Poll: Do you automatically respect people in the military?
- Thread starter Xan Krieger
- Start date
Probably because not many people are going to admit to being a bloodthirsty assbag who joined to kill random strangers, you'd be surprised what some people are like behind the mask.the clockmaker said:
OT: Not really, just as you say they are just like any other person. They might go through some pretty physically strenuous training but that doesn't make them any better than other people. I do have respect for police officers however.
This.Daystar Clarion said:
My father was in the army, so I spent a lot of my childhood moving around from place to place. In most places I went in the UK and in Germany people really didn't care one way or the other if someone was in the army and a few automatically hated people in the army. I don't think I've ever encountered a person who respects a person in the military more than any other job in Germany/UK, and I've never encountered a squaddie who ever expected that sort of behaviour either.
I think this is an American thing more than anything. The most attention I've had from having a father in the army in the UK was one guy who said my father would, of course, be a 'murdering rapist waiting to happen'.
EDIT -
What you are talking about is more courtesy than respect. Respect is "a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements" and you can no more force a feeling of respect than you can force yourself to find someone attractive or find something funny, especially if you've just met them and know nothing about what they've done in life.Serinanth said:
Yes I do respect them. Then again that is usually my starting position for most people, but soldiers get an additional leg up along with other life threatening jobs like police, etc.
If nothing else, you should respect someone trained to (and likely has) killed people for...you know...practical reasons.
If nothing else, you should respect someone trained to (and likely has) killed people for...you know...practical reasons.
No. they are people, usually not very bright, who get a job that fits their profile - brute force, following orders, little initiative. thats their choice and thats fine. i would never take such choice however. id rather go underground.
That said, i dont hate military as some people do. its a necessary evil for protection of nations till the time nationalism dies and we become the earth federation. come to think of it, if napoleon actually did took over the world maybe we would have one nation without stupid bickering out of nationality.
That said, i dont hate military as some people do. its a necessary evil for protection of nations till the time nationalism dies and we become the earth federation. come to think of it, if napoleon actually did took over the world maybe we would have one nation without stupid bickering out of nationality.
As an active-duty military member myself, I can definitely say I don't respect everyone I work with. I do think that there's a LOT of misconceptions about the military, however: It's a lot harder and a lot more complicated than people outside of it seem to imagine, and it varies immensely depending on whether you're Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines. There are very different reasons to respect/dislike any of these branches.
No. Because they chose that life and career, unless drafted through conscription which is a different thing entirely.
But I actually lose respect for people who choose to put themselves in situations where you will be expected to kill. And the line; "they're defending your freedom!" Is some of the biggest bullcrap I've ever heard. Do your research, the US in particular over the last hundred years has been the aggressor more often than not.
But I actually lose respect for people who choose to put themselves in situations where you will be expected to kill. And the line; "they're defending your freedom!" Is some of the biggest bullcrap I've ever heard. Do your research, the US in particular over the last hundred years has been the aggressor more often than not.
The Taliban are a military force. Just think about that.
OT: Nope. I respect them as people, not soldiers. They go somewhere to fight for for the profit of rich warmongers and weapon manufacturers. There are of course people who believe they're "fighting for freedom" but if you believe that everything you're doing over there involves that and that alone then you're an idiot.
Also, here's another perspective: Soldiers are just mercenaries with a flag.
OT: Nope. I respect them as people, not soldiers. They go somewhere to fight for for the profit of rich warmongers and weapon manufacturers. There are of course people who believe they're "fighting for freedom" but if you believe that everything you're doing over there involves that and that alone then you're an idiot.
Also, here's another perspective: Soldiers are just mercenaries with a flag.
It really depends on their reason for joining and what their other options were. If their reason for joining was, "I want to shoot stuff",then no, if they joined because they wanted to help their country despite the dangers and costs then I think they deserve some respect.
I live with these people, work with them, I see the at their best and their worst, I know what they are like under pressure and what they are when the mask drops, and you know what, none of them, not one of the ones I work with fit that description, not a goddamn one.SlaveNumber23 said:
I am tired of these same tired assumptions that continue to live on in societies collective knowledge. People know things, they can't back them up or tell you how they know them, but by jove they feel right.
I have seen fewer places less knowledgeable about the military than the escapist.
And didn't you have a thread of your own on this topic, one that you have effectively abandoned.CpT_x_Killsteal said:
Sorry for the double post, and on topic, no, someone is not an honorable baddass just by putting on a uniform, but I know that I can trust them more than your average civilian and the level of disdain that the community on this site shows them annoys the hell out of me.
Do I feel a certain respect for trained killers, who might, on a moments notice, be sent to a hostile country where everyone and their dog will be out to get them?
I most certainly do.
I would respect a soldier as much as a firefighter or a police officer, seeing as they also risk their lives in the line of duty.
I most certainly do.
I would respect a soldier as much as a firefighter or a police officer, seeing as they also risk their lives in the line of duty.
