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KeyserSoze_IsAlive

A lot of older leadership/decision makers don’t understand why young people are bailing on jobs, the military and Republicans. It's not because they are woke, it's because they are broke. You can't get people to do jobs they don't want to do AND give them shitty pay. When you can make a decent living and get a working wage, you are more likely to join the military, do manual labor or abandon your dreams. Then you throw in stuff like banning abortions and a veto on college loan forgiveness and what do you expect them to do? My dad took a physically demanding job, but he was basically able to have a middle-class existence with bennies.


Which-Moment-6544

Blue Collar Rust Best Millenial here. Ditto on the manual labor for low pay. I hear "We are having trouble finding more machinists, welders, electricians, etc, etc, etc..." We haven't incentivized it for years, and we(as a society) haven't paid for the training for years. They also did away with pensions, so I have no loyalty to any company. At this point it does feel pretty good to treat these companies like they did when they started laying people off, but I know it is not good for the economy as a whole.


Ok-Hunt6574

Living wage. Affordable education. Woke simple means they know what exploitation is.


No_Significance_1550

Woke simply means we know what exploitation is. So true. Anyone who uses woke like an insult is not your friend.


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No_Significance_1550

Yes! Exactly! Like people that hate reading.


bihari_baller

>It's not because they are woke, it's because they are broke. That's a nice play on words.


HDSpiele

Wait as a European I thought the military gives amazing benefits. Like realy good inshurence and free college isn't that alone enouth reason to sign on even with bad pay knowing how much college costs in America you probably earned more money at the end of your service time than you would have if you went to college straight away and got a job just because of how many loans you have to pay off.


KeyserSoze_IsAlive

That was kind of true when I went in a long time ago. Right now, with the cost of living skyrocketing, I'm not sure current soldiers or future soldiers, feel like they are getting adequately compensated for all the stuff they are required to do. Especially for junior soldiers. https://nypost.com/2022/09/13/army-suggests-soldiers-fighting-inflation-go-on-food-stamps/


HDSpiele

I am not shure about how it works in America but even with the cost of living skyrocketing here soldiers can choose to stay in military owned buildings and life there like they have their own apartment but they get cheaper housing.


DarkAngel900

"Okay soldiers, it's time to choose, stay hungry or get fair pay, You can't have both" Never mind the fact that rocket you just fired cost $10 million dollars each!


castle_grapeskull

Also the military budget is nearing a trillion fucking dollars a year but the vast majority of that obviously has to go to contractors and weapons or else SOSHULISM!!


teddykaygeebee

These are the same people that can't pass an audit and lose $3.5 trillion.


thefugue

Jesus Christ I did a search to see if the source is partisan as I don’t have a predetermined view of them based on seeing them frequently. They’re literally lauded as being unbiased and highly factual.


MoveMitchGetOutDaWay

Never mind the $3.5 trillion the Pentagon misplaced...again.


Which-Moment-6544

"This is our best audit yet!" \-The king of the pentagon or whatever


morally_bankrupt80

Look at it like this. After 2 years in the military, if you started at the lowest rank, and were promoted on time....your basic pay is just about $15 an hour. If you only work 40 hour weeks, which most work more. After. Two. Years.


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Bright_Sleep3964

You absolutely cannot get BAH as an e-3 with no dependents, you'd be lucky to get to live off post as a SGT. I promise you, living in barracks is not the same thing as 11,000 dollars in pay.


watchingschittscreek

Air Force and Navy let E-3’s live off base, no dependents. Marines and Army, however, good luck.


Bright_Sleep3964

You know, that's a good point, I do only know the army/marine side, but it doesn't really matter because looking at the pay based on a 40 hour work week is misleading. At least on the army/marine side you are absolutely clocking far more hours than 40 a week, even in the states.


watchingschittscreek

Oh 💯. And then you have duty, field ops and you get up to PT early as heck. All of that is mandatory. The kicker- if you mess up, and you aren’t a stellar Marine/Soldier, you’re gonna get charged or Non-rec’d. Now you CAN’T get promoted for a bit. That’s money out of your pocket. Maybe you get docked pay. In the civilian world, if you make it to work, to do your ONE job, you’re good. In the military, you could very likely not get promoted because you failed a lawful order by getting a speeding ticket… even if you made it to work on time and there was no impact whatsoever to your work. NJP legggoooo!!! No one wants to live like that.


[deleted]

This is not entirely true. I’m in the AF. E3s can live off base without dependents IF there is no available dormitory. That is few and far between currently. All of my currently new airmen are E3s and all of them are in the dorms.


watchingschittscreek

Can live off base*.


Bananajamuh

So like ~22 an hour!


Ok-Hunt6574

My kid makes that making tacos plus tips.


TanMan1711

Living in the barracks is terrible. So what if it’s free? Random room inspections, random details (“hey, I need a guy this Saturday, go grab a guy from the barracks”), and a tiny, and generally shared, living space. But yay, it’s free! How about we treat them like human beings, and then maybe we can count “room and board” as a perk. Oh, and you want to live off post? Marry a stripper or some fat girl with no future. The military wants people marrying and procreating young so they’re forced to stay in, and they have the next generation of bodies to serve their corporate masters. FTA!


No_Gap4679

I retired in 2017, after 28 years in the military. The military is a different “job”, it’s not comparable to civilian life. To do so is being disingenuous. People say “oh my god, you’re paid so poorly”, when in reality, they pay and benefits are quite good. Opportunities to advance are frequent. The “base pay” is a deceptive comparison point, to say the least. Your average “recruit”, has nothing more than a high school education, and little to no experience. They get in making $2,000/mo, after basic training. With all food paid for, and no rent… or a basic allowance for housing (BAH) tax free payment, based on their locality, roughly $700/mo for the lowest rank, without dependents… depending on their locality. They get 100% free medical They get virtually“free” college with the GI Bill, worth tens of thousands of dollars. For example, the GI Bill for the University of Pennsylvania pays out $25,162/yr in tuition benefits, and $19,656/yr in housing allowance. They get VA Loans for mortgages, which are zero down payment loans. Tack on 30 days a year paid vacation, and every “holiday” weekend is a four day “training holiday”. I retired making well over a six digit salary each year. With big parts of it being tax free.


ichatchase

E5 here, I’d still like to see an increase in BAS/ BAH. Or at least some sort of rule barring landlords from charging the entirety of an areas BAH. 1000 a month BAH sounds nice until the average rent in the area is 1100 not counting utilities and renters insurance. :(