Why do some people feel the need to literally venerate members of the armed forces. Correct me if I am wrong but people who join the army, navy and air force get paid for doing what they do, but some people still go on about soldiers sacrificing everything to defend the freedoms of the citizens of their nation. Just as bin men are paid to collect peoples rubbish and teachers are paid to give kids an education, soldiers are paid to fight the enemies of their nation and defend their people.
NM
Moved to IMHO (for now).
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
You really think a soldier putting his/her life on the line is even remotely equivalent to a trash collector or teacher?
As a former soldier I do think it is fairly ridiculous the amount of soldier worship that exists even though I will admit I have personally benefited from it several times. The majority of the members of the military don’t even engage in combat at all but work in support roles such as logistics, communications, etc. Members of the military do get paid, some of them very well and better than a lot of civilians and the majority of them will never see real combat or warfare. It seems to me to at least partially be some social reaction to how many soldiers were looked down on or reviled during the Vietnam War. I often hear similar “worship” from certain members of the community about police officers. I think the soldier worship does go over the top sometimes, but at the same time I dislike how many people have a prejudiced view of members of the military and assume they are all uneducated or ignorant and can’t function in the real world, while that may be true for some I don’t think it is for the majority and members of the military reflect the civilian populace and cliques in many ways. You have the dumb, alpha male jock types, the nerds and gamers, highly educated people with multiple degrees that are just trying to pay off their student loans, and people that are just doing one enlistment term to get money for the college.
There is no greater honor than to choose to defend your family and nation, sacrificing your life if necessary for the greater good.
- Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori*, as they say.
It’s partly a backlash against the Vietnam protestors who would attack the soldiers rather than the policymakers, but in recent decades it’s been played up a lot amongst the right wing partisan base as a way of warmongering and attacking dissent against policy. Essentially they’re trying to deflect criticisms over stupid wars by saying “Why don’t you support the troops?” and similarly juvenile things. It’s a core part of the new jingo/“patriot” mentality that the right wing is drumming up. Make the common soldier into an unquestionable hero, and then make criticism of war policy equivalent to criticism of those soldiers, and you shut down discussion and rational thought.
Oh God no. Trash collectors and teachers are far far more important in the general scheme of things. And I say this as a proud military brat.
Well if no one came to collect everyone’s rubbish and no one was qualified to teach kids, I’m pretty sure shit would hit the fan fast.
I get to a few Leafs games each hockey season, and it has been standard procedure for several years now to show on the jumbotron and have the rink announcer introduce at some point during a break in the game action, Army Guy X , who gets a standing ovation from the 18000+ people in attendance.
Perhaps it’s callous of me, or ungrateful for this anonymous person’s service to his employer (my country), but I am no sheep.
If I’ve never heard of the guy (or gal), why the fuck am I giving them a standing ovation? “'Cuz everone else iz.”
Fuck that.
You won’t say that when WWIII starts. 
I do agree they are important jobs, as are a lot of jobs (mine not so much), but I still don’t believe they are quite up there with the soldier.
Wouldn’t that be the job of the sanitation worker (also pretty important)?
The soldier has never heard of you, yet is willing to defend your freedom without reservation.
The appropriate reaction among civilized humans is “thank you”, not “fuck you”.
I wonder if that soldier is well-compensated enough, for his choice of vocation.
Nobody ever gives me a hearty slap on the back and a standing O for pumping north of 6 figures into the public coffers each year.
Defend my freedom? Debatable buzz-words at best.
ETA I am in no way stating a hatred of the military or those employed thereby. Please don’t twist my words.
This is it though. The soldier voluntarily chose to fight for his county and is getting paid for it so why should anyone thank him for doing his job. At the end of the day that is what he is doing. His job.
The old lie.
Are you really such a ferocious asshole?
You go to a restaurant- you don’t say thank you to any employees?
Say your house catches fire, and the fire department comes- you won’t say thank you, because they are just doing their job?
Doctor in the ER pulls a bullet out of you- you just get up and walk out without thanking her or anyone else?
Seriously, what is wrong with you to think that is appropriate? Are you a sociopath?
No. The Soldier, sailor, airman or marine does not defend my or anyone elses freedom, whatever his or my country. He or she follows orders, whatever they are. The armed forces as whole go out to enforce the interests and policy of their country.
I respect forces personnel. They are professionals and they serve the country in what are often difficult and hazardous conditions.
Just occurred to me that the current (and I mean since about 1990) attitutde toward the military may have something to do with the smaller proportion of the population employed by warfighting. The fact that during the two Iraq wars and the Afghanitan war, a relatively small number of men and women were deployed and in combat lent an air of elitism to the military.
Compare with…well, let’s just go back to the Civil War. The total population of the USA sand CSA was 31 million. A little over 3 million, or 1/10 fought in the war. Excluding women and those too old or young to fight, you end up with a great proportion of eligible men involved in combat.
By World War I, the population was 103 million and the US mustered 4 million. 1/25. So, still a significant proportion.
WWII. Population 139 million, 16 million fought in the war. More than 1/10 of the population, or more than the proportion that fought in the Civil War.
So up until then when we had a war, everybody was involved! Almost literally. So, those who served weren’t viewed by their contemporaries as heroes; it was just a fact of life that you served and so did the people you know.
Korea, population 152 million, almost 2 million served. Now we have less than 1/70th.
Vietnam, population 216 million, a little under 3 million served. Still around 1/70th.
Now, we know that Korea is now known as the forgotten war. I suspect, however, that Korea vets were treated much the same as WWII vets by their peers, i.e. that it was just a duty that was not especially distinguishing, because it was the same society as WWII.
Vietnam was controversial duh. And it can be argued that it was a bad choice. Same commitment of society to the war effort, but the war itself was unpopular. You may not have known anybody directly involved. And still, the WWII generation held power and viewed military service as something that just happened. So on one hand you have the establishment who isn’t willing to worship soldiers simply for being soldiers, and you have the other side who is willing to vilify soldiers for being soldiers. Call it a draw.
Gulf War, population 250 million, 600,000 served depending on the time frame you choose. What’s that, about 1/500?
Iraq/Afghanitan, population 275 million, 2.4 million served over 13 years. 1/100.
So for the last two wars, you have an ‘elite’ of the society in the military. Military service isn’t as common as it once was, and is now seen by many as kind of exotic and certainly (again, by some) the most honorable choice you can make.
Add to that the fact that it’s all volunteer, and you get the crowd that points out that they CHOOSE to put their lives on the line. Well…how is that more honorable than getting drafted?
If we were inveaded by Canada and Mexico today, and once again mobilized even 1/50 of our population, would everybody who served be treated as a hero? I think not, even though that certainly would be more of a dire threat to our nation than the War on Terror.
Forgive any poor sentence structure or maths. Trying to fit this in around a busy day.
Cool it with the insulting talk. This goes for everyone — disagree, but do it civilly. If you can’t, move over to the Pit.