My Son Is Joining the Marines — And I Think He’s Making a Terrible Mistake | DeProgram

What do you do when your 17-year-old son makes a life-changing decision you desperately want him not to make? On this episode of The DeProgram, Ted Rall, Jamarl Thomas and producer Robby West have an unusually personal conversation about Robby’s son Thomas and his decision to join the United States Marine Corps. Thomas sees military service through patriotism, duty, travel and defending his country. Robby sees something very different: a young man surrendering control over his own life to a government that may eventually order him to fight people who have never harmed him. That disagreement has opened a much deeper divide between father and son. Thomas believes countries such as Russia and Iran are America's enemies. Robby argues that if he controlled American foreign policy, he would make peace with both countries, restore diplomatic relations, trade with them and treat their populations as potential friends rather than inevitable enemies. When Thomas calls that “surrender,” the argument becomes a larger examination of American exceptionalism, military recruitment and the romantic mythology surrounding war. For Robby, that mythology collides with lived experience. His son has never missed a meal and has never experienced the country failing him the way his father has. Robby has eaten food from dumpsters and experienced an America very different from the “shining city on a hill” his son believes he is signing up to defend. It also creates a moral conflict. Robby challenges his son's pro-life beliefs against his willingness to accept sanctions and wars that can kill people overseas. If human life has value, does that value end at the American border? The conversation eventually reaches China and Robby's own family history. His father fought Chinese forces at the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War and remembered the extraordinary resolve of the soldiers he encountered. Decades later, near the end of his life, he told Robby something his son never forgot: “I think I was fighting for the wrong side.” But underneath the politics is something much simpler: a father trying not to lose his son. Robby believes Thomas is making a terrible decision. He also knows that issuing an ultimatum—choose your father or choose the Marine Corps—would destroy their relationship. So if Thomas signs, Robby will stop trying to make him second-guess himself. He'll love him. He'll support him. He'll hope his son succeeds. And if Thomas someday discovers that he made a mistake, his father will be there to help him put the pieces back together. Because supporting someone doesn't mean agreeing with their decisions. And, because no episode of The DeProgram can remain completely serious, the show eventually tackles another pressing international crisis: whether Li Mei transforming into a panda and eating a vampire in Mortal Kombat 1 constitutes cannibalism, self-harm or an eating disorder. YouTube has apparently chosen its position. The DeProgram remains unconvinced. 🐼 The DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas — politics, foreign policy, culture and occasionally the dietary classification of vampires.Catch our entire lineup of shows featuring hosts like Jeff Dornik, Shannon Joy, Ann Vandersteel, Patrick Howley, Ted Rall and Dr Michael Scheuer on Rumble, X and your favorite podcast platform.Pickax is the primary home for Freedom First Network, so be sure to sign up for Pickax, and then follow and subscribe to FFN: https://pickax.com/freedomfirstnetwork