sufferinsuccotash
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Nov 6, 2025 5:03 PM
sufferinsuccotash
9496
617
4
armswoldier
Die spinnen die Amis
TanithRosenbaum
Thing is, we don't have all that very many food banks in Germany, because we have a (mostly) functional social security safety net. There are food banks in larger cities, but they usually require proof that you're on social security, and I'm pretty sure there aren't any in Vilseck, Hohenfels or Garmisch. Now that doesn't mean we (Germans) won't help, but it's probably not gonna be as easy as showing up at a food bank. I'm actually curious how this is gonna pan out on a local level here.
chatawillybilly
Folks who are starving who did you vote for? A true leader of your country wouldn't allow you to go w/o food. Vote Democrat in the upcoming midterm elections so we can impeach, convict then toss his ass out of office.
basti0731
The most powerful military, landies and gents.
TwoPaws
*Ottoman Empire has entered the chat*
Meandme2
mannabananarama
Maybe their pay has been redirected to pay ICE Goons. We know he doesn’t pay his contractors so it’s not going to be used for his Big Beautiful Boondoggle.
shawnemack
Disgusting
swedeonamoose
I guess they can jsut cozy up beside the Roma women outside the local Aldi/Lidl then /s
Bendrix
I’d share my food, but that's socialism, and you can't have that because it ends freedom or something.
32FGWolfhound
Meanwhile the MAGA scum..
michaeloberg
Trump *does not give a fuck about anyone else*
therealalansmithee
True, but the cult is not bothered
TK421isAFK
What's going on in this pic? Did somebody fall, or have a medical emergency?
michaeloberg
Yeah a pharma CEO passed out during his presser today, and Trump just stood there like a fucking asshole. RFK also booked it out of the room like a jackass
Spoenk
America, on the road to greatness again. The "greatest country in history" built on dreams and capitalism for thee, now depending on socialism of other countries to feed their troops, because of a congressional and presidential hissy-fit tantrum. What a third world backwards country. I would only feed those that can prove they didn't vote for the orange retard and his goons.
TwoPaws
The Ottoman Empire had a few handy revolts for not paying soldiers because they were broke. The States just simply wont pay. Probably because the money has been looted by the billionaires.
The greatest heist of our time.
feltenix
The unmarried soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who live on base / barracks have the option of eating at their galley. At least they should. I don't think the SIK contracts stop during government shutdowns, since they also go to deploying ships. Subsistence money is weird. Base galleys may also allow families in them, this is CO and service dependant. Price for Navy, to eat all 3 meals, should be around $13. Less for E4 and below as they don't need to pay the surcharge. (1)
feltenix
Barracks residents that are not geobachelors eat for free. The majority of this is for Navy enlisted junior sailors, and does NOT apply to officers as they normally receive BAS. Anyone receiving BAS is not entitled to SIK at government expense and must pay for meals at dining facilities, but they can eat at them. I know Navy best because I ran 3 separate dining facilities and was ISIC once. (End)
Sebastopol
Hi there, any hungry US soldier in Germany will always be welcome at our home and table. I am based in the vicinity of Wiesbaden. Drop me a line, we will be happy to host you or help with groceries.
KillingTlme
Eat all of your food kids, because there are American soldiers starving.
LanceSackless
In ww2, one of the reasons the Japanese commanders knew they were fucked was seeing the US sending out ships whos entire purpose was to supply troops with ice cream. And now this….
KoalaOnTheJuice
If I remember my German, the correct response to this is "leck mich am arsch".
TK421isAFK
I just introduced a couple friends to this Mozart classic a few days ago. They were high, and many giggles were had.
PigNewtons
A Mozart fan, I see
PicassoCT
Da zitiert er den götz von berlichingen
TanithRosenbaum
Jup, correct
GrenithTheSkald
So... you won't provide food for your own people... but expect SOCIALISM in other countries to feed your soldiers? What a fucking joke.
DrNicholasRivierA
Make Americans Beg Again!
This level is insulting has just passed Rodney Dangerfield into Don Rickles territory.
Qaetan
These kinds of shutdowns shouldn't even be possible. The old budget should be continued until such a time a new budget is passed.
It's fucking bullshit that congresspeople, judges, etc still get paid during a shutdown but no one else does.
