My Utopian Society

I have a great way to piss off the Left. Let's have a nice managed society just like they want, but let's set it up like the social structure of the military. How could they resist a society where everyone has a rank that creates total job fairness? A male E-5 truck driver makes the same salary as a female E-5 day care worker. Along that line, military salaries for the most part are not on equal par with a comparable civilian salary for the exact same job, with the same seniority. The military pays less. With everyone making less money,  we can all subscribe to the president's statement, "there comes a time when you've made enough money". How fair is that?

Then there are the benefits. That's where you make up the difference...well, kind of...Here's what you get: You get free housing, or if housing is not available, you get a housing allowance. You get reduced cost shopping at the commissaries and exchanges. You get 30 days paid vacation per year, and if you get sick, you get sick and convalescent leave that doesn't count against that 30 days of ordinary leave. I've known people that had catastrophic illnesses, that were on ConLeave for up to a year or more, drawing full salary and benefits while they recovered. You get free medical and dental care, free medical care for your dependents, and very reasonable cost dental insurance for your dependents.

While you are on active duty, most common carriers like Amtrak, Greyhound, and a host of others like most airlines,  give you a military discount when you book travel with them, even if you are not travelling on orders. You get free space-A travel on military aircraft and contract charter air travel anywhere in the world. The military services have their own R and R facilities, that are open only to military personnel, retired military personnel, and their dependents. Those include the New Sanno Hotel in downtown Tokyo, Shades of Green in Orlando, Florida, and the Hale Koa Hotel on Waikiki Beach in Hawaii. I remember staying at the Pine Tree Inn at the Bangor, Maine Air National Guard Base with my wife and my parents for $8 per night per person. It was a 5 minute drive to the commissary for grocery shopping, and the facility had a fully equipped  kitchen and dining room, that you could use to cook and serve your own meals. All you had to do was clean up after yourself, and put everything away.

Wow! Any and all benefits to your life are provided by the government. Who wouldn't want to live in free government housing? Who wouldn't want free medical and dental care? Who wouldn't want this wonderful Utopian society?  I'll tell you who wouldn't want it. The Left wouldn't want it, because a large percentage of them would never become the officer ruling class.

By law, the Officer Corps is only allowed to make up 15% of the military. As we start to lean toward government provided higher education, college will have to be rationed. Only 15% of all high school graduates will be allowed to go to college. You need a college degree to become a military officer. Be careful what you ask for hippies, you just might get it.

All is not lost, however for you Liberal Arts and Revolutionary Underwater Basket Weaving majors, There are other options if you are not part of the top 15% of high school graduates. 10% of the military make up the Warrant Officer Corps, Warrant Officers are highly  specialized technicians that are afforded the benefits and courtesies of the Officer Corps, without the executive managerial responsibilities. For everyone else, there is the  Enlisted Corps. Now don't get your panties in a knot. Senior Enlisted personnel make pretty good money, and have a very high level of responsibility. They are the equivalent of a shop foreman. There is also prestige to being a Senior NCO, especially if you make E-9. E-9s are treated about the same as general officers, because they are few and far between. 20% of the Enlisted Force make E-7, 3% make E-8, and 1% make it all the way to the top at E-9. I made it to E-8.

The system worked very well for me. As a retired member of the military, and having experienced a full military career firsthand, I would have no problem with a society based on the social structure of the armed forces. President Obama said that he wants to "fundamentally transform America." Yes, let's "transform" it.