I only buy cars from countries with a US military base. That still leaves a lot of options. Just to name a few: Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, BMW, Mercedes, Audi, VW, Hyundai, Kia, Fiat, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Lotus

"You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll kiss five bucks goodbye!"
Yeah, good times. :)

No, that's good-guy morality. You can try to dismiss it with a pejorative, but I'll side with comic book morality over what I infer you consider a more mature and subtle value system.

"Not might makes right, but might _for_ right" - King Arthur, Camelot

Great post.

+1
Wish I had mod points.

Concur. There's no reason we can't establish a "subsistence floor", below which all critical needs are met. That doesn't prevent humans from seeking recognition, status, and exclusivity in other areas.

I think we've actually been heading this way for a while through technological inertia. As said above, being poor today is quite different than 100 years ago. At some point, poor will mean all your critical needs are met, but you lack the skills or desire to seek higher status. When that happens for everyone in the world, rather than appreciate how remarkable that is, we'll probably complain in the moment that it's unfair or still doesn't go far enough.

NOT very interactive.

bleh.

"Too much fighting" was a frequent complaint against Bioshock Infinite. People loved the story but had to wade through hundreds of bad guys to advance.

If they had an "Interactive Fiction" mode like Mass Effect 3, the game could have appealed to a much wider audience than the FPS crowd.

Granted you can watch it on YouTube to get around the fighting, but that's very interactive.

Mainstream solution using existing hardware without a lot of tinkering:

Server hardware: 5-year old multi-purpose Windows 7 PC (gaming, work) with a networked Silicondust HDHomeRun Prime tuner and Comcast Cablecard.
Server software: Windows Media Center, Plex server, MCEBuddy (to transcode and compress .WTV to .mp4 for mobile copies), iTunes
Clients: Roku with Plex, Xbox 360 (media center extender), Apple TV, mobile iOS devices w/ Plex

I can play games while WMC records two shows simultaneously in the background.
Plex on the Roku will transcode HD .WTV recordings on the fly.
Media Center extender on the XBox 360 works flawlessly. I wish they didn't yank the functionality from the XBone. I won't buy one until they add it back as an app.
Mobile devices can steam Plex locally, or must wait for MCEBuddy to finish transcoding to sync an mp4 for travel. This can take as long as the original recording playtime.
Apple TV will show the same mp4s I make for my mobile devices but I rarely use it for that.

You must not be talking about the Army; certainly not Army officer evaluations, anyway. Sr. Raters cannot rate more than a small percentage of their officers with a "top block". Their profiles are tracked, and abuse will likely end that senior officer's career.

Great post. Wish I had mod points.

Paradoxes largely resolve themselves.

I'm not sure what your point is about crimes committed by soldiers. It's mostly just speculation on their motivations and psyches. Soldiers are human, a cross-section of the society from which they're drawn, and certainly not perfect. However, the percentage of them who commit crimes is far lower than that of the general US population. You're negatively painting a large group of honorable people by the acts of a few. I would love to live in a world where we didn't need people to volunteer to serve and protect society. But that world doesn't exist yet. You seem to be in denial of this fact. Regardless, those who serve protect you anyway.

I realize you didn't say money. I was conflating your post with another's who said money was the only motivator.

Distrust of authority should be part of a healthy skepticism. To a point I'd even call it a virtue. But when you use that as a justification to vilify or denigrate those who choose to serve in a more authoritarian system and claim you can't be friends with them, I think that points more to your character than theirs. A mid-rank officer, such as an army captain, knows how to lead, follow, and get out of the way, while respecting both those he serves, and those who serve under him. While he is expected to follow orders, when lawful, he is also expected to use his brain and values (including his own healthy skepticism) to determine the best solution to a problem, and how to employ his people to execute the plan. And if unlawful orders are received, he is duty-bound to disobey. (Note: the word "obey" is not in the oath of office). You may not understand such a structure or those who volunteer for it, but nothing beats the experience of working with a committed team of folks who trust each other with their lives. To say it's only about money is to be truly ignorant of what it means to serve something bigger than yourself.