We need a general strike.
pgdave
That used to be how it worked, but the problem is that it takes the power of the purse away from Congress. If Congress hasn't told the government that it can spend money then the government shouldn't be able to spend money because that's an important part of Congress's powers.
IgnisInvictus
You know, I was thinking about this and the issue probably isn't because the military isn't funded, the issue is probably because DFAS is shutdown.
Sageypie
Double whammy of no paycheck AND not receiving any of their SNAP benefits. Because a *LOT* of active duty military are reliant on goddamned SNAP.
"Oh, we're the party that cArEs AbOuT oUr TrOoPs." Eat a dick, GOP, you don't. If you did, then our troops wouldn't need to rely on SNAP to afford to feed themselves and their families in the first place.
Bowtie8bit
People need to stop joining up with the military and the government needs to evict the Republicans who don't take complete care of all military and ex-military people.
FabulousLorraine
Hi- active duty living in Germany. Many of our junior enlisted rely on WIC for supplemental groceries. If they’re not getting WIC and our pay if erratic at best, leadership here is just trying to be practical for people who live off base with their families. Yes, there are mess halls and enlisted who still live in the dorms eat there for free. But many families live off base and don’t have access to the free meals in mess halls.
IncognitoEnthusiast
FiftyShadesOfMascarpone
This screenshot has been shared with the German media by someone at the US Army Garrison Bavaria:
TK421isAFK
I'm not saying TooGoodToGo is a scam, but most places around me use it to boost sales, not prevent food waste. They make more food for TGTG.
ThePostPenultStraw
Congress is not paid when the government is shut down, and they don't get back-pay either. Make that a law and this would most likely never happen again.
Lovingimpaler
Good idea, but we'd need to add a daily $10K fine, coz most of them are rich. Trouble is, they would have to pass the law. So, like campaign finance reform and term limits, not likely.
FermentTheRich3000
If a budget isn't passed before a shutdown, it should trigger an election.
MeowWoof
Congress's main source of income is insider trading, not their salary.
delecti
For better or worse, that's unconstitutional. The 27th amendment prevents changes to congressional compensation from taking effect until after they've been reelected. You'd need to pass another amendment.
Mohareb
Simple solutions are often the best
WhatzitTooya
I'm pretty sure their main income is from "donations" and insider trading these days. But I'm sure they take home the free office supplies, cause thats what greedy people do.
1Megaton
The majority members of congress are already millionaires. F*cking up our lives is more of a hobby for them.
thotheger
Not a hobby, a passion and a lifestyle
TanithRosenbaum
Millionaires tend to be addicted to getting more money (that they can never spend in their lifetime), so even if they don't _need_ the money, not giving it to them would still poke them in a place that would make them pay attention.
ThePostPenultStraw
That's my thinking. When you get to certain point of this particular psychosis it's not about how much you have, but only about you getting more.
InoffensivePablum
Congress does get paid during the shutdown. The people that cut their paychecks don’t.
InoffensivePablum
“In addition to lawmakers, Supreme Court justices and federal judges will still receive their paychecks, thanks to the Constitution. So will political appointees who are confirmed by the Senate, along with certain other appointees.”
https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/22/politics/who-gets-paid-during-shutdown
ThePostPenultStraw
Yes, this is correct. My post was saying make a law that "Congress is not paid when the government is shut down, and they don't get back-pay either."
InoffensivePablum
Such a law was introduced. Remarkably, it has never made it out of committee.
InoffensivePablum
The two longest government shutdowns in history have both been under Trump. Do you think Democratic lawmakers who are currently in the Capitol should not be paid because the Republicans who have abandoned their posts will not negotiate in good faith?
ThePostPenultStraw
I'm not sure how to write the law in such a way as to prevent abuse by the minority to harm the majority, so perhaps they should all be in it together, regardless of the government cause for shutting down? We live collectively under a nuclear mutually assured destruction doctrine controlled by those at the top. I'm sure a couple no-pay months can be weathered collectively by the elites and their lackeys would be fine. Doing nothing clearly isn't working. Other ideas?
EnderKing567
Maybe the Germans should offer them and their families a... New career choice... After all, the United States has a reputation for abandoning its soldiers, especially after they are done with them...
Why not take them off their hands? Why not adopt those abandoned strays?
lolfighter
Take the Franky Gee route: Get stationed in Germany, become disillusioned with all the military bullshit, stay in Germany and make Eurodance music.
