A nation of wussies
ByI must be getting older because more and more things piss me off. The rest that doesn’t tick me off makes me go “WTF?!” before I shake my head in despair for the human race. The things that bugs me the most these days are the dumbing down of the news/debating issues and how we’re turning into a nation of whining, sniveling wussies.
I’m not going to touch the former today, that’s a rant for another day, but I’ll vent on the second a bit now. Just today, the Belgian Army released a report on it’s recruiting efforts over the last year:
- 7.600 candidates applied for the 1.295 open positions.
- 30% failed the first medical test
- In 43% of those cases, their medical condition was such that re-applying was out of the question.
So almost one in three fails to be in good enough health to be allowed to enter our armed forces… That’s pretty damn bad. Now I don’t think the Belgian military is going to win a war anytime soon ( I’m allowed to say it, I served my country) but that’s besides the point. What on earth is going on that young men and women are dropping like flies in the army’s medical tests? OK… Here’s what the report said:
- Much more than in the past, candidates fail the hearing tests.
- Test positive for drug use.
- Bad back.
- Over-or underweight. (My guess is overweight tops the charts)
- Dental problems.
Funny that, barring exceptions, all of those things are avoidable by living a healthy and active lifestyle. And even funnier still that when I was in the army, virtually nobody failed the medical for those reasons. Back then, when military service was mandatory, you had to be almost crippled, deaf and blind before they rejected you.
There were drugs too, back then. I went to loud-as-hell death metal concerts and had a pretty cool “music” collection. There was just as much food as today. And dentists were cheaper. So what’s the problem?
Maybe today’s youngsters have just become weaker than before. Sounds like an old man complaining about youth, I know. But I get enough teenagers in my class to see that a bunch of them are way out of shape. Some are skinny as a skeleton, others are overweight. That’s not a big deal per se but I rarely see a teenager walk in who’s already in good shape. It seems the Belgian military has similar experiences…
I may be way off base here but here are a few ideas for those to whom this applies:
- Put the frikkin’ Ipod away. And if you absolutely “Oh my God I can’t live without my music!!!” have to listen to it, turn down the volume to a normal level. The earplugs are almost touching your eardrum! The sound cannot come much closer to you than that! If you’re half-deaf by the time you hit forty (serious hearing damage tends to be irreversible) don’t come complaining or ask the government for disability.
- Don’t do drugs. It’s not rocket science: just don’t touch the crap. There’s no upside: you wreck your body for a temporary high, you alienate friends and family, you ruin your own future. Nope, no upside anywhere in sight… And yes, weed is a drug too. And it has far more harmful effects than your pot-smoking buddies either know about or want to acknowledge. That crap stays in your system for months on end after you finish smoking.
- Go to the damn dentist twice a year. Your mouth is filled with bacteria at all times. If you don’t brush your teeth every day and get them checked out every six months, they rot and make you sick. And you’ll stink out of your mouth too. Sheees…
- Eat healthy. Mc Donalds does not make healthy food. If it’s fried, it’s probably full of fat. If it’s sweet, it’s probably a caloric bomb. You learned that as a kid in school, it’s not new information. Don’t use those foods as a staple for your diet. They’re a treat, an exception to the rule. There’s no law that says that you’re entitled to eating chocolate and fries every day. Nobody is taking away your civil rights when they say you shouldn’t eat too much of it. So get over it.
- Get off your lazy but and exercise. Pick a sport, any sport, and stick with it. Doesn’t matter which one, pick one that’s fun. If you grow tired of it, pick another. Exercise is not a luxury. It’s a frikkin’ necessity. And no, Wii Sports is not better than going to a 90 min. muay Thai class. You won’t die if you sweat a little.
It’s really not that difficult. I’m not saying anything groundbreaking or new either. Just some common sense and you’ll go a long way.
For some reason, today’s society seems to think an out of shape, teeth-rot-sporting, doped up, fat, near-deaf young man is perfectly acceptable. Well I don’t. I’d spank the crap out of my kid if he/she ended up like that. And as the parent, it’d be my fault to boot. So I’d have to ask somebody to kick my butt for messing up so bad my kid can’t even join the Belgian army. It’s not like we have the best military in the world or anything. Shees.
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Scene: Wim and I are sitting on a park bench, wrapped warmly in our old man sweaters, ogling passing line-skater babes, and grumbling about the way things ought to be.
Me: “And another thing young people: put down the damn cellphone for five minutes! You walk around with it in your hand like it’s part of your palm. You’re either talking on it as you’re walking in the mall with friends, typing feverishly on it when it’s not glued to your ear, or you’re looking at all your past texts.
“Understand this: It’s okay to spend time thinking once in a while. It’s okay to look into your own mind. It’s okay to day dream, to form opinions about things on your own, to plan, to work things out using – your frigging mind.
“Not your cell.”
Okay, Im done. Come on Wim, I’ll treat you to some prune juice.
LOL! After the prune juice we should go tossing empty beer cans at homeless people while shouting “Get a job!”
:-)
Scene: Wim and I are sitting on a park bench, wrapped warmly in our old man sweaters, ogling passing line-skater babes, and grumbling about the way things ought to be.
