> At the end of the Cold War, I enlisted in the Navy because it was a good opportunity; there was no ambiguity regarding the bad guys; the military leadership was good; the elected leadership was generally tolerable.

Sounds like you received a healthy dose of cold war propaganda.

> I'm no longer able to encourage the youth to follow in my footsteps, as the opposite of the above is generally the case.

You sure about that? Because the same leadership, military and political, are in power as they were at the end of the cold war. Nothing changed in the US after the cold war because we won.

I think you have to come to terms on who the bad guys real were. The soviets weren't the evil empire. The evil empire is the one that beat the soviets. Or maybe the eviler empire beat the evil empire.

> Because the same leadership, military and political, are in power as they were at the end of the cold war.

OK, I don't think so.

> The soviets weren't the evil empire. When the Berlin Wall fell, which direction did the foot vote move?

> OK, I don't think so.

Doesn't matter what you think. It's a fact. No revolution swept the old guard from power. The system didn't change. I explained this to you.

> When the Berlin Wall fell, which direction did the foot vote move?

The wealthier side. You seem to mistake wealth with goodness.

Using your logic, because poor north koreans migrate to china or poor egyptians migrate to saudi arabia, it must mean china and saudi arabia are the good guys. That's the dumbest logic I've seen.

Between the soviet union and the US, the evil side exterminated a continent full of natives and dropped nuclear weapons. I'll let you figure out which side was the evil one. Anyway, thanks for your service killer.

In hindsight do you think either your experience in the Navy directly or the GI bill benefits from service gave you a major leg up in life?

I share the same feeling with smitty1e. But I have to admit, my military experience, GI Bill, and security clearance opened many doors for me. As you put it, it gave me a major leg up in life. I would make the same choice again unless I had better opportunities.

I certainly benefitted from both.

But history does not support experiments, so one cannot say whether something else would have been as profitable.

Staying married, going to college, living modestly, and working hard used to be the ticket.

These days, going to HVAC school or being an electrician or plumber might be preferred.

College seems to have become a dodgy choice, and one can always pick up coding on the side.