Ok RV, I think the main argument you are trying to make (if I read correctly) is that you believe everyone who’s put in service to “xyz cause” is entitled to a golden nugget at the end of the road. Is that right? Because if that is, we are doomed for bankruptcy as a nation.
The reason military get their benefits for life and paper-pushers don’t is a couple reasons.
Military members are contractually obligated to provide service, and can be given a felony discharge if they act if they go AWOL/UA. When was the last time a government paper-pusher was thrown in prison or found guilty of a crime for not showing up to work?
Type of work matters. At any point, any one of us who raised our right hands and swore an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic can be called upon at a moment’s notice and sent to a foreign shore within 72 hours. They can’t say “no.” (see above point). We can be shot at, blown up, captured, tortured, beaten, or stabbed as the regular course of our workday. When was the last time you heard that was part of the job description for a government clerk? “Yes, Judy, you could be shot at during the normal course of your work day. Is that okay?”
Military members can, and frequently are (especially today), seperated from their families for months on end. It doesn’t matter if you were in during a time of peace or conflict, the seperation possibility exists. They can’t say no (see point 1). Government employees can say no. They may lose their job, or not get paid for that time missed ,but they still can choose.
The retirement isn’t always about us. It’s also about our families, and the seperation they endured. The nights not knowing. The hesitation every time that phone rang. The going from married with 2 kids to being a single mom overnight. The ripples of a Marine/Guardsman/Airman/Soldier’s absence carry past just them. Their spouses, their kids. Their parents. Their siblings. It affects them all. No other job in the US government has that issue.
Roughly 1% of the US population is a member of the armed forces, give or take a few hundred thousand. Roughly 30% of the US population is a government employee. Scale matters too.
After 20 years of enduring all that, I think we have earned the retirement we receive. We don’t deserve it like you seem to think, as we are not entitled to anything. We have earned it, something a lot of government workers don’t seem to understand any more. Teachers (by and large) are no more at risk than a clerk in an office. The only exception I have to the benefits not being warranted are to the public saftey jobs (fire, police). They, as their job description, risk their lives, and should be rewarded for that risk.
snicker
Ok RV, I think the main argument you are trying to make (if I read correctly) is that you believe everyone who’s put in service to “xyz cause” is entitled to a golden nugget at the end of the road. Is that right? Because if that is, we are doomed for bankruptcy as a nation.
The reason military get their benefits for life and paper-pushers don’t is a couple reasons.
Military members are contractually obligated to provide service, and can be given a felony discharge if they act if they go AWOL/UA. When was the last time a government paper-pusher was thrown in prison or found guilty of a crime for not showing up to work? Type of work matters. At any point, any one of us who raised our right hands and swore an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic can be called upon at a moment’s notice and sent to a foreign shore within 72 hours. They can’t say “no.” (see above point). We can be shot at, blown up, captured, tortured, beaten, or stabbed as the regular course of our workday. When was the last time you heard that was part of the job description for a government clerk? “Yes, Judy, you could be shot at during the normal course of your work day. Is that okay?” Military members can, and frequently are (especially today), seperated from their families for months on end. It doesn’t matter if you were in during a time of peace or conflict, the seperation possibility exists. They can’t say no (see point 1). Government employees can say no. They may lose their job, or not get paid for that time missed ,but they still can choose. The retirement isn’t always about us. It’s also about our families, and the seperation they endured. The nights not knowing. The hesitation every time that phone rang. The going from married with 2 kids to being a single mom overnight. The ripples of a Marine/Guardsman/Airman/Soldier’s absence carry past just them. Their spouses, their kids. Their parents. Their siblings. It affects them all. No other job in the US government has that issue. Roughly 1% of the US population is a member of the armed forces, give or take a few hundred thousand. Roughly 30% of the US population is a government employee. Scale matters too.After 20 years of enduring all that, I think we have earned the retirement we receive. We don’t deserve it like you seem to think, as we are not entitled to anything. We have earned it, something a lot of government workers don’t seem to understand any more. Teachers (by and large) are no more at risk than a clerk in an office. The only exception I have to the benefits not being warranted are to the public saftey jobs (fire, police). They, as their job description, risk their lives, and should be rewarded for that risk.