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The free medical care and dental care and education are already a perk without joining the services. The actual monetary amount may be quite small, but there is also food stamps and free fuel and many other things to take into account.
I don't know if the number of Native Americans from Pine Ridge entering the military is low compared to their percentage of the population, but if it is, it might be that the young people get discouraged about their lack of a good future and drop out of high school before they get a diploma. That used to be a problem. I know that Native Americans from Pine Ridge served proudly in World War II and in Korea, and the tribe honored their service. Also, people from Pine Ridge go to Rapid City to enlist, so maybe it just looks like a low number in Sioux Falls on the far side of the state from Pine Ridge.
Whatever happened to No man is an island, entire in himself...and all those things. We're all here together, and NO one pulls himself up by his own bootstraps. We've all been helped by parents, school teachers, good schools, coaches, neighbors, family friends, peers, churches, and many other people along the way.
Wow, sounds like there are many benefits, but I won't comment on them as I don't know how that system works. Anyway, I wasn't trying to be a recruiter, because I'm not one, just looking at it from my perspective. The Armed Forces isn't for everyone, but has more opportunities than most are probably aware of.
That being said Polycarp, I find your comment about bootstraps particularly ironic, as the Military teaches and instills in it's members to do exactly what you say NO one does for themselves. Granted, we have a good support system in place, but if you aren't willing to make the change for yourself, it doesn't matter what kind of support, benefits, or anything else you have. You just die in place...
Funny how we can have parents, teachers, schools, coaches, neighbors, friends, churches, and the others you mentioned and still have all the issues that exist... That is why I say it doesn't matter what or who you have if you don't WANT IT FOR YOURSELF.
Once again, here's to hoping you have a good day...
If the military teaches you that you pulled yourself up by your own bootstraps, it's purely for morale purposes. You go to basic training and are handed every piece of brand new gear you'll need, assigned a locker, and told where to put every single thing you have--what shelf, what hook, what part of the shelf to use for each thing you have. You're assigned a bunk and given bedding and told exactly how to put it on the bunk--how to tuck in the sheets and how to fold the corners. You're told when to wake up, when to go to sleep, when and how to wash your face, how long to wear your hair, how to comb it, and where to keep your toothbrush. You get introduced to various apparatus, and you're told exactly how to use each one. Even your staying in basic training isn't your own bootstraps. The sergeant makes sure you'll stay by making you too ashamed to leave. It's all psychological conditioning, every bit of it.
The US probably has the best military program in the world, and the military has one of the best placement programs anywhere, and most of our military training is superb. The military structure is designed to push people up the ladder as their talents allow. But there is nothing bootstrap about it. That is a myth to keep morale high among young men who like to see themselves as capable of being strong, army strong.
Back to Pine Ridge. The reservation for the then Sioux in 1868 was 60 million acres of SD, NE, and Wyoming. In 1876 when Custer's men discovered gold in the Black Hills, the US gov't opened 7.7 million acres in the Black Hills to non native American settlers. In 1889 the govt laid out the various reservations similar to how they are now. In 1890 the military killed 300 native Americans at Wounded Knee. Chief Big Foot and his followers didn't exactly have an arsenal or canon to defend themselves with, and they were down in a low lying area to get out of the winter wind. Nearly everyone was killed, including the women and children. They're buried in mass graves near the Catholic Church in Wounded Knee. The names of a lot of the men are listed on pillars. The names of the women and children are usually not known.
Since the reservation is quite old, if it could be farmed, it would be being farmed. If it could be ranched, it would be being ranched. Only a third of the money from what agricultural activity there is gets to the tribe. Today I learned that there is a successful casino on the reservation, employing 250 people.
The people in Pine Ridge are not ignorant, unmotivated, or lazy. They are smart and nice and tell jokes about the clash of cultures. They are just unemployed. It takes money to move off the reservation==bus fare, at least, and money to pay a deposit and 2 month's rent in the new place, and the promise of a job, and appropriate clothing to wear to work, and money for food and transportation in the new place.
There is an article on Wikipedia about Pine Ridge that tells what's currently going on there. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This is the home page. You can type in Pine Ridge Reservation and click search.
If the military teaches you that you pulled yourself up by your own bootstraps, it's purely for morale purposes. You go to basic training and are handed every piece of brand new gear you'll need, assigned a locker, and told where to put every single thing you have--what shelf, what hook, what part of the shelf to use for each thing you have. You're assigned a bunk and given bedding and told exactly how to put it on the bunk--how to tuck in the sheets and how to fold the corners. You're told when to wake up, when to go to sleep, when and how to wash your face, how long to wear your hair, how to comb it, and where to keep your toothbrush. You get introduced to various apparatus, and you're told exactly how to use each one. Even your staying in basic training isn't your own bootstraps. The sergeant makes sure you'll stay by making you too ashamed to leave. It's all psychological conditioning, every bit of it.
The US probably has the best military program in the world, and the military has one of the best placement programs anywhere, and most of our military training is superb. The military structure is designed to push people up the ladder as their talents allow. But there is nothing bootstrap about it. That is a myth to keep morale high among young men who like to see themselves as capable of being strong, army strong.
While there is a part of your statement that is absolutely true, there are parts missing. I'm not going to argue the point, as this thread isn't about the Military, but many of your thoughts are old school line of thinking that have been phased out of the training process and a greater onus is placed on the individual to either do what they need to do or get out. I will simply disagree and again wish you a good day...
In going back to do some research into this, I have found NUMEROUS articles in regards to the plight of the the Pine Ridge reservation. The odd thing (and this in no way an indictment of anyone) is a common finding in EVERY ONE of those articles is people are willing to say what is wrong, but no one is willing to say how to fix it and aid the people living there. One article went so far as to call people ignorant to the fact of what was happening, but couldn't offer any of their own thoughts on how to solve the problems that exist.
I also found it odd that racism is so rampant between themselves and how they view those that leave the reservation. My grandparents left Italy to come to the US, but we still have family there and can visit without being accused of "forgetting where we came from" or for not keeping up with Italian traditions. We can remember where we came from, as I have been back to Italy and the traditions our family has had since as far back as I can remember are still a part of my family and what I teach my son today. But that is just me...
I'm not nearly the expert on this, but will keep doing research as I am interested in this. Amazing how few people know of any of this...
In going back to do some research into this, I have found NUMEROUS articles in regards to the plight of the the Pine Ridge reservation. The odd thing (and this in no way an indictment of anyone) is a common finding in EVERY ONE of those articles is people are willing to say what is wrong, but no one is willing to say how to fix it and aid the people living there. One article went so far as to call people ignorant to the fact of what was happening, but couldn't offer any of their own thoughts on how to solve the problems that exist.
I also found it odd that racism is so rampant between themselves and how they view those that leave the reservation. My grandparents left Italy to come to the US, but we still have family there and can visit without being accused of "forgetting where we came from" or for not keeping up with Italian traditions. We can remember where we came from, as I have been back to Italy and the traditions our family has had since as far back as I can remember are still a part of my family and what I teach my son today. But that is just me...
I'm not nearly the expert on this, but will keep doing research as I am interested in this. Amazing how few people know of any of this...
I think in all honestly the fix is going to have to come from within the Pine Ridge Reservation. Its something no amount of outside help can remedy if those there are not willing to do anything about it.
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. i wish we could get free fuel.
Not joining the military
