JES, there is not a single job that an 18 year old kid, with no education or money, can get that equals the money and benefits of the military (other than being a real estate agent over the last 5 years). That being said, all of your job ideas were good, but they generally require going to a trade school of some type. And these cost money. For some kid in the ghetto with no money and no chance at going to school, then joining the military becomes a no-brainer.