I have been sitting on this post for a while now, kept it as a draft with all sorts of bits and pieces of information and trails of thoughts that were relevant, however today after discussing the topic (in general) with a mate of mine have come up with the motivation to actually post it, without getting a second opinion on "How to word things without possibly 'offending' someone".
Most of you have gotten to know me to date know that I say things as I see them. I don't judge others for having a difference in opinion, in fact all the power to them if they can logically argue their stand point. Likewise my approach here is pretty much the way I approach life too, if you bugger it up, admit to it and try and fix it. No shame in being wrong and/or making a mistake, we are humans!
In this series I have been stating facts, not lobbying for any one thing or another, just listing the facts as they stand, from military forces in nations that are in our geographical region of the world, to their policies on mandatory military training, their populations, their cultural aspects, differences that affect views on what is moral and what not. Listed the facts about flight times to and from different geographical locations with some facts about the speeds of certain types of aircraft that are not for commercial use only!
Today in this post I shall try to list some facts that probably may strike a nerve with some people.
Facts are facts, again, telling the truth shouldn't be considered a bad thing!
For starters so as to get you back on track with the facts that are relevant for what I am about to write here. I shall list some of the facts from our region that are irrefutable:
Active military personnel in some of the countries that are only minutes to a few hours flight away from Australia:
Indonesia 476,000
India 1,325,000
Pakistan 617,000
Vietnam 418,000
Thailand 306,000
North Korea 690,000
South Korea 640,000
China 2,285,000
New Zealand 11,440
the list goes on, but this is ample to give an idea of how many ACTIVE PERSONNEL there are out there in some of the countries in our region.
and what about Australia
Australia 58,000
What about reservists in Australia? = another 21,694
Grand total of people trained to defend all of the people in Australia and to defend our homes and our great nation = Just under 80,000 all together.
OK, so these are FACTS, no opinions, no "if's or buts" just cold hard facts and figures.
Some of the countries listed above have a compulsory service for all men, hence if we took that into consideration then the numbers just sky rocket!
So after this little listing of numbers, I shall go back to the post as such and look at a topic that has double standards in our society, SELF DEFENCE.
Here is one of the definitions I found online:
self-defence
the defence of one's person or interests, especially through the use of physical force
Rather simple to understand, no two ways about it.
EVERY PERSON IS ENTITLED TO SELF DEFENCE WHEN ATTACKED!
Again, something that is totally accepted by just about all people out there.
However, when we consider the facts, not everyone is up for it, not everyone knows how to defend themselves from an attacker. A lack of knowledge. Hence when a person achieves a Black Belt level in one of the martial arts, this is by law in many countries considered to be equal to carrying a weapon in certain situations. Might sound unfair or fair to some but that is the way it is.
However, when we apply this same topic of self defence on a national level, we then can see the tides turn and what is by many considered to be absolutely acceptable on an individual human level is no longer acceptable for those very same individuals who make up a nation.
We after all live on planet that is inhabited by human beings, one of the most diverse creations known of.
We live in a world where morals are so diverse that many turn a blind eye to the fact that "The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights" is being trampled on by so many peoples/nations.
Kind of makes the entire idea of the declaration kind of look worthless when in the United Nations we see representatives of peoples/nations who blatantly have no respect for this Declaration!
Unlike The United States, Australia is not miles away from any of the nations that have a totally different set of morals. Australia is only minutes away from many a nation where the general morals are the exact opposite of what is in our constitution. This again is just a fact that many Australians have some sort of distorted view about.
In this series of posts I have included many a map showing our region. Irrefutable fact!
Here is a map of Asia again, so that you don't need to go looking through all the posts:
and here is the map that clearly shows where we are,
You can clearly see that what I stated about The USA and the difference that we as a country have is irrefutable fact. I stated this because many a time it has been said by individuals that I have spoken to about these topics "Australia is a continent that is too far from anyone"
Well, I beg to differ! and offer the above world maps as proof of that!
Australia had Military Cadets at one stage and that was all cut out of the school curriculum.
Lets have a look at this topic.
The history of Cadets in Australia is rich and interesting.
-School cadets have been in existence in Australia for over 100 years. The first unit was established in Australia in 1866, at St Mark's Collegiate School, NSW. This unit subsequently became the King's School Cadet Corps in 1869. Cadets remained under State auspices until 1906 when the Commonwealth Cadet Corps was established. Conscription for part time home service, including service by cadets, was introduced in 1909 and, under the Defence Act of 1903, the Corps was included in the provisions for Universal Military Training.
-After 1911 it was compulsory for all male children to take part.
-Junior Cadets were aged 12 to 14 serving 90 hours annually
-Senior Cadets were aged 14 to 18 serving 4 whole days, 12 half days and 21 night drills annually.
