Takujualuk,
It appears you have the situation figured quite well. Old George even has more than a few convinced that not only is this "heavy lifting" but it's actually a mission from God.
Got's to tell you a story. Back in the early 1980's, I rode my bicycle down the coast of the US one fall. I was curious about the Vietnam War, since I was meeting so many draft dodgers in Canada in the years previous. Whenever I got a chance on my trip, I asked the US boys why they decided to go fight for such a cause. Three answers prevailed:
1. The government made me.
2. It looked like it would be an adventure and life was boring.
3. If I fought, I'd get a loan, an education, etc.
I stopped in at San Francisco for a few days and got to drinking in a bar near the hostel. The regulars were mostly vets, including a great old guy by the name of Sonny who had plenty of old holes in his hide from two tours of duty.
One night, Sonny and I had a few too many while shooting pool as partners, and I related my little survey to him, including reasons 1, 2, and 3. I told him I couldn't help but observe that the government of the US appeared to have its citizens a bit brainwashed, since as far as I could see, they were convinced to go fight communism by methods that mainly smacked of socialist practices, eg: reasons 1 and 3. Sonny gave me a Clint squint and looked quite angry at me. He just stared at me for a minute and then bust out laughing. He laughed hard enough he had a coughing fit and when he looked up he had tears in his eyes. When he caught his breath, his answer was, "Kid, you ain't so stupid." He looked like he was going to cry. He left his pool cue and stumbled out into the night. I rattled off people to go after him but he was gone. Never saw him again but I still remember the look in his eyes vividly.