By the way, why are we not making Eurodance anymore?
EnderKing567
I've never heard of Eurodance... Hrm.... Gonna have to look it up.
TwoPaws
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-RzR1EZS-8
Atarukb
They'd still have to pay US taxes while also paying german taxes IIRC?
ukalliq
Not with their likely level of income.
EnderKing567
Maybe? I was thinking less dual citizenship and more abandoning the US. Including not paying taxes. If possible.
IgnisInvictus
How the fuck does this work? No, seriously, someone explain this to me please, for some odd reason, I thought that US soldiers living on base in a foreign country were fed at like a mess hall. Is that not how it works? Do we seriously have soldiers going without pay and food living on foreign soil?
milkmymisanthropy
Afaik, the US Ramstein Air Base in germany has a big mall with many fast food restaurants such as Taco Bell that germans are (unfortunately :c) not allowed to go to, because they aren't allowed to enter the base. So, they've probably all the food they need available only to their military and their families.
mrthewhitee
Bases in non-combat zones are different from combat zone bases.
It's more like a US base with some housing associated with it.
DavidBrooker
You'd think the Department of State or something would cover it out of sheer embarrassment, on diplomatic grounds. Fun fact: the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs (the equivalent to State) pays for the Canadian Coast Guard to man an *automated light house that doesn't require a lighthouse keeper*, because it's on an island contested between New Brunswick and Maine and they figure housing government employee there strengthens Canada's claim to the island.
DavidBrooker
Also, "keeper of an automated lighthouse" seems like a pretty chill job, especially when room and board are both covered and your only neighbors are a species of endangered seabird your occasionally asked to photograph.
ptrimg
Most military members do not live on a base, and eat at the mess hall. Primarily, that is only junior enlisted.
BrickSprickly
I'm sorry but they're called 'Warrior Restaurants' now
Goldensands
Okey so, here's the reality. Soldiers are "poors", with little future & less education. They are offered a tiny wage & a sham education so that they'll go kill brown skinned people for their oil money, making americas oligarchy still richer. All of this functions of course on a solid foundation of nationalistic indoctrination from a culture that worships wealth, fame, stupidity and itself. Whatever you imagined you knew about their lives is as wrong as whitewashed american history on imperialism
battery1979
If you live in the dorms you get fed at the DFAC, if you have a family, even if you live on post you have to buy your own food.
Draquez1
Even those living in bases have family that require food for kids.
RecurringNightmare
dunno how exactly the US military does it, but in the german army 25y ago we could opt in and out of certain meals, like everyone got breakfast and lunch on base 5 days a week, but dinner was optional, also if you had weekend guard duty you had to opt in for those days if you wanted food...the food money was deducted from our pay accordingly...if the US mil does something similar, that means no pay -> no deductments -> no food...
bippityboppitybuttsex
I used to be an 11B in USAREUR, we had a food bank on post because Separate Rats (BAS) wasn't enough for an E1 with a kid or two to feed their family... even when they were getting paid... the reality here is that soldiers have been on SNAP benefits for decades because even the US Army relies on SNAP to fill the gap between pay and cost of living.
RacecarIsRacecarBackwards
I don't understand half of what you're saying, but I think I agree!
bippityboppitybuttsex
Lower ranked kids with families in the US military don't make enough money to feed their kids.
101Medic
Yep. We were on WIC (and I believe SNAP) while I was an E-2 and E-3. Base pay has gone up, but the reality is even living on post/on a kaserne doesn't allow for all the necessities. And we hadn't even done the time honored tradition of financing a car at 54% interest from a retired 1SG.
forgotiwasfine
I’m here now and we also have a WIC office on post.
bippityboppitybuttsex
I was in Hohenfels and our Food Pantry was the Commissary (back in the mid-1990s)... and you would see women with babies getting boxes of canned goods... and wonder what the fuck was wrong with the US that it had come to that.
SirRealOfTheShire
This is true. When I was a young soldier with a wife and 2 children, I was on food stamp.
bippityboppitybuttsex
I got lucky, I was an E4 with a wife who was a GS-11, we had no kids and a pair of BMWs in the driveway in our GRHP house.
Pikkupanda
This part. A huge percentage of government assistance recipients are military families.
