America is a sick society

[Bob Butler 54]

(01-02-2017, 04:43 PM)TnT Wrote: An observation about something that startled and amazed me over the last ten years that relates to this:

The meme that's out and about tells us that our soldiers all suffered greatly from many deployments into the Middle East.  I know several firefighters and paramedics and EMTs who have been deployed.  Then return and go back to work at either one of the local fire services or EMS providers.

Then, surprisingly, they can't wait to be deployed again!!  Yes!

When I chat with them they tell me how much they enjoy the relative freedom, the camaraderie, the simplicity of life.  The "rules" are straightforward.  You work, you blow stuff up, you shoot stuff, you fly stuff, you eat, you sleep, you drink, you enjoy one-another's company.  And then people call you a "hero."  And you get to be a part of something that seems much larger than yourself.  

Quite a lot of self-actualization of a type that's rare and very hard to find in domestic society these days.

This is a story well worth telling and I doubt not at all its truth.  You might want to pick up On Killing by Dave Grossman, a book on the psychological aspects of war.  Comradeship under fire is extraordinary.  Doing one's duty and being considered heroic can be ultimately satisfying.  Humans evolved in a high conflict environment, and the instincts for handling conflict are still there.  Killing is sometimes cost effective in the heartless Darwinian world of the survival of the fittest, and yet killing can also cripple a breeding group if done in excess.  We evolved with a complex set of check and balance instincts that encourage certain behaviors while discouraging others.  Alas, modern weaponry and tactics have changed how war is experienced.  A fighter pilot and a swordsman have very different experiences of conflict.  Instincts that evolved for hunter gatherers sometimes work well today, and sometimes not.

Remember, not all people are the same, and not all war experiences are the same.  Not all our soldiers suffered greatly, but that is far from saying that none have.

Grossman provides a good outline for how the military handles combat stress and tries to extend it to police work.