You’re not saying anything wrong. You’ll get no argument from me if you say child soldiers are bad.You’re just sidestepping my point. Which is that the existence of child soldiers is due to the inhumane conditions foreign powers like the US have created in that part of the world.

Forgot about this, did you?

And again. I gave you thousands.

No, you gave me one. I explained why the first one actually helped prove my point. Which is why you provided the second. And I’m too tired to read that person’s biography to point to why he actually did it and give him some kind of justification. Unless you can give me some kind of substantive example where there are a huge number of kids in developed countries who are having happy lives you’re point here is not justified.

Ah, so they are being forced

Now you’re just not even arguing in good faith here.

By the way, the idea that the only way you can survive is die on the battlefield doesn’t make much sense.

Is this your way of dismissing their suffering and their choices to defend themselves even in the face of overwhelming odds?

One. You gave me one example. I gave you thousands.

I never said it was moral or excusable. All I said is, what did you expect would happen given what we’re doing to them. You have a lot of anger over the people forced to do bad things for survival but not against the ones who created the situation where they need to do these bad things. Why is this such a difficult concept for you to understand?

It’s pretty obvious, man. I literally just explained why people like you and me, who live in a developed country, don’t really see it happening.

You’re giving me another singular example that i can probably nitpick. I’m giving you thousands. You’re not familiar with the success of this strategy to recruit kids , as you said in a previous comment, because it doesn’t happen where you live. It doesn’t happen because people don’t feel the need to, and kids don’t want to do that by default. The radicalization didn’t happen because someone came and said, “Hey kid, wanna get paid?”. It happened over the course of decades as kids grew up with missiles flying over their heads repeatedly and their friends and families dying. What did you expect these kids to do?

This person was literally a drug addict who got kicked out of her house by her parents. She was homeless when she got recruited. This only reinforces my point.

The violence won’t end until Bibi says so. Who’s going to stop him or even try to convince him? The US? Its clear they’re going for a major land grab. Northern Gaza and Southern Lebanon for a start.

No happy child willingly becomes a soldier. They’re recruiting children who have known nothing but violence their entire lives. This is what people mean when they say people are radicalized due to the wars and suffering they’ve endured. Where do you think these militia groups come from? People who are happy and carefree? Or people who have had violence and oppression inflicted on them their whole lives and feel the need to fight back? This isn’t the result of some kind of propaganda campaign like you claim it is. This is people fighting back against systemic oppression and violence they’ve been enduring for decades.

And what kind of people do cults tend to attract? People that are in happy lives? Or the ones that are in desperate situations?

Question then. If I were to go to a group of young, impressionable kids in a developed country where they are living comfortably, how successful would I be in recruiting them to be in a militia?

Again, what force? They’re being recruited, not forced. I know what you said about them being young and impressionable, but no happy kid would rather go fight in a war instead of playing with their friends. So again, ask yourself here. Why do they feel the need to?

You’re kind of missing my point here…

You’re not wrong for being angry and bitter about the situation. Children should be allowed to be children, I’ll never argue against that. A lot of the Houthi’s grew up with the oppression that made the civil war possible and necessary along with the civil war itself that is being continued by foreign powers. They were children too and they grew up in this environment. They are living the only way they know how.

That sucks, sorry to hear that. I honestly thought the US had a similar thing as well. I guess that explains the huge push for more unions across the US over the past few years.

I’m Canadian myself but isn’t this illegal? In Canada we have a labor program where you can file a complaint if it comes to that.

Sounds like you’ve been taken advantage of. Assuming you live in a western country they should have some kind of department for labor violations you can escalate to if it comes that.

Where are you working where you are expected to work through your breaks? 9-5 should include your break times as well, yes.

I would definitely be against that. But a more accurate analogy would be if the kid ended up joining some kids group where they all prostitute themselves and some are just a bit older because they were able to survive the harsh situation. Would you not want to go against the people who made the situation where a group of kids are forced to do such things? These people have been in a civil war for a decade that has been perpetuated by western nations to re-install a leader more sympathetic to them, they’re all in the same boat.

I was referencing the article from this comment.

You’re applying a very generous use of the word manipulate here, IMO. Yes, it’s bad but the alternative is to either die by missile’s or starvation. What would you choose?