-Citizen Cadets were aged 18 to 26 serving drill to the equivalent of 16 days of which 8 days must be served in an annual camp.
-Compulsory training started in 1911 with 92 Cadet Battalions comprised of 922 Companies. Membership totaled 2,285 Officers and 86,899 Senior Cadets.
-All schools were required to join the scheme. As at December 31, 1913 some 8044 schools were training a total of 55,850 Junior Cadets.
-As a result of this scheme the strength of the Australian Army rose from 19,880 in 1904 to 48,383 in 1913. At that stage it was anticipated that the Army would number 130,000 by 1920. As well Rifle Clubs throughout Australia numbered 1,133 with a membership of 47,500. They were encouraged by the issue of the Government rifles with 230 rounds per member annually.
-Conscription for part-time service was abandoned in 1929.
Skipping through the decades to what is relevant to us here and now:
Cadet Brigades with Regular army staff were established and remained in operation until the mid seventies when the Cadet Corps was disbanded by the Whitlam Government.
The Corps was reinstated in 1976 but with a number of changes. Community based, rather than school based units were encouraged, war-like training was not to be conducted and an annual camp was to be provided at no cost to the cadet.
In 1984 school based units were given the opportunity to apply for 'full support' status and become community based units.
Source for thesefacts/quotes:
http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-army-today/military_cadets.htm
Source for more info:
https://www.armycadets.gov.au/
Then we also have Air Force Cadets:
Link to a great source of information is:
http://www.aafc.org.au/who-we-are/history/
And then there are the Navy Cadets:
https://www.navycadets.gov.au/about/history/
So as we can see the Cadets, which were definitely a reliable and extremely successful way of ensuring that Australians were up to speed with the necessary know how in the field of self defence on a national level was literally cut off and an attempt to destroy their existence was done in 1975 during the "Cold War Era" by a government that then had many an affiliation with political organizations that were again affiliated with the former "Eastern Block States".
A year after the newly instated Fraser Government quickly went ahead and did what it could to fix the damage that was done by those before him.
Luckily for us, the Cold War as it was is no longer and the so called "left and right" extremities of that era are a thing of the past. Hopefully we have learned our lessons!
So today, we do not have what was in existence up to 1975. The Aussie Cadets have never quite managed to once again become what they were up to the tragic events of 1975.
(Image source: https://www.armycadets.gov.au)
PS. I salute our Cadets with the highest level of respect, these youngsters are the people who are ready and shall always be ready with the necessary know how, to defend my family and all of us Aussies if need be. God Bless 'em.
So let me move on to the next point which again is not a popular topic, yet it is a reality.
Education systems in some countries include relevant facts about their nations self defence mechanisms and programs.
Australian children do not have this in their schooling.
WHY?
IDK. All I found on the sources out there were "opinions" without any facts.
So, when we look at this, I ask myself, how can any Australian who has been brought up and educated in our mandatory portion of the educational system and who has had no contact with any of the Cadets out there have the relevant knowledge about Australia's defence policies, programs and mechanisms/systems in place?
How do they know the answers to the questions:
Where and How to gain this knowledge if they may be interested in doing so?
After all, rarely any schools in Australia have a bulletin board about the kids out there, their very own generation of kids who are in the Cadets.
There is absolutely no mention of or source of information for those who are in High School as to what their options are in any of our Defence Forces. Unless they themselves do not go out and look for it.
Let alone any hour of a teacher actually teaching the children about any of the facts that are nothing more nor less than FACTS about Australia and how Australia is defended.
Let alone the responsibilities that lay upon citizens to ensure that Australians be given the right to self defence at an equal level of know how to those who may be wishing to harm our citizens and our nations liberties and freedoms.
As I stated very clearly, unfortunately these topics are literally NON EXISTENT as far as facts go. All I found was "babble" on these topics. Nothing but "opinions without any FACTS".
So this has left me in between a rock and a hard place on this part of the post!
I refuse to go into it any further without the relevant FACTS, as the purpose of this series is to state the FACTS and nothing but the FACTS!
To conclude this post in the series, this one piece of the jigsaw puzzle that I have named "What Happens, When It Happens?"
Know How, KNOWLEDGE, the TRUTH, the FACTS are not things that we should be afraid of.
This is what puts us into a fair and reasonable position to look at reality and face it objectively.
Why on earth Australian governments would literally handicap our Defence forces like what was done in 1975 beats me. Some may classify it as nothing less than one form of an "Act of Treason". Yet, as politicians have always managed to do, they disguise things under false pretenses and wrap things up using the mass media to influence us the public to believe that what they are doing is right and that none of us know any better.
Why is it that we as a nation are not educated about the FACTS as are other nations, IDK!
