Which flavor of military is it better for a nation to have?

[opebo]

A small professional core is ok, but the military should mostly be made up of a casual volunteer force.  Sort of fun-weekends kind of thing. 

As we all know, the stated purpose of the military is entirely spurious and not related to its real purposes at all.

[opebo]

I basically agree with opebo, a small professional core for highly specialized positions is fine, but otherwise having a standing military is too dangerous, as the American experience so aptly demonstrates.

Hmm.. you mean the imperialism?  Or those few occasions when it was used against the subjects?  It seems to me that as far as actually punishing the serfs, the american penal system of control has gotten by with only the threat of the military - the police and so forth seem to be quite sufficient for actual use.  The foreign adventures have profited the upper class mightily of course, and served to help in deluding the lower class, but I don't know that they were strictly necessary for the enslavement of those at home to be accomplished.

I guess I consider the bloated and corrupt military we have to be less a 'danger' than a miserable side effect of our main illness - the capitalist system.

[opebo]

A small professional core is ok, but the military should mostly be made up of a casual volunteer force.  Sort of fun-weekends kind of thing. 

As we all know, the stated purpose of the military is entirely spurious and not related to its real purposes at all.

It's purpose is to kill people and destroy things.......so, professional

Well, that's its function, but the purpose is supposedly to 'defend the country'.  By killing people and destroying things.  But its real purposes are mostly otherwise.  If it were really for defending the country it could be about 1/10th the size and expense.