Should I join the Marine Corps?

Hi, I am currently a sopre at UM Amherst and I have been debating whether to join the marines or not. I have thought about this a lot and I am still having difficulty coming remotely close to a decision. Some of my reasons for wanting to join might seem unwarranted considering what the Marine Corps purpose is within the country but I can’t seem to keep these reasons out of my rational. There are the obvious reasons most people give when asked way they joined or are considering joining, i.e. “I want to help people.”, “I want to serve my country.”, “I want to make a difference.”, “I want to better myself.” Etc. Although I do want to do all of those things mentioned, those are not my main motivations. I want to join mainly out of tradition and lifestyle and I am not sure if it is wise to make this decision based off these reasons. I am a very traditional person, it’s just my personality. I am not a very religious person but I go to church just about every Sunday out of tradition mostly (With that said I want to note that I do my best not to allow my traditions to interfere with my morals). In the context of joining the marines, my mother and father were both marines, both of my grandfathers were marines, and a handful of uncles and cousins were/are marines. I have an unexplainable need to carry on this tradition. Also, I feel I would enjoy the social structure of military life. I like uniforms, the idea of marching around, working as a team, everyone being based off performance and experience to move up in rank, the organization, the way everything is “tip top” all the time and the motivation and discipline the military can instill in someone. With that said this would be a much easier decision if the U.S. were not currently in a long, difficult, and controversial war. I feel there are a lot of politics involved in the military (in a bad way) that do not have the interest of the American people or of the American soldier. This is my own personal way of looking at things so if what I’m about to say seems obscure please correct my or tell me your opinion. In theory I feel the politicians should be the moral and ethical decision makers on war (among other things), determining when diplomacy and negotiations have failed and it is time to fight. If war is declared, the soldiers should carry out the wishes of the politicians feeling confident that the politicians have done their moral and ethical duties correctly. Therefore freeing them from determining themselves (individual soldiers) whether this is a just or unjust war and allowing them to focus solely on their mission. I am aware that this theory is severely flawed in that politicians are often corrupted by lobbyist, corporate greed and party lines and that’s where my main problem comes in to play. I don’t want to be used as a pawn for major oil companies or political party pride. What I’m about to say may seem naive but I don’t think I would have a problem going to Iraq of Afghanistan and fighting to help those people and to help protect the U.S. but I can’t seem to find ability to fully trust my government in their decisions to go to war with lobbyist whispering in their ear. Any comments to help me make a better informed decision and get out of this dilemma would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading this I know it’s a bit much.