Again it is all "politics" and "politicians".
Again, the media does its thing and the "public" regurgitates what the mass media pumps out.
When a person starts to list the FACTS that are not in line with what the politicians say or do, then this person can expect to get a nice little email or letter and all of a sudden things start to happen such as inspections at the work site and so on, all "coincidence" yet always the case.
All of a sudden people who state FACTS become unemployed and so on.
Could be coincidence for many, then again, how many coincidences does it take for something to become common practice?
I may have gone a little too far with that last part as it is not something that I can prove. I can not list FACTS as these are all things that a person "hears about" or "reads about" from other peoples personal experiences and as such can not be found in any "statistics" and as such can not be listed as cold hard facts. So I have done something that I do not like doing, yet for a reason.
The reason is:
If we can not find the answers to the questions of WHY and HOW on the questions I put forwards earlier, they again the question of WHY? comes up.
Why can't people know the truth about their own nation and home and about their neighbours too?
Why is it that we are going backwards and not forwards as far as getting our nation up to speed with the facts and the necessary know how required to ensure the right to self defence?
I shall leave you with these thoughts and conclude this post.
Thanks for reading.
The series of posts so far:
"WHAT HAPPENS, WHEN IT HAPPENS"
Links to the posts in this series:
What Happens, When It Happens? Flying High! (PART 15)
https://steemit.com/military/@jackmiller/what-happens-when-it-happens-flying-high-part-15
What Happens, When It Happens? Vietnam - Bury The Hatchet! (PART 14)
https://steemit.com/military/@jackmiller/what-happens-when-it-happens-vietnam-bury-the-hatchet-part-14
What Happens, When It Happens? Philippines - Good Relations and Logistical Partners! (PART 13)
https://steemit.com/military/@jackmiller/what-happens-when-it-happens-philippines-good-relations-and-logistical-partners-part-13
What Happens, When It Happens? PNG - Logistical Partner and Neighbour! (PART 12)
https://steemit.com/australia/@jackmiller/what-happens-when-it-happens-png-logistical-partner-and-neighbour-part-12
What Happens, When It Happens? JAPAN - The Return Of The Samurai And/Or Kamikaze (PART 11)
https://steemit.com/politics/@jackmiller/what-happens-when-it-happens-japan-the-return-of-the-samurai-and-or-kamikaze-part-11
What Happens, When It Happens? THE USA & AUSTRALIA (PART 10)
https://steemit.com/politics/@jackmiller/what-happens-when-it-happens-the-usa-and-australia-part-10
What Happens, When It Happens? Brothers In Arms - The ANZAC Tradition! (PART 9)
https://steemit.com/politics/@jackmiller/what-happens-when-it-happens-brothers-in-arms-the-anzac-tradition-part-9
What Happens, When It Happens? Just A Short Boat Trip Away From Australia (PART 8)
https://steemit.com/politics/@jackmiller/what-happens-when-it-happens-just-a-short-boat-trip-away-from-australia-part-8
What Happens, When It Happens? The Unpredictable (PART 7)
https://steemit.com/politics/@jackmiller/what-happens-when-it-happens-the-unpredictable-part-7
What Happens, When It Happens? Do We Know The Facts and Figures? (PART 6)
https://steemit.com/politics/@jackmiller/what-happens-when-it-happens-do-we-know-the-facts-and-figures-part-6
What Happens, When It Happens? HOWS IT GOING, NEIGHBOUR! (PART 5)
https://steemit.com/politics/@jackmiller/what-happens-when-it-happens-hows-it-going-neighbour-part-5
What Happens, When It Happens? "SHE'll BE RIGHT MATE?" (PART 4)
https://steemit.com/politics/@jackmiller/what-happens-when-it-happens-she-ll-be-right-mate-part-4
What Happens, When It Happens? READY OR NOT! (PART 3)
https://steemit.com/politics/@jackmiller/what-happens-when-it-happens-ready-or-not-part-3
What Happens, When It Happens? It Almost Did Happen! (PART 2)
https://steemit.com/politics/@jackmiller/what-happens-when-it-happens-it-almost-did-happen-part-2
What Happens, When It Happens?
https://steemit.com/politics/@jackmiller/what-happens-when-it-happens
Related Topics:
The End of The World As We Know it - EUROPE and it's inevitable future!
https://steemit.com/politics/@jackmiller/the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it-europe-and-it-s-inevitable-future
The End of The World As We Know It - PART 2.
https://steemit.com/politics/@jackmiller/the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it-part-2
**AGAIN I HAVE TO HIGHLIGHT THE FOLLOWING:
The topic that I am addressing here is a “WAKE UP CALL”, a “REALITY CHECK”.
**