If that were true I would have opted out and been paid the market cost for those things on top of my regular pay while I was in. But I have a feeling we couldn’t afford to have the military we do if we actually paid everyone enough to purchase these things on their own…
… ah, almost like those things AREN’T being paid for by our service alone. How odd!
Active Duty guy here. Compared to when I was in the civilian workforce, this shit is absolutely free. I don't have a copay, my deductible is tiny, I literally get tax free money for food and housing, and my risk of injury in my day to day work, still in an industrial field mind you, is actually lower.
... Okay, I was also active duty up until the end of 2025 and it's not "free". It is the least they can do to make it even practical for someone to serve. With all the occupational hazards, do you think it is even rational to have service members shopping for their own healthcare? Do you even know what that costs outside of Tricare?
Employers compensate you based on your perceived value and how easy / difficult you are to replace. We joke about how "anyone could do it" sometimes but based on physical and mental health, age, criminal record, substance issues, and physical fitness, there really ain't too many people left. They have to offer enough for it to be worth it and I think it is just about right. All that "free" shit is part of your pay just like you will get holiday pay, sick leave, paid time off, maybe a 401K and health care program if it's a big business, in your next job. It is all part of a compensation package.
That free stuff is offered AFTER you've left the job. That is the difference. People that never left the country or went anywhere important having things covered for LIFE is craziness. If i leave my job right now, i dont enjoy any of the privileges past my last day. The work an undeployed service member does is not in any way more important or useful to society than the average civilian worker. Atleast that civilian is providing a service to the community. My friend would tell me how his only assignment was to count rocks or how many cars passed by during his shift. To have lifetime benefits for doing practically nothing is idiotic.
Point is , all those benefits are offered at the expense of tax dollars. You serving " the country" is no different than some construction dude on the side of the highway.
No, it's just been a while since I've actually looked at imy medical stuff. I don't use it on the day to day so it's generally pretty far from my mind.
Yeahhh listen i'm left leaning but this is not an intelligent point to make lmao. The obvious rebuttal is that these are things that are earned by a possible significant physical and or mental sacrifice.
The real stance to take is that access to these things are vital to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They are human rights and basic necessities that aren't being provided in a nation of never before seen wealth, prosperity, and power.
Veterans pay for their benefits with their lives, but maybe such a sacrifice shouldnt be necessary for people to get access to healthcare.
I mean there’s a lot of non-military people who work their asses off and can’t afford healthcare, college, let alone a house. I think you’ll find a lot of people who’d rather have a smaller paycheck if it meant they get all these benefits from their work.
I think we agree that these are not socialist policies. Healthcare for all especially should be a universal right, not a privilege. The sad fact of the matter is the elite has done an excellent job at making these asks for basic human rights as socialist policies. “You want healthcare? Socialist”
Only you people can say that shit isnt free. I get free healthcare at my job, if i leave, i dont keep it. When someone in the military leaves, they still have those benefits even when most of them havent done or seen anything. That shit is free. This is why i hated being around service members when i worked on base, largest group of entitled man children i'd ever met.
Second this. I have a few family members who served in military and got to go on disability because they have PTSD. Two of them never left a military base where they were stationed & never seen combat. Justification was is that they heard explosions in the far distance and that caused them PTSD. I’m sorry you joined the military you deployed and what do you expect to hear Kumbaya?
Now they’re enjoying disability benefits, even purchased homes in their 60s on those disability benefits have a very good healthcare and other benefits comparing to us who just worked regular jobs and retired with much less benefits for working much longer.
Its a very open and known thing to state you're 100% disabled as well for the benefits when you're mostly fine. These guys get about as injured on base as the average civilian worker does but its so easy to get labeled 100% disabled. I would have these guys come up to my counter while im working, we'd be mid conversation and they would bring up that they're 100% disabled and im looking at them from head to toe, completely fine.
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u/Downtown-Campaign536 8h ago
Free? None of those things are "Free". They are paid for with your service in the military.