Yeah, Nicole. I hear you. I'm planning an article called, "The Secret Sauce in Military Recruiting Is Intergenerational Trauma".

I think anyone who joined, if they really think about it, has to ask the question, "What made running off to war safer than staying at home?"

And the really shitty part is one of the things we know about PTSD is that those of us who experienced anxiety/depression (directly fueled by trauma) in childhood are far more likely to experience PTSD symptoms later post service. But we can't talk about that because it could fuck your benefits.

But the military can't recruit from the ranks of the well-adjusted so they don't want to get serious screening out childhood anxiety/depression, nor could they because such a huge percentage of the population under 18 suffers from those things.

Then me and you grow up, traumatize our kids because we're fucked up from our service and our parents before that and then they run off and join the military and the cycle starts over.

[Fortunate Son fades in]

Good connecting with you.

Best, Matt