Numbers

First, a belated Happy Birthday to all my fellow Marines out there. November 10th, 1775 at the Tun Tavern is when the Marine Corps was founded. Older than the country itself. 234 years ago.

Second, Happy Veterans' Day to all my fellow veterans out there. I believe the origin of the day is the end of World War I. It used to be called Armistice Day. 91 years ago.

Third, some more numbers, as you may have read in previous posts, I believe about 1% of the current US population served on active duty at any given time. That is all forces, Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines, combined.

I looked up the numbers for World War II, and at least 9% of the population served. But, further delving into the numbers, the percentage is probably even more when you consider what the total numbers are for military aged white males - which was the primary pool for service at the time of World War II. In our current times, that pool is drastically larger - a further indictment of our current state of service.

If anyone knows the number of people who serve in the Peace Corps each year, or who even do some kind of volunteer service per year, please send those numbers my way.

The point is to examine just how much of the country is engaged.

Imagine if we had at least 9 times as many soldiers and Marines. Would we be having the difficulties in Iraq and Afghanistan that we have been having? Since, counter-insurgency is predicated on being able to apply a maximum number of troops per insurgent, somehow I think an increased size in overall force levels might actually have a positive effect on our efforts. But I might be wrong.

Hell, even applying these numbers to civilian causes, imagine if we had nearly 10 million people dedicated at any one time to serving others. I saw a government projection that said by 2010 there would be 26 million people ages 18-24. Imagine the power, the kind of contributions these young people could make to help others.

Am I wrong in considering this? Well, sometimes, the numbers tell the true story.