Brook Posted March 5, 2014 Posted March 5, 2014 Alright. Here goes. Hi, I'm Brook, and I'm from upstate New York. I'm excited to be here and participate in a/the conversation. I don't know exactly where to start. In my experiences with forums I usually have to initiate something to get a feel for the posters and the general flow of topics. In having almost no set philosophy(or even sophistry) after 14 years of American military, I've felt kinda lost for a good portion of my life. Funny, I've never been actually a big fan of authority despite my service time. I joined on the notion that every last one of my family members who didn't, became a douche. After getting out of the military, I've since been trying to free my mind and establish myself. I've cut off almost all ties with an family (Mostly that was due to awkward reception I had when I came home with a foreign wife) and moved to a state I've never lived in to start a job I've never done. I've lived here for six years and things have been good, but hardly any people to talk to. I'm fairly satisfied with leaving that life behind. I'm 38 and I have a lot of catching up to do. I've become an atheist and very interested in science. I've come to the understanding government is completely incompetent and can be very burdensome if you let it. I have no ties to the VA or any sort of military pension. It seemed worthless to me at the time I got out and I don't regret the decision I've made especially when I've heard how the VA treats veterans with serious conditions. People change, I've changed. I could be deemed eternally immoral or accepted as learning and taking on a more rational point of view. Posted this from my phone/please excuse the discrepancies.
dsayers Posted March 5, 2014 Posted March 5, 2014 Welcome. Thank you for sharing some of your story. I'd be interested in hearing more about coming home with a foreign wife and your family responding in a way that was awkward. Did they know about her before your return? How long did you two know each other before getting married? If your family was important to you before getting married, how did it come to pass that you got married without her meeting them? I've come to the understanding government is completely incompetent and can be very burdensome if you let it. More important, it's immoral. I'm an incompetent roofer, but since I'm never on people's roofs, it's not important. Anyways, I'd also be interested in hearing more about your journey. How much have you studied philosophy or worked towards self-knowledge for example?
Brook Posted March 5, 2014 Author Posted March 5, 2014 Welcome. Thank you for sharing some of your story. I'd be interested in hearing more about coming home with a foreign wife and your family responding in a way that was awkward. Did they know about her before your return? How long did you two know each other before getting married? If your family was important to you before getting married, how did it come to pass that you got married without her meeting them? I was stationed in Korea for five years. I met my wife two years into that stay. I dated her for a year before we married. Good choice. We've been married for 10 years. Another reason I joined the service was to make up for being a unruly teenager and get closer to my father. When I finished active duty, I brought her to the US with me. We stayed for a couple of months with my dad. He didn't like her and made a point of it by acting like an ass when whenever she cleaned or did something to contribute to their household- wasn't good enough. More important, it's immoral. I'm an incompetent roofer, but since I'm never on people's roofs, it's not important. Anyways, I'd also be interested in hearing more about your journey. How much have you studied philosophy or worked towards self-knowledge for example? I'm a so-so railroad worker nowadays. I'm new to Philosophy and I really like it. Self knowledge?
dsayers Posted March 5, 2014 Posted March 5, 2014 Self knowledge? Understanding as to what you think and feel and why. For example, you called yourself an unruly teenager. How do you know? What does that mean? WHY did you behave in ways that came to be labeled as an unruly teenager. I don't know what unruly teenager means, but it sounds like it's supposed to be a contrast to other teenagers. Therefore there's an explanation as to why. I'm curious if you know the reasons. Or how about the way you answered some of my question pertaining to the process of getting married vs family reaction, but not all. I'm not saying you have to, but it would be useful to you to understand why it is you were willing to indulge in general, but avoided certain areas. On a separate note, I wasn't going to say anything at first since I wanted to be sensitive to your transition. However after a second utterance, I wanted to clarify something to see what you think of the clarification: If somebody steals money from everybody and then hands it to you so that you will do things that would be immoral for everybody else to do, this isn't "service." It's a common misnomer to refer to military participation as service.
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