TIL: During the Vietnam War, the US decided to draft 350,000 people who had failed military entrance tests. “McNamera’s Morons” died at 3x the rate of other GIs.
not to be dramatic but this is no joke one of the most evil things i have read in my life
A passage from the article that’s cited the Reddit thread:
There
were plenty of men of draft age in America, but most were unavailable.
Many were attending college and using student deferments. Others had
found safe havens in the National Guard and Reserves, which by and large
were not sent to Vietnam. Still others were disqualified because they
scored poorly on the military’s mental and physical entrance tests.
How
could McNamara and Johnson round up enough men to send to war? They
realized that they would anger the vote-powerful middle class if they
drafted college boys or if they sent National Guardsmen and Reservists
to Vietnam. So they decided to induct the low-scoring men, whom Johnson
referred to (in a secret White House tape) as “SECOND-CLASS FELLOWS.” On
October 1, 1966, McNamara launched his program, which he called Project
100,000 because he wanted to induct that many low-aptitude men each
year
(Emphasis mine).
Think about that for a moment: Not only did they send 354,000 unqualified men into active combat – it was all to keep the machine of an unjust and unwinnable war grinding along.
Because if they had dared to draft non-disabled men, from middle class families, the political backlash would have been too strong.
They sent disabled men to die because society doesn’t care about disabled lives.
(And Hitler tested his gas chambers on disabled people first, before he rounded up Jewish people, for the very same reason)
people who discuss martin luther king jr as a successful example of anti-violence should know they’re part of a pretty vast propaganda campaign that’s existed since the late 70s to whitewash the history of the civil rights era. as soon as king took aim at desegregating northern cities, especially chicago, hate for him exploded. according to gallup, he was actually reviled by 1966, with two thirds of the country saying they had a negative perception of him. the major responses to his assassination mostly track with governor ronald reagan’s assessment of him, that he deserved his own death. it was common to see letters in newspapers and in senators’ offices that said things like “It is my firm belief, and [that] of all my neighbors, that King should be taken into custody. … Today, the insufferable arrogance of this character places him on a pedestal as a dark-skinned Hitler…. When greedy Mr. Hitler started taking over other countries, people at first thought ‘give him a little more, then he will be satisfied.’ Give greedy Mr. King a little more freedom then he will stop. Isn’t that what we are being told today?… Is the ultimate aim the same as the Soviet Union when all property was collectivized?“ (all from nixonland, rick perlstein). white public opinion even blamed him directly for the riots going on in american cities, as in this cartoon:
this in response to his disagreement with the war in vietnam and his effort to ensure those selling their houses couldn’t refuse to sell them to black people because they were black. king preached non-violence, and white people despised him for it.
And then they killed him.
Have to always remember to add that on the end. “And then they killed him”.
Urocyon's Jaunts 2.0 
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