ACist Military Officer? What should I do?

[AWoodside]

Sorry if this isn't appropriate for this forum, please feel free to delete/move.

I have a bit of a dilemma that I thought some of you guys might have some insight on. I’ll give what I believe are all pertinent details about myself and my situation...

I’m a senior at a top ranked college (like #1 or #2 every year on those Princeton review things) and will graduate with a double major in physics/philosophy in May. I couldn’t get any financial aid for a few complicated reasons (basically my parents fall somewhere between grossly negligent and actively criminal on the ‘doing your taxes’ spectrum) and didn’t have many outside financial resources. I basically had to make a choice between getting paid to go to a state school or finding a way to pay the roughly 40k+/year to go to the school I’m at. For whatever reason I decided to take a Navy ROTC scholarship that covered about 35k/year and cover the rest with work/loans. Thanks to poker I’ll graduate with basically no debt, and a 5 year obligation to the Navy.

My dilemma is that I’ve basically become an anarcho-capitalist in the meantime. Before college I didn’t think much about political beliefs, but during freshman year I was friends with some activists and through conversations with them I was led to analyze what I thought about politics and decided I was a libertarian. Over the next three years, partly due to 2+2 and partly due to further/deeper thinking about the subject, I’ve decided that to be internally consistent given my guiding principles I’m pretty much by default an ACist. For obvious reasons this has led to a fair amount of internal strife. I’m just wondering what some ACist think I should do, and their general thoughts on the matter.

Some things to think about:
I’m 99% confident that serving in the Navy will be +EV for me. They’re sending me to get a masters in Nuclear Engineering (which counts as part of the 5 years… so it’s really more like 3.5 out active in the fleet) and given my intellectual interests I’m extremely excited about this part of it. Also, being in the military gets you a lot of respect in this country. Being a veteran will lead to a lot of opportunities down the road on top of making people more likely to listen and weigh fairly any radical opinions I might have. I’ve served on a submarine (which is where I’ll be eventually) for a month or two during the summers already and, bracketing all the AC-related qualms, I’m pretty sure I’ll enjoy it. In the event of large-scale war I think I’d be safer in a US Submarine than a major US city. Also, nuclear power officers make a pretty decent salary, especially given that I’m planning on staying single. Finally, military uniforms make getting laid a hell of a lot easier. This has been very true for me thus far even though I live in an extremely liberal area and have crappy ROTC uniforms.

I say I’m an ACist, which is true, but maybe in a weaker sense than some. Basically, I’m a nihilist with an extremely strong aesthetic preference for freedom. So if all else fails, I can rationalize my involvement with the US military by citing the fact that nothing really matters in a deep, ultimate sense anyway. That being said, it still makes me a bit queasy.

I don’t think I could make more than 50k or so a year in poker given my current skill level, which I suppose could be improved upon, but right now I’m not sure if it’s a realistic option. If I quit the Navy I’d owe them roughly 150k. Also, I did sign a contract with them back when I was 18. If I could do things over again obviously I wouldn't join the military, I'd probably get paid $500/month to go to my state school and apply to grad-school somewhere nice. However, I did sign a contract and I think reneging on my agreement would be a bit cowardly/distasteful.

Anyway, that’s a lot longer than I wanted it to be, so thanks if you’ve read this far. I’d appreciate any comments/suggestions/thoughts.

[BCPVP]

Depends on who you ask, I guess. People like Nielso will probably demand you kill yourself. I think that if you want to serve out your contract and then be done with the Navy, that's fine. We all have contacts with the government in one form or another that are almost unavoidable. I look at it as the government has limited my options so sometimes I will have to interact with it. If it makes you feel any better, Mises, Rothbard, and Hoppe all taught at state universities.

Ultimately, you need to decide what you feel is right. Btw, your "path" to AC is identical to mine.

[govman6767]

Walter Souchek said it best in the Big Lewbowski. (Nihlism)

That's the best part of america you can decide to to whatever you want.

Stick with the Navy nuclear Eng. is way +EV you might discover the bomb that destroys the earth.

