Marine Corps Mail

Yesterday I received a pamphlet in the mail from the Marine Corps. I threw it away, of course.

On the outside it said "Discover the person you're meant to become".

This made me laugh out loud. Last time I checked no one could tell me who I was meant to become. I remember being told that I could do whatever I set my mind to. The Marines think any random soon-to-be eighteen year old is just destined to become a Marine themselves.

This is why my band is called "The Drafted".

When the war was about to start, we knew there would be enormous pressure to join the military at some point, and that there may even be another draft, so we decided to have a political name and start writing political songs.

I know we, as middle class non-poor teenagers, will not have trouble getting into some form of college, and therefore would not be drafted; but the point is we, as young men, are seen as mere cannon fodder by the blood-thirsty Bush Administration, and we know it.

Also, with my brother in the Navy, a few people have already asked me "Are you going to join the service?". Some people have even asked WHEN I was joining the service! I always tell them I don't have plans for joining the military, and they just kind of brush it off, like, "Yeah, say that when you're a dirt poor twenty-something with a failed career attempt and a receding hairline still living with your parents who are about to retire."

I'll say this: I'm never going to join the military, no matter how poor, unsuccessful, heartbroken, or hopeless I am, because I know that every war since World War II has been, and will be, pointless and wrong.

I know good and well military musicians don't fight, and make very good money, but joining the military is like selling your soul. Its like getting married to someone who you KNOW is going to order you around, and you KNOW you have to obey them, or you'll get kicked out and won't be getting that fat check anymore.

In conclusion, screw you, Marine Corps.