Fair contribution gman.

I gather that you are explaining how military 'recruiting' plays out in the U.S. for the benefit of others who may not be aware. You have also provided an example (with your brother) that with better information people can make alternative choices and 'succeed'.

Agreed, many Black Africans in the U.S. feel the only alternatives to poverty are selling drugs, joining the military and I will add, pursuing long shot careers in sports and music. Many Black Africans have acquired a distorted perception of success annexed to the acquisition of material things. Being limited to the aforementioned choices as well as the distorted perception of success are part of the mental poverty that should be addressed. Lack of consciousness to make the choices that do not perpetuate white imperialism can only be addressed by making better information/reasoning widely available to counteract the distorted propaganda, then by holding people responsible for their actions.

With the quantity and quality of information available today many people are also personally responsible for their ignorance. On the thread, 'Is half a dollar better than none?' you quite rightly said "...there are limits to how much you could tolerate and blame ignorance as an excuse..." How much I tolerate ignorance is based on the quality of information available to people.

There is no reason for I to have sympathy for anyone who joins an imperialistic military and then suffers. If ones had access to better information and reasoning, and did not make use of it, the only other way for them to start to learn is from painful experiences. If they are learning, they should not simply attribute their poor actions to learning experiences; they will also have to accept that they too have contributed to injustices.