Thread: Soldier shot in shoulder during Tekapo live firing training exercise

Originally Posted by vbull

Guys, I didn't want to cause offence. But seriously I don't see the need of having like 15000 people on a payroll for doing wargames and pretend missions. Just consider how much it could be spent on uplifting the plight of the poor people we see in places like tokoroa/ Gisborne etc. It'll keep these people happy so that we won't even need an army to put down unrest etc.

A lot of small countries have a protectorate agreement with large ones, for example if we had US, Australian, French and maybe even Chinese bases here, we could play them against each other and get significant payouts in terms of investment etc.


I'm just putting another point of view, devils advocate sort of, just to see what discussion points could be brought up.

Vbull, fair enough.

The problem with having a military during peacetime is that they don't have a clearly necessary purpose, especially if (as in our case) it's been 70 years since we were last seriously threatened by another nation. Then complacency sets in, and the reason for their existence is forgotten.

To me the military are like an insurance policy. Better to have one than not.