I am not able to pay this money into our Treasury to be expended in the
continuing illegal and immoral effort to kill or subdue more Vietnamese
people.
…I can’t live in peace with myself and pay taxes into a fund which goes
directly into the Vietnam War. This prospect has made me physically ill. Thus
if our tax system is so inequitable that it cannot find a reasonable
alternative, such as payment of these taxes into a fund which is not used in
this war, then I will be relieved to go to jail rather than pay money to the
war.
The JROTC
has been doing its thing in San Francisco’s public schools for
now. “It’s basically a branding
program, or a recruiting program for the military,” said Board member Dan
Kelly. Students get school credit for participating in the program, which is
funded 50/50 by the school district and the military.
The program prides itself on improving discipline in its students, but it does
so by instilling an authoritarian mindset. Its training materials are full of
evil crap of this sort:
“When troops react to command rather than thought, the result is more than just a good-looking ceremony or parade. Drill has been and will continue to be the backbone of military discipline.”
“Respect for authority and discipline go hand in hand, but the first one to be acquired must be discipline. Self-discipline involves voluntary acceptance of authority.”
“Among the traits of a good follower, loyalty is at the top of the list. This means loyalty to those above us on the chain of command, whether or not we agree with them.”
That sort of discipline we don’t need.
JROTC
infects children with the uniform-wearing, regimental, rank-worshipping,
responsibility-dodging, order-following pathology that has caused (and is
causing) so much trouble. Congratulations to the determined San Francisco
activists who finally kicked them out!