In the sense that a lot of them signed up due to propaganda, lack of options, and being preyed upon by recruiters while they were children, there is an element of tragedy. It’s just less tragic than what they contribute to.
It seems like everyone near me (Missouri) is a bit numb at this point. Like if you directly asked an opinion, sure, they’d say it’s a terrible thing. Especially the elder veterans
But no one is really talking about it. I don’t really watch much TV anymore, and this is my only social media; this is the ONLY place I’ve heard about it. I work as a manufacturing engineer and a good number of the operators tend to be right leaning.
I think a major factor is that even for these folk, the meddling in the middle east for decades has soured any of the initial “patriotism” behind it.
There’s no “Fuck yeah, did you hear we blew up xyz? Check out this video!” Or “That airbase in Iran got bombed. They should just bomb the shit out of em back”
Seems like it’s just another day now. Less distress/commentary than getting a flat tire the day before.
I also work in mfg, as a consultant. I try not to talk politics with operators, but yeah what I do hear anymore isn’t excited or even half-hearted. Just kinda resigned.
On the engineering side, the operators are the machine better than I ever will, so their input is critical.
Some are a bit reserved around salaried folks, as the koolaide drinkers up front tend to be strictly business and not show much loyalty to the operators.
Hearing them out on politics or whatever they want to talk about helps break down that hesitance to tell me what’s really happening. I’m not going to narc on them to management about the shortcuts they’re taking to circumvent a design flaw if it means they TELL me about the flaw, and we can try to resolve it.
In the sense that a lot of them signed up due to propaganda, lack of options, and being preyed upon by recruiters while they were children, there is an element of tragedy. It’s just less tragic than what they contribute to.
It seems like everyone near me (Missouri) is a bit numb at this point. Like if you directly asked an opinion, sure, they’d say it’s a terrible thing. Especially the elder veterans But no one is really talking about it. I don’t really watch much TV anymore, and this is my only social media; this is the ONLY place I’ve heard about it. I work as a manufacturing engineer and a good number of the operators tend to be right leaning. I think a major factor is that even for these folk, the meddling in the middle east for decades has soured any of the initial “patriotism” behind it. There’s no “Fuck yeah, did you hear we blew up xyz? Check out this video!” Or “That airbase in Iran got bombed. They should just bomb the shit out of em back” Seems like it’s just another day now. Less distress/commentary than getting a flat tire the day before.
I also work in mfg, as a consultant. I try not to talk politics with operators, but yeah what I do hear anymore isn’t excited or even half-hearted. Just kinda resigned.
On the engineering side, the operators are the machine better than I ever will, so their input is critical. Some are a bit reserved around salaried folks, as the koolaide drinkers up front tend to be strictly business and not show much loyalty to the operators. Hearing them out on politics or whatever they want to talk about helps break down that hesitance to tell me what’s really happening. I’m not going to narc on them to management about the shortcuts they’re taking to circumvent a design flaw if it means they TELL me about the flaw, and we can try to resolve it.