Enforcement of private property rights.
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Police, Fire departments, educating children, the military etcâŚ
Unless one is rich it is difficult to provide these things without a government. Anyone that says a government is not needed has never lived where there is no functioning government.
Of course one could move to the wilderness and live off the land, carry your own water, defend yourself, educate your own children, fight your own fires if you had enough money from somewhere to make the move. Thereâs nothing wrong with being a hermit and a few who cannot make it in society make that move. I encourage them.
All of these could be done cheaper and better. And they would be voluntary services. We have been brainwashed into thinking this is the only way to do things. Itâs not.
Done with this. NH_Domer is a troll
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No, you just canât wrap your head around a world without âmuh gubmint.â
Mass Maritime is an excellent academy. I personally donât believe the word regiment belongs in the Maritime Industry. Integrity and character can not be instilled through a regimented environment, you either have it or you donât.It starts at home. Iâm sure it makes for good soldiers. If im on a ship with you in I hope you also have the skills and knowledge being in command of a ship and my life,
I see zero purpose for the regiment as a vet. All the vets participating do so because we have to. Iâm sure none of us expected to leave service become college students to be part of a more poorly run, fluffed up pseudo military outfit with nothing but busy work that takes away from actual studies. Any vet who completed their contract honorably should be able to just fulfill their STCW requirements and go to class like a normal damn person.
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I think there may be a place in the student market, and job market, for different academies with, or without, regiments.
Traditionalist alumni probably want a rigorous regiment (like they had back in the day). MSC, the Navy, and some other government agencies might prefer job applicants from an academy with a regiment.
Employers run by younger lawyers, accountants, and MBAs (many companies) may think that regiments are old fashioned nonsense. Regimental time could be better spent on developing better computer and spreadsheet skills.
A troubled student that needs a âcharacter buildingâ education with discipline might benefit a great deal from a regiment.
Personally, as a hawespiper, I do not place much value on regiments. If I were an older tuition paying customer (student), I would probably not be willing to spend my money on a regiment or put up with the nonsense.
Different people might have their needs best met by different academies.
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Your right there, freedom isnât free. When you stopped paying taxes on tea the protection ended and the Barbary pirates had a field day until Congress had to establish a permanent navy.
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A regiment is the cheapest, easiest way for drumming a sense of discipline into a young person. It is also a remnant of the original days of the USMM, when merchant mariners could be counted on to work in convoys.
It is not the best way, in my option, to instill discipline, but all the other ways are more costly. There is a cost to everything, and maritime academies are already very costly to run.
If cost was not an object, a better way would be to put maritime academy students through rigorous on-the-water training, virtually every day they are at school. Push them physically and mentally, on different types of vessels, from the most primitive to the most advanced, in ever escalating levels of maritime endeavors, such that only those people who truly wanted to be professional mariners would stick it out, and on the other end come out hardened, knowledgeable seamen.
But such a system would not only be costly, it would also mean only a few students would graduate. While this would drive up the labor cost of officers by decreasing the labor pool, parents send their children to college to pass, not to fail, and the financial cost of dropping out of college is high. There is a dropout level for students at colleges above which the college is no longer attractive for potential students.
Hence the regiment: discipline, easy and cheap, and adequate for the purpose of commerce.
All the vets who came in the academy when I was there were considered as âday studentsâ from what I remember and had minimal inclusion in the regiment.
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I went to Schuyler as a vet. I lived on campus and participated in the regiment ( sort of ) for the first 2 years. Myself and the other vets were officially supposed to do all the reg stuff, but we didnât. We wore our ribbons and the senior students understood. The reg office guys, all vets of course, understood. So as long as we cut our hair, wore the uniform well, and didnât rub anyoneâs nose in it we were fine. Some of us got together and moved off campus junior and senior year, became day students. Understand midratsâ point - but after 4 years in the service we all knew how to keep our head down and work the system. We didnât get anything out of the regiment - other than going through it with our classmates, and helping them with it when we could. And that is the part that was most important and lasts the longest.
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You dream, sir
I wish that were the case here in Maine, most of us live off campus (god help you if you are a non-traditional regiment student in the doors you still get the full regiment treatment). Muster five days a week at 7 am, whatâs that? You donât have class until 10 am too bad drive the 30 minutes - 1 hour and be here (if your earliest class is 11 am you can chit out of two muster days max a week). Keeping the head down is the easy part, I would have fewer complaints if I had more distractions but Maine isnât New York and staying motivated takes all the energy I have.
In college, I made a point of living within easy walking distance of campus, the library, the gym, favorite coffee shops and pubs, etc. That is not easy in a small place like Castine.
A college should encourage students to live nearby, and socialize on and near campus.
I hear that kids at Castine, especially older students, flee the campus as soon, and as much, as possible to avoid all the regimental nonsense, like wearing specific clothing on campus, walking around campus turning square corners, Etc., etc. This is an odd, and counter productive way to go to college.
So âŚquit. If the routine is that hard it is probably best to find an easier way of life. It only gets worse after this
I think you are missing what I am saying, its tedious and annoying to call it âhardâ would be a stretch. The studies are hard when I am spending my additional time doing regimental bs. No one is saying this is some impossible task I just find it pointless. If you disagree with that aspect and the regiment gave you something kudos to you.
No one who has the means to stays around campus older and younger students alike. The older students here are immune to most of it (the no normal clothes after school hours and pathway restrictions) but we only come here to get things done (as it should be).
In any case good luck to you. Keep your eye on the prize. Speaking as an older man now, those years go by very fast. Going to Schuyler was be far the tuning point in my life. Whatever the inconvenience - I am sure you will look back on it in the the not to distant future and know it was well worth it. Us vets have to stick together !!!
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Its worth it and the instructors here certainly know their stuff which is motivating. I know despite my complaints I will blink and it will be over.