[Nielsio]

I have a rather long response planned.

But I'd already like to say that you could post your question here as well:
http://freedomainradio.com/board/for...icsActive.aspx

There are many people dealing with similar type of situations.

For example there was one kid who thought about working for the airforce base in his local area.

[wdcbooks]

Honestly, I don't understand what the problem is. You signed a contract with all the terms fully disclosed in exchange for compensation in the form of tuition assistance. It was my understanding that voluntary agreements are the lifeblood of AC. You made one. Keep it.

[canis582]

C-

[AWoodside]

[ QUOTE ]
Honestly, I don't understand what the problem is. You signed a contract with all the terms fully disclosed in exchange for compensation in the form of tuition assistance. It was my understanding that voluntary agreements are the lifeblood of AC. You made one. Keep it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Of course you’re right that this was voluntary and therefore a lot of ACist qualms are assuaged in a certain sense. I suppose the problem is that there is a way I can avoid serving in the Navy without breaking contract, which would be to pay them back for my education/$$ they spent training me in the summer (the 150k I mentioned). Right now this doesn't seem worth it to me, so in effect I'm putting a price on my principles. My life will be a lot easier if I decide to serve in the Navy for 5 years and then get out... so it looks like I'm off to kill people for money.

Referring to it as "killing people for money" may be a bit extreme, but I like to frame things in the most challenging way possible when trying to decide my own, personal course of action. I also realize that in some sense every person who lives in the US and doesn't refuse to pay their taxes is supporting the same causes I'm having moral qualms about... but there are abstraction layers and then there are abstraction layers. Also, paying taxes is coercive (if you don't men with guns will come make you/take you away) whereas my refusal to participate in the military would simply cause me a great deal of financial strife + the loss of the +EV aspects of being an officer I described above.

So basically what it comes down to is that I'm actively supporting an institution that I have moral qualms with (and I do have other options, albeit fairly -EV ones) but right now it seems like the net +EV is worth more than my principles. Framed that way, coupled with a healthy dose of nihilism, it doesn't actually seem that horrible to me. However, at an absolute minimum it makes me extremely uneasy. Also, I worry that I'll regret my decision post-commissioning, at which point I'll really be stuck because attempts to quit could result in life-destroying criminal charges (treason, dishonorable discharge, etc), jail time, or a host of other things that would basically compromise me for the rest of my life in the good old US of A.

I need to reconcile these issues in the immediate future or it wont matter anyway. I have to either find the courage to quit and strike out on my own massively in debt, or somehow come to peace with the apparent contradictions between my beliefs and lifestyle for the next five years or so. Hope that clarifies things a bit.

p.s. I'm not really worried about my ability to perform as an officer, regardless of whether or not I end up regretting the decision. I've had a lot of experience with analogous situations and always excelled, regardless of my personal feelings... so this isn't an issue. If I decide to go through with it and become a military officer I'll give the Navy what I promised them in my contract and I'm confident that my performance will be rated highly.

[TomCollins]

Just pretend you are part of a paid security force... unless you are a pacifist like Nielso.

[troymclur]

I really see no problem here, other than you complaining about the contract you willingly signed up for. Think about it this way, your mind will do much good in the military by offering ideas that are virtually non-existant in the environment. Why not see what you can do to help the military be a better organization rather than look for a way out? You're going to be an officer, after all, and that will give you the ability to make a far greater impact on peoples lives than if you were enlisted or not in the military at all.

[arahant]

You know, you are really kind of screwing the taxpayers here, if that makes you feel better. They (I) have already given you 150k upfront; add on the advanced instruction, + 5 years of pay, and it looks to me like you are being grotesquely overpaid for 3.5 years of work. So it should be pretty easy to view this as sucking the lifeblood out of the corrupt government institution. Or just screwing me...whatever conforms to this ACBS best...

What exactly are you otherwise planning on doing in the next 5 years that is somehow noble (by your standards)?

But hey, at least your parents didn't pay taxes!