What does this have to do with basic training? A rhetorical or hypothetical situation like the ones presented are kind of pointless. What does breaking into a neighbors house have to do with it? The OP was originally “does Basic training amount to brainwashing”. Now you’re presenting a thinly vieled argument about the war. My idea of self defense hasn’t been broadened by the military, despite what you may think, and you’ve twisted what I said a bit. Let me clarify it for you. *If you voluntarily enlist in the Army and don’t claim to be a conscientious objector its a fair assumption that you’ll be able to use deadly force when directed to do so. *Otherwise you wouldn’t join the Army in the first place. If you do, and don’t consider that you might be involved in combat one day, well, you’re really, really deluded. Seriously, we tell you that stuff when you sign up. I work for NATO currently, and out of the 20 + servicememebers I’ve met from NATO nations I haven’t met one yet that didn’t think they might have to fire at someone at some point.
And again, that has nothing to do with the OP. Whats happened here is people that have preconcieved notions about BCT are unwilling to change their minds about it even when people that have been there tell them otherwise. Creating a phantom situation doesn’t prove any point in this discussion. Do you have any thoughts on if BCT is brainwashing? If so, what basis are you using? If I or anyone else thats been through it disagree will you tell us its irrelevant (yeah, I know it was Gonzomax, not you that said that) or will you believe it? Because if you want to discuss the situation in the ME and farmers getting shot, thats for another thread.
Well, it has to do with basic training because the point of the training is to take normal humans, i.e. all those unreleased “killers”, and teach them to be a little quicker on the trigger finger, if told to by the right authority figure. A lot of people join the Army simply to get a scholarship. Those ones have to be guided carefully into the “push a button, kill a stranger” or also likely “give an order, kill an enemy” mindset of the American military.
I guess I should say that I’m not sure it’s “brainwashing” per se and I certainly feel the OP here was off on a couple of points. However, I think that Basic training leans strongly on what the Milgram Experiment documented.