Hell, it’s more moral to sell drugs like crack and heroin than it is to join an imperialist military. At least everyone involved is there because they want to be.

Obviously, you shouldn’t sell drugs because you’re taking advantage of addiction. You’re also complicit in whatever activities your criminal organization takes part in, whether that’s contract killing or pimping. That’s how low the bar is in comparison to being a troop. But no one who’s in the mafia is under any illusions about what it is they do. Trying to convince Americans “Hey, maybe your friends deserved to get shot by the Vietcong,” is a fool’s errand.

Hmm sounds like you’re a superhuman with obscene standards we can’t possibly use to judge the poor widdle imperialism facilitators

Never discuss “the middle class”. It’s not materialist and whatever discussion centers upon it will lead nowhere useful.

Military knowledge isnt just for offensive actions. Say it would be very important to know how to deal if fascist irregulars stage an ambush on a safe community for trans people for example?

All the US military knows how to do is blow their money in the most inefficient way imaginable and lose to insurgents. People here grossly underestimate how:

1. Most people in the military work in logistics and lack real combat experience, in which case they functionally bring nothing to the table that a generic worker couldn’t bring as well. I met so many vets whose entire years of service boils down to “I moved boxes from point A to point B” or “I drove and repaired trucks” or “I sat on a desk and read emails.” You know, like any other generic job.

2. The people who actually have combat experience are either serial killers who get off on the warcrimes they’ve committed, complete drones who do as they’re told, or people with horrible PTSD who need our help more than we need theirs. In the way, this makes sense. If you’re send out to commit warcrimes, the serial killers and drones will leave relatively unscathed and sleep like a baby while normal people will be haunted by what they’ve witnessed and committed for the rest of their days.

Obviously not top brass (although people with knowledge of military history and tactics are always useful). But knowing how to organize a division, understand military logistics, that type of concern has historically been very useful in any armed struggle.

Conscripts vs volunteers. Self-selects for ideology making it less of a base for proletarian revolution

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You’re going to encounter sparingly few situations where martial arts are the difference maker, especially compared to apologizing when it’s not your fault or removing yourself from the situation. Your problems don’t go away. But it’s an insurance policy - if shit hits the fan I cling to my BJJ[1]. If you encounter someone who has a personal problem with you and you’re fortunate enough sweep them from bop to toddom because they have no balance (nobody ever does) you can run away. You go from hopeless where you cannot conceive of getting them to fuck off to a little hope in knowing what it would look like to assert your will. The next day and every day for the next month you’d never skip a class. In my opinion in minecraft in a not legal advice sort of way - but it is financial advice.

[1] I have a fun story where punches weren’t working in a dream so I went for a wrestling take down and started grappling which worked

BJJ is a lot of ground grappling, Muay Thai is a lot of striking (punches and kicks), and judo has a lot of throws and takedowns. I like BJJ and judo cuz you can incapacitate someone without hitting them, which is more my style

It took a decade of martial arts practice and the great fortune of my career at the CIA to ever consider doing BJJ and judo at the same time. Never have I ever done more than one at a time otherwise.

Depends on the adolescent and the gym. A kids program can simply be superior in terms of instruction and organization in which case any combat sport would do if their program is good. Because if this my first reflex is judo. You get more culture baked into the lessons and atmosphere because you get the direct lineage from the founder of judo, the oversight of the IBJJF, and the national judo foundation to create a more consistent style of what a judo class does. That style emphasizes discipline, practice, and respect. You probably get more interactions between young people, adults, and elders. BJJ has a whole lot more “don’t call me professor, just call me X” and “check out this neat neck crank.” It’s for swashbucklers. That’s cool, awesome, and dare I say effective (for self defense), but for the developing brain it seems desirable to get that sense of respect and community that judo more readily provides. If they’re not going to listen unless it’s rough and tumble, they might get bored of judo - it’s easy for me and my brain to know that I’m building a really sick and comprehensive grappling game by going to judo class and practicing with less intensity. However, I might have been bored to tears earlier in my life. If child me had 3 peers with whom I form rivalries in BJJ or muay thai I’d be happy to go all out with them and suddenly I have buy in

You can find muay thai for children. You can also find full contact muay thai for children which feels very bad to watch with my soy, effeminate, western sensibilities. And again, if a gym’s children’s program is superior then you’re going to get more discipline, practice, and respect. They’ll do no head contact, bag work, and learning how to use pads. By the way, holding pads for your child is a WONDERFUL way to bond. You don’t need to practice muay thai to know this skill. It’s akin to playing catch. Except even when they’re edgy, rebellious teenagers, knowing that you’re there to help them conduct their violent energy into something constructive until the endorphins pop out of their neurons could be everything. All it would take would be one time when they’re angry and guilty but you say yes to holding pads to demonstrate loyalty, love, and respect that they’ll remember forever.

I think combat sports change the game for a child in terms of dealing with anxiety, fidgety ticks, energy that needs to be expressed, not knowing what to do with your hands, talking to adults, and being handsy. If you can deal with being pinned to the floor by a 100kg judoka, you can deal with drama in the hallway. Go with the gym that makes logistical sense (cost, distance from home) and has a good kids program. I’d start with looking for judo for general development, but if the child wants to go fast then BJJ or muay thai might be more their style.

You haven’t considered the misery of trans people who won’t be able to work at the murder and torture factory! Some of them could have been Guantanamo guards :((((