The following is a guest post from the Canadian Headhunter, part of the Recruiting.com BlogSwap
Ben Stein Slams Young Business Leaders
Ben Stein argues in The New York Times that the career-minded citizens of today don't hold a candle to the civic-minded businessmen of yesteryear. As proof, he runs through a list of successful men who signed up to fight in WW2.
But, note this: none of the people mentioned by Stein were career soldiers. They signed up when they were needed. And, the military doesn't need the common man now. The War on Terror is not the Second World War. Neither was Vietnam.
But, if the Western World once again requires the services of all fighting-aged men -- and women -- to thwart an imminent strategic threat, I think that we (or people younger than us) will answer the call just as our predecessors did before.
Here's a sample of what he says:
But what I did not know about John Weinberg was that even though he was rich and well connected, as a young man he joined the Marines to fight the Japanese in the Pacific, then fought again in Korea. That was Americaís ruling class then. The scions of the rich went off to fight.
My longtime pal and idol, Peter M. Flanigan ó a former high honcho of Dillon, Read; a high aide to my ex-boss, Richard M. Nixon; and heir to a large brewing fortune ó was once a naval aviator. My father left a comfortable job in Washington to join the Navy. The father of my pal Phil DeMuth left a successful career to be an Army Air Corps pilot, flying death-defying missions over Burma.
Congressmen resigned to serve. Senators resigned to serve. Professional athletes resigned to serve in the uniform. Now, who ís fighting for us in the fight of our lives?... Do the children of the powers on Wall Street resign to go off and fight... for the system that made them rich?... The other side considers it a privilege to fight and die for its beliefs.... On our side, it ís: Let the other poor sap do it. I've got to make money.... How can we fight this fight with the ruling class absent by its own sweet leave?
I'll admit that I don't think the Canadian public has much stomach for seeing Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan by suicide bombers. Pretty soon, they'll want us to pull out -- even though the soldiers themselves believe in what they are doing. But, at the same time, Ben doesn't mention the America First Committee.
Large numbers of Americans, including hero, Charles Lindbergh and future-president, Gerald Ford, wanted to keep the US out of the war. And, Gunther Plaut, who was a chaplain in the US Army during the war, wrote in his memoir that many soldiers did not know what they were fighting for even as they entered Germany.
I have a great and ever-growing appreciation for the sacrifices made by the Allied soldiers in the Second World War. But the Greatest Generation tag is often used as a stick to beat their descendants. And I don't think it's fair. Was 9/11 Pearl Harbour? Ben doesn't say but his entire argument rests upon it being so.
Author: The Canadian Headhunter, Recruiting Animal.com
