On Thursday evening at 7:30 at the American Friends Service Committe in Pasadena (980 N. Fair Oaks Ave.), Mario Hardy Ramirez of the Central Committe for Conscientious Objectors will lead a workshop that explores the racist and classist structures of the U.S. military and its recruiting practices.

Ramirez states that the military uses deception to lure low income and minority youth into the lowest ranks of the military to use them as cannon fodder in the event of a war. Statistics show that the military, far from giving young people discipline and skills they can use to advance themselves in civilian life, actually impairs their ability to be successful in society at large. One study found that individuals from similar demographic backgrounds earned $1.25 per hour less if they had served in the military. Furthermore, the majority of recruits that apply for educational assistance don't get any assistance at all. Meanwhile the military actually makes money from the college aid progams because recruits have to pay a $1200 nonrefundable deposit to enter the program.

Ramirez will also have with him the latest issue of AWOL magazine, a hip hop rag that promotes peace and justice.

Don’t you have anything original to say? The army recruits minorities to use as cannon fodder? How many times have I seen that freaking movie? The lie that the combat units of the United States are peopled exclusively by minorities is a complete fabrication. Fact is that most combat soldiers are white. Just like the general population. Wanna guess how I know? And you are asking me to believe the statistics of a conscientious observer outfit commenting on the military? Why not ask the PLO what it thinks of the Israeli army? I went to college on my G.I. Bill and Army College Fund. If a soldier pays into the program and then fails to attend school, that’s his problem. Laziness and stupidity on the part of former soldiers, however sad, is not a valid indictment of the military. And to the ridiculous ‘statistics’ that show that veterans under perform economically when compared to lifelong civilians, why is it that all employers look for and grant special preference in hiring to veterans? Hmm, that’s a mystery. Yep, you got a winner of a new idea here. What’s next? Nuclear Plants Bad?