Me: “And another thing young people: put down the damn cellphone for five minutes! You walk around with it in your hand like it’s part of your palm. You’re either talking on it as you’re walking in the mall with friends, typing feverishly on it when it’s not glued to your ear, or you’re looking at all your past texts.
“Understand this: It’s okay to spend time thinking once in a while. It’s okay to look into your own mind. It’s okay to day dream, to form opinions about things on your own, to plan, to work things out using – your frigging mind.
“Not your cell.”
Okay, Im done. Come on Wim, I’ll treat you to some prune juice.
LOL! After the prune juice we should go tossing empty beer cans at homeless people while shouting “Get a job!”
:-)
No, really, stop. You’re making me misty.
No, really, stop. You’re making me misty.
And what are you doing with that picture of Loren from his Uniform days at PPD?
Picture? What picture? I know nothing, I didn’t do it, nobody saw me do it… :-)
And what are you doing with that picture of Loren from his Uniform days at PPD?
Picture? What picture? I know nothing, I didn’t do it, nobody saw me do it… :-)
My experience is that teens-early 20s are much more fragile now, not only in body. Only guys I’ve met who had compulsive self-harm were in that range, some four-five years ago. My wife’s a teacher, and what she says sounds familiar.
Also, at least here, kids don’t run at school. Nor do they take the steps in twos or anything like that. Feels weird to visit her at work.
About the rest: I’d put drugs –including, at least, alcohol– and fast food together. You can risk once in a while, but it’s a real risk. No, I don’t do drugs. I don’t do McDonald’s either. In my experience, people who take a regular, *_functional_*, dose of drugs are no healthier than people who take fast food or sweets regularly, but they aren’t much worse.
When I was drafted, we had our standard sanitation talk. One of the complaints of the medical officer [Psy Corps, BTW] was that drugs short-circuited learning. From my side of the fence, one of the best points against them.
My experience is that teens-early 20s are much more fragile now, not only in body. Only guys I’ve met who had compulsive self-harm were in that range, some four-five years ago. My wife’s a teacher, and what she says sounds familiar.
Also, at least here, kids don’t run at school. Nor do they take the steps in twos or anything like that. Feels weird to visit her at work.
About the rest: I’d put drugs –including, at least, alcohol– and fast food together. You can risk once in a while, but it’s a real risk. No, I don’t do drugs. I don’t do McDonald’s either. In my experience, people who take a regular, *_functional_*, dose of drugs are no healthier than people who take fast food or sweets regularly, but they aren’t much worse.
When I was drafted, we had our standard sanitation talk. One of the complaints of the medical officer [Psy Corps, BTW] was that drugs short-circuited learning. From my side of the fence, one of the best points against them.
Ha! That was damned funny, and 100% right on the mark. Except for one thing – it’s not a nation of wussies – more like “Wuss World” The youth of the entire industrialized world is in the same sucking cesspool. For instance, check out my interview with Gene Lebell for his opinion on this topic…
http://www.mokurendojo.com/2008/05/mokuren-interview-judo-gene-lebell.html
“Wuss world”… That’d make a great T-shirt logo. :-)
Ha! That was damned funny, and 100% right on the mark. Except for one thing – it’s not a nation of wussies – more like “Wuss World” The youth of the entire industrialized world is in the same sucking cesspool. For instance, check out my interview with Gene Lebell for his opinion on this topic…
http://www.mokurendojo.com/2008/05/mokuren-interview-judo-gene-lebell.html
“Wuss world”… That’d make a great T-shirt logo. :-)
i live in america and it’s the same way here. what’s worse is that most of the time they’re also really arrogant too. it’s like they feel they are so great about being so pathetic.
i live in america and it’s the same way here. what’s worse is that most of the time they’re also really arrogant too. it’s like they feel they are so great about being so pathetic.
Wim’s next book, “Get Off My Lawn! Mastery of the Cane as a Self-Defense Weapon.”
Lol!
Wim’s next book, “Get Off My Lawn! Mastery of the Cane as a Self-Defense Weapon.”
Lol!
That’s not too far fetched, I am sure Wim has the DVD of Master Cheng from the 60′s. It has an “elderly” gentlemen doing… a cane form:-)
And, no surprise, our media recently reported that the military is having a hard time with new recruits. Seems that they are so out of shape they can’t hack the Physical Training part. (Remembering that when I volunteered to join the U.S. Navy in 1974 I thought that their physical training was a joke – having done nothing more than High School basketball, lift weights for a couple of years, box a little, and be “normal” for a North Central Washington State guy.)
We could look at the question from a little different perspective though. Given what our generation and those before us have done to the planet and where the political systems have gotten us, is it any wonder that today’s youth aren’t too enthused with taking anything (that we consider important) seriously? I can see where they might develop a little apathy and cynicism. After all, they (the majority) were drugged by the Medical cartel since birth, put in a trance by the Marketing Media by age 3, and feed a steady diet of dysfunction their whole life. When and where would they have picked up the values, the work ethic (or any other ethic) or the knowledge to operate at a different standard?
It isn’t all bad news though. There are exceptions, even some trends that are promising. And… when things get really really bad – all the way to one extreme – they tend to revert back in the other direction: the concensus toward common sense in sustainable practices has to take hold… eventually. At least I want to believe that (given the alternatives):-)