Technocracy: Blog

The most common thread among recent comments has been about the reality of how the American military legal system is being portrayed; that is, some believe it is a bit over the top.

Guilty as charged. By design, much of what I write is hyperbolic. I believe that my portrayal of the way the UCMJ is unequally enforced, and used a blunt tool to beat down dissent and non-conformity, and punish members that have made an officer look stupid, is accurate.

Infractions and crimes are not equally enforced and similar UCMJ violations are punished unequally. An officer, no matter what illegal or unprofessional act was committed, is typically, at worst, told to walk away (recently, due to much criticism, a few officers have been reduced in rank, but were allowed to retire honorably, with a pension). For a similar offense, an enlisted member will more likely be incarcerated and/or kicked out on a less than honorable discharge.

I have personally seen a security violation where, for the exact same instance and action, a blatant consideration was given to the officer, while the enlisted member, who was actually less culpable, was sent to the brig for six months and given an other-than-honorable discharge. The officer was told that he had been a very bad boy and that he should really try to not be a bad boy.

When a typical 21st century junior enlisted soldier or Marine is compared to a company-grade officer, the knowledge/skills/attributes differ only in level of training. From OCS to TBS to IOC, officer training is longer and more complete and more intense when compared to enlisted boot camp and ITB (49 weeks vs 22 weeks). So why are a group of people that are older and better educated and better trained allowed more tolerance for criminal and non-professional behavior?

It is called elitism. And it is the antithesis of the meritocracy that the American military purports itself to be. Yes, again I admit to being hyperbolic, but it is generally true. The UCMJ is a sword of damocles that is held by officers over the heads of enlisted members in lieu of mastering the principles of leadership.

Before I am accused of ill-begotten references to the British, or of offering a skewed and inaccurate portrayal stemming from my sympathetic views for my relatives in the Old Country, it should be noted that, somewhat less hyperbolic, but similar experiences were provided by two U.S. Army ranger senior NCOs.

I have worked with many a fine British engineer. Competent and well spoken and open-minded. I have also worked with senior officers of Her (now His) Majesty's service. They are two different species. I am not certain which are more representative of the U.K. as a people.

In defense of the U.K., I will say that I would not be a pleasant person if I had spent a life eating English chow. Other than fish and chips and Shakespeare and Hawking and Timothy Berners-Lee, the English have nothing culinary or of the arts to offer the world.

And would the Brits please have Harry permanently return to his homeland? We already have our beloved royalty - oft referred to as the NFL, NBA, and MLB.

Use the Schwartz and heed the teachings of Yogurt.

Will post chapter 10 shortly. Threw out about half of this chapter - too much blah blah blah. That, and I was sick of editing. I hate editing; I really hate it.

Did I tell you that I hate editing?

While I am waiting for a client to get his head out of his ass, I have a few minutes to respond to, surprisingly, the most commonly asked question about W&S - meditation. I learned meditation while in the military, continued it through college and until my mid 30s. Then picked it up again during my late 50s, and continue to this day.

I am not an expert on the subject, and I do not understand the physics of the brain. I do not have a clue as to how this shit works. But it does work. That said, I cannot recommend a particular book or a specific method. I know, totally useless.

Spirituality. Whether your path to meditation is through a secular or non-secular means is relevant only to you. For what little it is worth, I believe that the secular approach is more direct and has less confusions. But that is just me.

Some stuff about the process of mediation. Initial attempts will not be easy, and many will get frustrated and quit. It takes discipline and focus. Meditation can be self-taught; difficult, but it can be done. Meditation should not be used to escape, or otherwise avoid reality.

This stuff is personal. You can use directed methods to get started, but you should break away from your meditation tutor as soon as possible. We all have different goals, different needs, different strengths, different weakness, and differing abilities to understand.

You never 'master' meditation. You will reach plateaus of mindfulness and awareness, but there is no such animal is the perfect master of meditation. Anyone that claims to be a 'master' is a scammer or deluded or whacked.

"Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end."
- Mr. Spock, The Undiscovered Country

Just submitted another chapter.

Several comment on the use of 'Pause' as military pronunciation of 'pos' for position. I should have just used 'pos'.

Accuracy vs precision. The former is how good your system is; and the latter is, statistically, a measure of randomness. I am sure that there is a wiki entry having a much better description.