Freaking infuriating.
bippityboppitybuttsex
It isn't huge, it looks like about 5,000 troopies receive SNAP out of 1.4M active duty... but it should be zero...
I think there should be extra BAS for dependents... the US Military is already the most socialist organization in the US, why not make it 3% more socialist?
Ihug
Nah, expand it to everyone.
bippityboppitybuttsex
Most troops live in the barracks, are single and live off the DFACs... they don't get BAS at all... and even if you are on BAS, when you are deployed or in the field, you don't get BAS either.... so your family starves.
Ihug
SNAP, expand SNAP to everyone. Some system that says that gives everyone the minimum amount of food they need.
clonedeeznuts
TIL, the service doesn't pay livable wages just like Walmart and Amazon..
bippityboppitybuttsex
Let's be clear.
The US military pays its officers a fucking fortune. An O2 with 3 years in makes more than an E7 with 20 years in (the O2 over 3 is at $6042, the E7 with 20 is at $6017 a month)... the military sees Enlisted as an expendable resource that are a drain on the service (and will crush any Enlisted that deviates, slightly, from the rules, and protect, at all costs, any officer that commits war crimes).
Current BAS is only $465.77 a month for enlisted.
sufferinsuccotash
Oh my gosh that's insane
bippityboppitybuttsex
That maximum is about half the Federal SNAP maximum benefit of $994 per month for a family of five.
TheSecondPiewackit
I considered filing for SNAP, but it was just me and the wife, and my budget was fine. Figured other people needed it more than me.
Lontri
Everybody deserves help and you're not taking away from others when you get the help you need.
TheSecondPiewackit
It was purely because we qualified and this was 10 years ago.
bippityboppitybuttsex
Are you able to afford food? If not, apply for SNAP.
TheSecondPiewackit
This was 10 years ago
TK421isAFK
That's an unhealthy mentality, friend. You're not taking anything away from other people by receiving help. Your government has been 1/2
TheSecondPiewackit
this was 10 years ago
Badprenup
Plus receiving the assistance where you can get it allows you to divert money normally spent on food towards other things. Maybe that's paying off debt faster or saving money for a down payment on a house.
That's why the value return on public assistance is almost always higher than the cost, people with a safety net can improve their lives more and faster than those without
sundaymondayhippyday
Trump was right in reverse-
It just wasn’t Africa….
A Shit hole country country
TK421isAFK
pushing that line of thinking for a very long time, and they only do it to make themselves richer. It's the same false concept as the 2/3
TK421isAFK
"Working harder makes you richer" trope. No, it doesn't - but it does make a few people richer. You just get to work harder for them. 3/3
executivedisfunction
You do know we are now allowed 500 spaces in posts here? The old limit was bumped several times.
Goatfer
It's also important to note 1.2 million vets are SNAP recipients too.
bippityboppitybuttsex
Well, it turns out that the US Army training you to put a 3-5 round burst of 5.56 into a man-sized target at 500m is not a skillset that readily transfers to the civilian world....
The lucky ones of us ended up in IT.
aliyada
Can confirm. Work with folks from the Marines, Navy, and Army, of all sorts of MOSs. ..... None of which were closely related to IT. Yet here we all are xD
bippityboppitybuttsex
I was an 11B M249 gunner... I can do the thing I described... I am a Cisco R&S and VoIP dude with a CCIE... we have cannon cockers, DATs, Cav Scouts, even a Spoon working with me doing network-y crap.
I have a O365/Exchange admin who was an 11B2V... I assure you he ain't doing no claymore-chested airborne drops no more.
Goatfer
I worked with a guy who was a tank commander in the national guard. He had worked for IBM as a department manager after leaving the guard, until his knee's couldn't handle it anymore. Target wouldn't even let him manage the deli department...
bippityboppitybuttsex
Getting troops jobs is DEI... we took a lot of damage being pack mules for the US Army and changing track pads on APCs and tanks... everything weighs a ton in mech units and no matter how mechanized you are, you still have to hump 5 gallon water cans up a hill
trinxter
How impressive when a supposed world power sends its troops out to beg for food. That must really make everyone happy. Shame on Washington and a govt that has no better route than this. There has to be a law that never allows this idiocy again. Breaking govt to get leverage should not be possible.
zHurk777
shame on Washington? ha ha. For republicans it's my way or the highway. It's the republicans. republicans control: the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch of the government. If Dems don't want to vote for republican policies, then republicans need to assess their policies if they want to open the government.
livingonagiantfireball
The german need to refuse to feed them, its the usa responsibility, fuck the government, make people want to leave the us army.
