“A great documentary miniseries about this topic is War: A Commentary by Gwynne Dyer.”
Episode on how basic training transforms recruits into soldiers
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A great documentary miniseries about this topic is War: A Commentary by Gwynne Dyer. In particular, the episode anyone's son will do: link this video The episode covers what goes into training young people who enter the marine core. It features candid interviews with drill sergeants and the recruits themselves about their motivations. Well worth a watch. One of the main points the episode makes is that the job of being a soldier is ultimately about killing and dying, something that doesn’t come naturally to most people. The method for turning young men into soldiers is basic training. According to Dyer the secret of basic training is that its not really about teaching people, its about changing people. He claims that if you want to change people quickly and radically, you put them in a place where the only right way to think and behave is the way you want them to. You isolate them and then apply enormous physical and mental pressure. i.e basic training. Essentially he claims that basic training is all about brain washing. In the linked interview Sebastian Junger talks a lot about what it means to be a man. In particular: “In that kind of environment,” Junger continues. “If you dare talk about what it means to be a man, what you’re saying is men are different from women.” and “We aren’t asking, ‘What does it mean to be a human being?’” he says. “‘What’s it mean to be a man?’ Once you have that conversation you offend a lot of academics.” and “Men are clearly wired for [war],” h