The article isn't even about military readiness either. Making the military more friendly to married couples is a fine goal, for sure, but the ones who chose that life know the caveats involved and if they don't like it, they leave.

China may have the largest branches of services, they are hardly the best funded and most prepared. Wars have not been decided by who is bigger for a long time.

And to top it off, the Russian progress into Ukraine is largely stalled and has mostly been a shitshow for Russia. Their propaganda machine is scarier than their military incursions.

And you also won't find more red tape, not even in multi-billion international conglomerates, than in government - I've worked in government, small companies, medium companies and one so large you'll likely find on the news regularly.

When I want something like, say, a dozen hours worth of GPU compute time at <conglomerate>, I shoot over an email to my boss for approval, that's there an hour later, and I can begin to work. In government, that's weeks worth of paperwork and meetings, and by the time I got the approval, I've forgotten what I wanted to do in the first place. Not to mention sub-par machines that were outdated even when they were acquired, processes copied straight over from the mainframe era, and crap offices barely worth the name including a 10/10 SDSL for > 100 employees.

Oh and forget getting hired if you have a "grey" past - convictions of hacking, marijuana or whatever that's common in the private sector are an immediate no-go in anything government, often enough for life.

I'm no armchair strategist but highly doubt the Chinese could hold a candle to the US who size aside is ridiculously battle hardened at this point, and that's completely ignoring NATO/Anglo/Asian allies who would definitely join the fray.

The US military has no peer on Earth and I don't think that's a controversial opinion to hold.

> They pay like shit, but you won't find more compelling missions and dedicated people, anywhere.

Not sure if there's a US equivalent but in Australia we have the reserves for people perhaps wanting to keep their dayjob.

I'd be interested in performing some form of public service now, but most government jobs seem to suffer from the worst kind of credential requirement inflation imaginable, so that's not an option either - I have no degree, just lots of experience.

But sure, Russia, China and so on. I prefer to focus on what the military's actually been up to instead of the (real) threats they use for recruitment propaganda.

My friends and family working for the (federal) government would take issue with this statement. If you’re looking for mission-driven people, imo a mission-based nonprofit is the way to go. I’m curious, are/were you in government yourself?

> and dedicated people, anywhere

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAH OMG yeah right sure, carry on my good man.

(Edit: I agree with your larger point though)