NaughtButOne
> There has to be a law that never allows this idiocy again.
There are plenty of laws that disallow this, among the many, many other things this administration has done. The problem is that laws are only as strong as their enforcement. If no one is willing to enforce the law, they're air. Even your precious "Constitution" is just a piece of leather if no one's willing to hold anyone to account for breaking the words written on it.
pgdave
What laws do you think exist to disallow this?
NaughtButOne
Well, Trump and about 80% of the Republicans in office right now should be in prison for insurrection and treason, which would have pretty handily disallowed this from happening... So you can go from there and just start a list.
pgdave
That doesn't stop the government from shutting down, though it might've changed the political landscape so that this shutdown doesn't happen.
pgdave
Don't blame "Washington", blame "Republicans". The Democrats are doing what they can with the leverage they have to try to force the Republicans to prevent healthcare costs from jumping by ~100% (on average on the ACA market). The Republicans just don't care.
InfocalypseRising
they DO have a better route, they're just consciously choosing not to take it. Which is just, like, so much worse.
bippityboppitybuttsex
A reminder that there is plenty of money.
The US Gov't is still collecting taxes, still paying social security and Medicare payments... still paying contractors, still paying ICE agents, still making interest payments on the debt.
The reality here is that not paying these people is a choice...
iambutton812
The US military hasn't missed a paycheck yet. At least not active duty. The first unsecured paycheck is midway thru this month, Nov 15. If they're already struggling then they were struggling before the shutdown.
bippityboppitybuttsex
So, most AD are paid twice a month (I was paid once a month, simply cuz I wasn't living paycheck to paycheck cuz the wife was a GS-11)...
What is causing troops to struggle is that those who qualified for SNAP are no longer getting it (as of 1 NOV)... and BAS is only $455 (but doesn't get paid if troops are deployed or in the field or at sea).
Unclescam
Paying defense contractors sure but also famously not paying construction contractors...
bippityboppitybuttsex
That turned out to be untrue...
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/unpaid-bills-east-wing-demolition/
Unclescam
That actually surprises me that they got their chunk of the now 600 million or so "donated" for it.
bippityboppitybuttsex
It is being privately funded... if trump were paying the bills himself, they would never see a dime.
bippityboppitybuttsex
The US is not a 'world power' that position was surrendered when DOGE chainsawed US AID. We have a 'powerful' military, but it couldn't actually conquer and occupy another nation... if we invaded Venezuela, our troops would be slaughtered... if we invaded Nigeria, Dover AFB would be running 24/7 to keep up with the flights.
We can bomb places, I guess, but that only breaks stuff and makes people hate us even more than they already do and allies the world against us.
pgdave
What world powers have existed, in your measure, in the past?
bippityboppitybuttsex
The US was Hegemon from 1991 to 2024, we were, absolutely, unchecked on planetary economic and soft power.
Before that it was between the US and the Soviet Union (but the USSR really kind of collapsed, world-power wise, in the 1970s when it ran out of money to support its clients).
Before that the UK and the Dutch, the Spanish and Portuguese... Right now, it is China... who exerts incredible influence in Africa and Asia and we have completely withdrawn.
OurDeerGod
How tf is the US unchecked on planetary economic and soft power before 2024?
bippityboppitybuttsex
USAID was providing food and health service to millions of people... we were entrenched in a LOT of countries and other aid organizations weren't as trusted as we were.
Economic power was just the shear size of the US market and its GDP.
pgdave
So when the USSR failed to occupy Afghanistan, that meant they were no longer a superpower? And when the US failed to occupy Vietnam?
bippityboppitybuttsex
Don't confuse hegemon with 'superpower' they are unrelated.
Hegemon is the sole power in the world that can, via force or peacefully, encourage everyone to do what it wants... they can have a 'fleet in being' that never has to leave port to enforce its will.
A Superpower has the ability to project power, anywhere. Right now, the US is still the only country that can do that with the bulk of its force (having huge airlift and sealift capabilities)... But there are levels...