I actually have no idea what you posted, I just saw your avatar and couldn't stop looking at it.Evil Smurf said:
I don't know if there is any text next to it or if you just wrote obscenities, and nonsense, but frankly I don't care.
Damn it's cute.
I respect anyone who does their job in a competent and respectable way, whatever profession that may be.
I'm in the military.
Short answer: No.
Long answer: Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Haa ha ha ha haaaa! No.
Longer Answer: Not automatically. I am from a country with a military that I feel is generally underutilised. You train a group of people to fight and be hungry for deployment you shouldn't be surprised that they get frustrated, bored and act like a bunch of idiots when they're not sent overseas. I'm in the TF, (Territorials,) and worked with Regular Force guys almost two years ago in a disaster zone. We were doing clean up and talking to people and on cordon duty around the red zone; basic and incredibly boring stuff - but important. Especially interacting with people who'd just lived through a massive natural disaster. The RF Army guys, and Navy guys to a lesser extent, just had no idea about how to act in the non-military world. They pissed in shop doorways, did chin-ups on collapsed scaffolding, played cricket while stationed on the cordon, were curt and impolite with the public, (many of whom had lost their homes, businesses, some of them lost friends or family.) I, (a Private,) remember telling a Navy Petty Officer to turn his loud music down because it was 3:30 in the morning and there were a lot of displaced people who were forced to live in a nearby motel trying to sleep. They just have no idea about how to live in the real world or how to interact with people who aren't in the military.
So yeah, that doesn't give you a lot of respect for them, at least not automatically. However that doesn't negate from the work these people do when they're in their element. Some of the biggest dickheads I have ever known have been in the military, yet in a combat situation the vast majority of these absolute tossers just flick a switch and become the most on-to-it trustworthy people who'll perform their role exceptionally and work their hardest to make sure you don't get your arse shot off. When they are needed to perform they perform and there's not much more respectable than that everything considered.
But still, if you ever go drinking with a bunch of people in the military you'll have a hard time respecting them ever again.
Short answer: No.
Long answer: Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Haa ha ha ha haaaa! No.
Longer Answer: Not automatically. I am from a country with a military that I feel is generally underutilised. You train a group of people to fight and be hungry for deployment you shouldn't be surprised that they get frustrated, bored and act like a bunch of idiots when they're not sent overseas. I'm in the TF, (Territorials,) and worked with Regular Force guys almost two years ago in a disaster zone. We were doing clean up and talking to people and on cordon duty around the red zone; basic and incredibly boring stuff - but important. Especially interacting with people who'd just lived through a massive natural disaster. The RF Army guys, and Navy guys to a lesser extent, just had no idea about how to act in the non-military world. They pissed in shop doorways, did chin-ups on collapsed scaffolding, played cricket while stationed on the cordon, were curt and impolite with the public, (many of whom had lost their homes, businesses, some of them lost friends or family.) I, (a Private,) remember telling a Navy Petty Officer to turn his loud music down because it was 3:30 in the morning and there were a lot of displaced people who were forced to live in a nearby motel trying to sleep. They just have no idea about how to live in the real world or how to interact with people who aren't in the military.
So yeah, that doesn't give you a lot of respect for them, at least not automatically. However that doesn't negate from the work these people do when they're in their element. Some of the biggest dickheads I have ever known have been in the military, yet in a combat situation the vast majority of these absolute tossers just flick a switch and become the most on-to-it trustworthy people who'll perform their role exceptionally and work their hardest to make sure you don't get your arse shot off. When they are needed to perform they perform and there's not much more respectable than that everything considered.
But still, if you ever go drinking with a bunch of people in the military you'll have a hard time respecting them ever again.
I'd take it on a case by case basis. If you went and fought a war that directly stopped the way I love to live from being threatened, I'd buy you a few beers and give you a friend for the evening. Hell, maybe even dinner. If you're one of those dipshits who went into the military because you were lazy and ran out of options after high school and ended up fighting some political/economical war because you signed over your identity at the drop of a hat, I would probably empathize that you had little to work with, but I would simply be feeling sorry for you rather than respectful. Granted, I might treat you the same way, but my motive would be greatly different.
actually, the opposite:
I have no respect for people who are whiling to sacrifice themselves for unnecessary wars that don't even have anything to do with them personally, it's a complete disgrace.
On the other hand, though, I do respect those that come back alive from a war, not because they're heroes or something absurd like that, but because they've seen how the world is and can be, and lost a lot of the common delusions that get spread in our society. (like plain ignoring to be mortal, etc.)
/rant and weirdo talk
captcha: "ivory tower"
yeah, I guess... : |
I have no respect for people who are whiling to sacrifice themselves for unnecessary wars that don't even have anything to do with them personally, it's a complete disgrace.
On the other hand, though, I do respect those that come back alive from a war, not because they're heroes or something absurd like that, but because they've seen how the world is and can be, and lost a lot of the common delusions that get spread in our society. (like plain ignoring to be mortal, etc.)
/rant and weirdo talk
captcha: "ivory tower"
yeah, I guess... : |