Idiocracy: Is there anyone who doesn't see this every day?

[PonoBill]

http://observer.com/2018/08/pentagon-most-americans-are-too-fat-stupid-to-enlist-in-the-military/

[Tom]

I've got it on DVD. Every time I watch it I see something new. Very funny and very scary.

[pdxmike]

http://observer.com/2018/08/pentagon-most-americans-are-too-fat-stupid-to-enlist-in-the-military/

to long to read need meme pls

[TallDude]

I joined Mensa during their '4th of July' discounted IQ special.

[kawika]

Interesting issue, but seriously distorted reporting.
--Overweight or out of shape can be fixed.  During the draft era, they took plenty of flabby couch potatoes and whipped them into shape.  As I recall, they had a special extended boot camp to make it happen.  They could use SUP training!  \:>)
--"Dumb" - no, the issue there was lack of HS or GED, not intelligence.  Lack of education does not equal stupidity (there are plenty of really dumb college graduates, many of them in Congress today and elsewhere in Government today).
--"Criminal activity" - we can thank the idiotic war on drugs for a huge percentage of the "criminal activity".
The military could easily overcome all these issues if they wanted to.  Extra physical training, focused training/education for specific M0S's.  (You don't need an entire HS degree to fire a mortar or drive a tank, for example.)

[PonoBill]

The difference for the military is volunteer force vs. draft. They have a small pool to draw from and the tools and tactics have become more complex. Much of the early research into IQ was military funded. They needed to know where the cutoff for value in an added "body" was. Below some level of intelligence, it takes more oversight manpower to direct a person than they are worth. And they needed lots of cannon fodder, so they didn't want to lose any potential value.

"Fat" in the 40's, 50's and 60's meant you were not already fit. Today 30 percent of high school students are obese or overweight. When I was a kid in high school I was the only kid in my class of 40 that was fat. And then fat meant I weighed 220 at 6'2". I recognize that is anecdotal, but I was probably one of the fattest kids in my school, with 1500 students. 15 percent of adults were obese in the 1950's. Five percent of teens were obese in the 60's, 21 percent in 2012. More now. The problem has an entirely different scale.

I entered bootcamp as a "fat" kid, came out 13 weeks later fairly fit at 212 pounds. That's what it took for the average kid in the 60's. How long, and what would it take to get to get an obese kid to any real level of fitness? Yes, they could do it, but for all its faults, the military is pragmatic. If they thought they could get a quality soldier by turning a fat, poorly motivated, not very bright kid into someone fit and trained, they'd likely do it.

I couldn't agree with you more on "The War On Drugs".

[pdxmike]

I don't know about the military, but it's a mandatory disqualification if applicants to some police departments around have purchased (not even used themselves) legal marijuana from legal shops.  At least if they answer "yes" to that question.  Maybe the idea is that anyone who answers "yes" is too honest for the job.

[Tom]

Marijuana may be "legal" in some states, but is always illegal in the United States.  Police must always bide by federal, state, and municipal laws.

[pdxmike]

Marijuana may be "legal" in some states, but is always illegal in the United States.  Police must always bide by federal, state, and municipal laws.

I don't doubt that. It's just that that standard just eliminated maybe half or more of applicants, for a reason unrelated to how well they might perform.  I wonder if the military is the same?

[eastbound]

do police like sheriff joe arpaio follow federal laws?

[PonoBill]

Politics and optics. Optics and politics.

[Wetstuff]

Shee'it...   A history of 'criminal activity' seemed to be the reason about 25% of the guys in basic training were there in 1963.  Young guys were frequently offered options: 'enlist or jail'.  There was a lot of petty theft, racial issues (bigtime) and general slackerhood but the only guys bounced out were psychos and true health cases.  I simply didn't have much of anything better to do. 

My dumb move was picking the ARMY not the AF.  They lived pretty well - we were mudders.  I had a life expectancy of <30min at the E. German border pointing tactical nukes at our new friends, the Russians.  Standing around waiting to kill or be killed can be pretty boring. Still, I had a great time in retrospect.  Prost!

Jim

[connector14]

I have always thought that required service after high school might be good for our country. (similar to what Israel does). A choice of military vs. civil might be an option.
Once an honorable discharged was earned,  the government could help with further education costs.....or the student could choose to continue a career in the military or similar service.
We need to encourage some kind of productive future for our kids.