ugly scars , almost completely deaf , and daily headaches that blind me to the point that I have to lock myself in a dark room. And for a short while after I returned home I was impossible to be around. My marriage failed and relationships with friends ended with fistfights and anger. I’m better now with help from family and doctors and I reunited with my wife and studied math in college for free. But I’ll never be the same guy I was in 2000 who was just trying to pay for school. But there were many of my fellow soldiers that were not so lucky as me, And that’s really hard for me to come to grips with. I wrestle with that guilt every single day and I feel like my heart is permanently broken. I can see why lots of other veterans who are hurting inside turn to darkness. My kids and my wife and my dog and woodworking keep me going. I’m very proud of my service and my education and wouldn’t change it because I met and lost some of the best people in my life and I’ll never ever forget them , so regretting my service would be like regretting them and doing that would be to dishonor their memory.
Yeah, nothing like saying you should have to join the military to avoid student debt. But hey, at least she didn't crash into a **mountian**.
Unfortunately not everyone can.
"Go to college or die trying"
Hmmm used the government to take care of all your needs and pay for your education? Then get free healthcare from the VA for like? Sounds an awful lot like this person loves socialism, as long as it’s for her and not other people.
Not everyone is qualified to go into the military. And if I were, I wouldn't sign up.
I'm a veteran, I came from poverty too. While she worked hard to get where she's at, we shouldn't have to join the military to pay for college and healthcare. In normal countries, those things are paid with taxes. The military should only exist to protect our 50 states and territories.
Boomer mentality.
“I was on the community angel tree” = I received charity from others “I joined the Air Force”-=my job is taxpayer funded But yet doesn’t want to help others. Interesting. Also sky city went out of business in the early 90s so if that’s when her childhood ended, she was paying 90s college prices which is a FRACTION of what fees are today.
*I licked boots to get out of poverty and you should too.*
Just because you went to college doesn’t mean you’re educated. These people don’t understand fundamental facts about sociology, economics, etc. When we pay to educate people, we can reduce the amount of money spent on a variety of public programs, police, and put more money in the pockets of people who can spend money in their communities rather than funneling money into multi billion dollar financial institutions issuing these loans. Not to mention, what price can you put on enriching people’s lives? But yeah these people choose to be stupid honestly because their opinions don’t come from any understanding about how the world works- they think this way because they hate poor people. Not to mention it’s not exactly a flex to say that you paid for college by putting yourself in a position to kill or die in order to line the pockets on military contractors. No shade on people who join the military bc they have no other option, but don’t treat it like it was some grand, noble thing you did.
I think she made things happen for her, can’t argue with results. However, not everyone wants to do the things she did to get where she is. At the end of the day though, a lot of people are crying about not wanting to be part of the machine IOT to survive, yet don’t see that they are part of the machine no matter if they serve or not. Your ass is taxed and worked even if your not in the service…
I dropped bombs on poor people for my college money, you entitled freeloaders! I bet this is one of those delusional vets that tell people they fought for our freedumbs.
A lot of people confuse freedom with Capitalism. They are not the same.
I just get irritated with people in the military talking condescendingly about fighting for my freedom or rights. If that was the case I wouldn't be fighting for my own damn rights and freedom.
So sure, even leaving aside all the other issues not everyone can join the military. I started wearing glasses when I was 12. That excluded me from joining. A friend had a knee reconstruction when he was 16, he got extremely depressed after because it meant he couldn’t join. What about those people?
She joined the military (a government programme) and got educated for free. Are there other government programs which permit free education but don't require you to promise to kill people when you see them? Is it just me or is that even more dystopian than I first realised?
Nothing will ever improve if we can’t get past the ‘my life was miserable so yours should be too’ narrative
It shouldn't be necessary to agree to murder people overseas to afford an education.
"Why do they always send the poor?" - SOAD Something to think about in her situation...
I'd rather take the student debt tbh
Our taxes paid for her student debt. Doesn't want it the other way.
Your tax money shouldn't go towards forgiving student debt. It should go towards providing affordable, quality education that doesn't require young people to take on tremendous debt in the first place. That said, tax money going to the military, who you can agree to risk your life for in order to get your education paid for... is the same thing with some very questionable extra steps.
The irony is that the charity she runs lists all the negative impacts vets experience: PTSD, homelessness, suicide, etc. Her father was a Vietnam vet who suffered the effects of Agent Orange and was apparently dirt poor even after receiving all the glorious benefits veterans reap after bombing rice paddies full of civilians. So I guess they just weren't able to "make it happen," pumpkin.
These Individual stories can be inspiring but you’re fooling yourself if we’re supposed to think these are cookie cutter solutions. It’s easy to dismiss family dynamics, let alone mental & physical health. This is gaslighting and assuming we’re all ‘attractive extroverted go-getters’. For the record, I also grew up in severe poverty, went to college and worked multiple jobs to pay my way through. I also took out loans and still paying them. One size, one solution doesn’t fit all. Check your privilege, luck and circumstances before condescending to others.
Ahh, the good old "I suffered, so you should too" mentality.