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The practice of molding young men by the military has been with us for at
least 2500 years. The prime example is that exemplar of military virtue,
Sparta. From the age of about 7, young men were taken by the state and
through a harsh regimen of physical and emotional abuse were turned into
what some claim even today are the ultimate soldiers. An interesting
sidelight, given the current arguments around gays in the military, is that
homosexuality and pedophilia may have been an integral part of the Spartan
army and society. I guess you'll fight harder if the guy next to you is your
lover.
Basic training in almost all armies is deliberately designed to stress the
recruit/draftee physically and emotionally to break down previous
commitments to family and friends, and instill commitment to his new unit.
Soldiers don't fight and sacrifice for abstractions like the nation,
freedom, democracy, capitalism, communism, or even their families. Rather,
they fight for their buddies who they shared a lot of tough times with. This
response appears to be deeply engrained in our psyches. Thus you see all
sorts of attrocities commited by troops when a buddy is killed. They want
vengeance, and don't always need proof the people the vengeance is inflicted
on are the actual perpetrators.
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