Quote:
Originally Posted by Undertoad
I was trying to figure out a pleasant way to say how his argument came from ignorance, other than just saying
It wasn't a sacrifice because they didn't do it for free? Really? You wanted them to do it for free? You don't value a standing military when the nation was attacked on its own soil only 10 years ago? This stems from either simple ignorance of the world, or a hatred of the nation that probably comes out of a bad relationship with a parent. In either case, the military person's sacrifice is only that much larger for having dickweeds like BigV going around spouting off that sort of shit. Do it for free, he said. What an asshole.
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Good, thanks for going the extra mile in the interest of civil discourse.
As for your remarks that stayed on the cutting room floor, I would like to address them too.
I do believe that soldiers sacrifice a lot. I think they sacrifice more than school teachers and cops and librarians and politicians and mail carriers and many others. I also think that they make that sacrifice knowingly and voluntarily and are compensated for that sacrifice and service. I also believe that those other public servants also sacrifice, and do so voluntarily and are compensated. I did not and do not suggest that they serve for free. I do value a standing army, though I think our current military-industrial complex is vastly outsized compared to the main mission, and that surplus gets exercised in non-main missions like disaster relief and police work. I freely admit that I'm not a military expert or a political science master, you get my opinions informed by a life lived while paying attention.
I'm glad you didn't suggest that I'm ignorant of the world; I'm not. Or that I harbor a hatred of our nation; I don't. It is prudent of you to refrain from speculating on a non-existent bad relationship with my parents; that one would have definitely been covered in your own poo.
My gratitude or my disdain affects a soldier's sacrifice *not one iota*. If that were true, then the current attitude of adulation for our military would diminish the service of our military, and the service of, say, the veterans of Viet Nam would be elevated. There is no logic in such a statement.
I might be an asshole, but I didn't say do it for free.