I saw this article the other day and thought it was interesting....its about a pretty big protest up in Berkley about military recruitment being or not being welcome in the area.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/12/berkeley.marines/index.html
I think that the military has the right to recruit wherever they please. If you don't want to be a part of the military walk right on by them and don't talk to them. I think its absolutely ridiculous to try and push someone or a group of people out of a city just because you don't approve of their actions or agree with their political views. I think it is kind of ironic that these people who are supposedly promoting peace and claim to be open minded are the same ones who are so closed minded when it comes to accepting groups of people different than they are.
Berkley is a very liberal area and I'm sure the military knows that they are not in a very welcome area....why someone would want to be in an area that they are not welcome is beyond me, but I do feel that people have the right to be there.
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I can agree with both sides of the argument. I have walked by many recruiters and not been bothered, but I have also know people who were hounded by recruiters.
I have heard that once you start talking to a recruiter you can not get them to stop. One girl from my last school used to receive daily calls on her home phone from recruitment offices trying to get her to join. They would offer great career opportunities and if she turned them down they would turn around and offer her scholarships, or something else.
I understand that recruiters are doing their job, but I do not like the way they have to exaggerate like a used car sales man. It makes me feel like they can not be trusted, and just saying hello could result in months of hounding like the girl I knew.
Like you said in your blog, accepting different groups is an important part of being open minded, but to tell you the truth I think it is a very difficult thing to be able to accept every group...I'm just not sure if it is apart of human nature...yet.
If anyone has been to Berkeley then you know who liberal and stubborn they can be. I saw students camp out in trees by the memorial stadium because those trees were going to be torn when the stadium gets renovated. More trees were going to put back afterwards, but I'm getting of topic.
Berkeley said no to have any army recruiters on the campus and that should be respected. You can't force your ideals on someone else. And I find it really distasteful when people say that just because we don't want recruiters at our school we are not supporting our troops and not being respectful.
I know for a fact that even though many people at Berkeley don't support the war they do support the troops and want them to come home safely and in one piece.
And when any member of the navy,or marines, or army and air force are there and are not recruiters as far as I can tell they are given the respect they deserve. At least that is what I see when I am there.
After having served ten years in the United States Navy, I support our military troops whether they are in Iraq or in Berkeley. However, through the course of time I have become an anti-war and support the fact that we should bring our troops back home. I know how it is. I have been there. I'm glad that I am on land and safely back home. But shouldn't recruiters be free to do their job at any town? It's up to the person whether they will persuaded or not by these military recruiters. I wish that the Berkeleans would leave them alone. As long as they are not violating any Berkeley laws denying them of their presence in this city is not right.
I agree with most of what you guys are saying...recruiters should not hound people but I don't think they should be asked to leave a city either. There needs to be a balance and mutual respect for each other from both sides.
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