There are so many citations to boot camp and brainwashing it's amazing! Obviously you could think otherwise, but you can find people who love the military and people who hate it, and people in the middle all expressing the idea that boot camp is brainwashing- it's hardly an outlandish idea. For the people here who need to threaten to kill people, or even just insult people, over this idea, get over it- it's just an idea. Argue the idea, and don't freak out on another person- that's just really ugly net behavior.
antiwar.com
It is a fallacy that intellectual awareness of what is happening can always prevent a man from being indoctrinated. Once he becomes exhausted and suggestible, or the brain enters the 'paradoxical' or 'ultra-paradoxical' phases, insight can be disturbed; even the knowledge of what to expect may be of little help in warding off breakdown. And afterwards, he will rationalize the newly implanted beliefs and offer his friends sincere and absurd explanations of why his attitude has changed so suddenly."
- William Sargent, MD, Battle for the Mind: A Physiology of Conversion and Brainwashing
ctyme.com
from
ctyme.com
"The US Marines as a Brainwashing Cult
Before I go on, let's go back to the six tip-offs to conversion. I want to mention the United States Government and military boot camp. The Marine Corps talks about breaking men down before "rebuilding" them as new men--as marines! Well, that is exactly what they do, the same way a cult breaks its people down and rebuilds them as happy flower sellers on your local street corner. Every one of the six conversion techniques are used in boot camp. Considering the needs of the military, I'm not making a judgement as to whether that is good or bad. IT IS A fact that the men are effectively brainwashed. Those who won't submit must be discharged or spend much of their time in the brig. "
ahoyhoy.org
Another arguement, is that boot camp verbal abuse causes psychological damage. My counter arguement is, war causes even more psychological damage. Post tramatic stress disorder, nightmares, regret, depression… The list goes on. These are the aftermath of the pyschological effects of war. Imagine what those effects might be on individuals who would normally have been discharged during their boot camp training.
Is boot camp hard? Yes. Is it brainwashing. Most definately, yes. Is it necessary? In what other way can you convince a 19 year old boy to kill on command and do so without prejudice, forethought, and sleep at night, only to wake up the next day to do it all over again. I’m not saying that every person who goes through boot camp will be faced with that reality, and believe me it is a reality for some. What I am suggesting is that the military needs personel who can perform their designated tasks without question or debate. We had a saying in the Navy that we share with the Marine Corp - “Our’s is not to question why, our’s is just to do or die". |
