Thursday, October 15, 2009
How bad is the economy?
This bad:
For the first time in more than 35 years, the U.S. military has met all of its annual recruiting goals, as hundreds of thousands of young people have enlisted despite the near-certainty that they will go to war.Credit where credit is due; a rare remarkably honest statement from the Pentagon. Of course, they're unlikely ever to admit the corollary, which is that, without 10% (or 20% depending on how you measure it) unemployment and large bonuses, they could never motivate people to "fight for their country" when they can't even give an explanation (even from their point of view) of why "we" are now fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere.
The Pentagon, which made the announcement Tuesday, said the economic downturn and rising joblessness, as well as bonuses and other factors, had led more qualified youths to enlist.
