Sake White

In other words, Marines are manly men. This doesn’t mean, of course, that every individual Marine is a manly man, or that other men, whether in the military or not, aren’t manly men. It just means that Marines seem to exemplify the mature male.

There are female Marines, Book ; )

They wear unlaced shoes,

Not good for running.

baggy pants that fall down,

Not good in a fight, can’t kick or dodge or circle step.

Do any of you have any ideas? I’d like to hear them.

Did you watch the movie 300 about the Spartans? You’ll probably love it… but probably not your husband. If he doesn’t like 24… then probably he will dislike 300 as well. Although things can always be a surprise.

First of all, I remembered how, in Iraq, the Marines are constantly sent in to clean things up, with Fallujah being the obvious example. You can rely on them to do the jobs others can’t do.

Marines are primarily shock troops designed for assaulting heavily fortified beaches, machine gun nests, strongholds, etc. Their esprit de corps is probably the highest amongst all the branches, and their small total size helps. They are expected to take more than 50% fatalities on an assault and keep on going. The US Marine Corps is probably at the highest level in history, being able to take more than 80% fatalities and not fragmenting. We have not seen this tested of course, but the trends suggest this considering various incidents in WWII. So the Marines are specialized to a certain extent, but it does not mean the 101st Airborne and others could not do the same things. The Marines are just a little bit more aggressive about insisting that they always be the tip of the spear.

The point is, when a person finds a purpose to which he cements his life to, that person not only gains personal strength but he also gains the strength that only comes from a group of friends and companions.

I’m sure there are explanations and analysis for what specific groups of men and women do this that and the other. But at its base, I tend to think it is just natural entropy. As civilizations become more ordered, more lawful, and more peaceful/prosperous… what then becomes of the purpose of men and women, Book? The old traditions and goals and purposes no longer apply, after all. So people are left adrift, with nothing to hang onto, no community, no sense of self because they have no sense of others.

The illusions that they cling to, either that of socialites (high society) or gansta styles (low society) is an outgrowth of the basic human desire to belong. To want to be part of something greater than him or herself. But they can’t find it, you see, because there are few worthwhile purposes left in this world. At least for the US. The military is one of the few worthwhile paths to harmony, community, brotherhood, and etc. There’s religion, which is being exterminated and repressed. There is martial arts, but it is mostly an individual art, and requires an individual’s cooperation and dedication.

One genre of romance novel is the romantic thriller. I cannot tell you how many times, in a romantic thriller, the reader learns about halfway through that the mysterious hero

That must be a lot of thriller novels then… if you cannot tell how many times.

It all comes down to discipline. Back in the olden times, I assume that discipline was enforced by society, the parents, and just plain nature (the nature of stupid folks not surviving things like fires). I was quite surprised at how the ancient Spartans upheld discipline and the fabric of their society, via the Laws of Lykurgos. If there is anything the Spartans had in abundance, it was discipline. I think in a sense people want discipline, people of all ages. They test you, they test society, but it is only a sense of curiosity, of rebellion. They want to see how far they can go. But if you let them go whereever they want, they get lost. Because they never planned on getting that far. They do not have enough experience or wisdom to have thought that far.

It is sort of like the same problem in Europe with people converting to Islam. The converted say that European religions just aren’t stringent enough, they don’t have enough rules to tell them what to do… Freedom without self-discipline and responsibility is not a good thing. It never was, and it is also not a thing desired by others.

I can’t explain why certain groups go certain ways. But the general trends of society and civilization seems to be clear. It is decaying, not from too much disorder (like Iraq), but from too much order, which produces stagnancy. It doesn’t renew itself any longer. This dynamic was always interesting. Because the problem wasn’t lack of power and money… it was too much power and money. So much money and power that the wealth creates decadence, and almost atrophies the muscle of self-sufficiency amongst the people.

Here’s my comparison on Sparta and the US.

And the clothes? I think that is just societal pressure from peers. People do what their peers do… it just is. I mean there are theories about ethics, concerning why people do the “right” thing. Because it is the right thing as viewed in the eyes of their loved ones. Regardless of the epistemological considerations, this is true in the metaphysical sense. People do do things based upon whether their loved ones think it is right or not. Remember the Sacred Band?

[UPDATE: Since a jack load of people have been reading this post, I might as well give you the link to Bookworm's post that I was replying to. Link at the top, imbedded in the first bold]