I’m liberal and I love the military, I was raised as a military brat for 18 years
Why Do Most Liberals Hate the Military?
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HorseHung40's
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I don't think that most liberals hate the military; however, they don't like some of the things that the military does or holds sacred.
1.) Despite efforts to the contrary, many perceive the military to be homophobic. Although it did want gay Americans serving in it, it never refused funding from the taxes paid by those same gay people.
2.) To a large extent, it is anti-woman in the same vain as homophobic.
3.) It is still a domain of white privilege. In the Vietnam war, a disproportionate number of black soldiers were sent there in combat.
1.) Despite efforts to the contrary, many perceive the military to be homophobic. Although it did want gay Americans serving in it, it never refused funding from the taxes paid by those same gay people.
2.) To a large extent, it is anti-woman in the same vain as homophobic.
3.) It is still a domain of white privilege. In the Vietnam war, a disproportionate number of black soldiers were sent there in combat.
creek47
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A lot of good discussions however as a military member it’s interesting. The average military member doesnt care who a person ducks as long as they can do their job.
the average military member doesn’t care if they’re man or a woman as long as they can do their job.
the average military member doesn’t care about your skin color as long as they can do their job.
I do believe that their is an idea especially in academia that military members are overly dumber than most people. This is simply untrue and the vast number of military members get out after 4-6 years and go to college.
Uh... Politics section is *that* a-way. 
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This is epic-level thread necromancy. I believe you deserve an award.
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Uh... Politics section is *that* a-way.
"bu, bu, but...it was here back in 2008"
This.
My main gripes are how much money is spent on the military. How the lives of folk in the military don't seem to matter much to Powers That Be. How veterans are treated post service.
Last. The military preys on people in economically disadvantaged communities.
I am more liberal than 98% of the Democratic party. I am also a former reservist who served this country proudly, including in Kuwait during the first Gulf War. Additionally I have several generations of family members who were also to the the left and were in the military, including Vietnam and WW II. I have worked and were friends with many other veterans who have been life-long Democrats.
I would think if you turned off the right-wing media talking points and stereotypes, you would find these are not isolated anecdotes or statistics. While it may be true in my experience that more service members are registered Republicans or support them, conservatives by no means have a lock on either service and patriotism.
What I do hate is government and politicians who throw away the lives of service members unnecessarily in wars that only benefit the pockets of those some leaders or private defense contractors rather than being in our nation's security or interest. What I do hate is the leaders and their supporters that claim to support the troops and wave the flag, then vote to cut off spending to support them after they come home physically and psychologically scarred. What I do hate is those some right-wingers who will imply one is Un-American if they don't unquestionably agree or support any conflict the military is involved in.
I thus do not hate the military and can separate the war from the warrior; a distinction I believe the Right can see, they just choose to pretend not to (unless it's a Democrat in office or in charge of a conflict). Then again by your whole dumbass premise, you appear ignorant of a lot of things.
Then again, I don't know why I'm even bothering with an over ten year old thread where the original Jackwagon I'm addressing has long since been given the boot for his assholery.
I would think if you turned off the right-wing media talking points and stereotypes, you would find these are not isolated anecdotes or statistics. While it may be true in my experience that more service members are registered Republicans or support them, conservatives by no means have a lock on either service and patriotism.
What I do hate is government and politicians who throw away the lives of service members unnecessarily in wars that only benefit the pockets of those some leaders or private defense contractors rather than being in our nation's security or interest. What I do hate is the leaders and their supporters that claim to support the troops and wave the flag, then vote to cut off spending to support them after they come home physically and psychologically scarred. What I do hate is those some right-wingers who will imply one is Un-American if they don't unquestionably agree or support any conflict the military is involved in.
I thus do not hate the military and can separate the war from the warrior; a distinction I believe the Right can see, they just choose to pretend not to (unless it's a Democrat in office or in charge of a conflict). Then again by your whole dumbass premise, you appear ignorant of a lot of things.
Then again, I don't know why I'm even bothering with an over ten year old thread where the original Jackwagon I'm addressing has long since been given the boot for his assholery.
I'm liberal and I am not anti-military as a rule. I find that the military is brilliant when it comes to supporting structures like police, healthcare etc when there are immediate threats of unrest etc. I also don't mind if they are intervening in war crimes that are clearly causing suffering to millions of people around the world.
What I do object to is the belief that we should send troops into areas of the world where we have no reason to be, just for the thinly veiled reason of getting oil supplies from Arab countries. I don't believe we should be the "policemen of the world" and we often leave more chaos and carnage in our wake when we send soldiers into battle with other cultures.
In fact I feel for the military - sending our sons and daughters to die for no real cause. We must hold the military to account if they commit war crimes. I don't believe that is "hating" them. I believe that is making sure our professional soldiers and commanders are adhering to a set of ethical and moral principles.
I also believe that we should be spending the money on things that impact people's lives every day. Good quality healthcare, housing and education. We spend hundreds of billions on military yet we haven't been physically attacked by another nations military (no I don't count 9/11 as national, it was a group of terrorists) in decades.
Can the OP explain why that is a problem? I could say "why do all right wingers blindly bow down to the military and not question their behaviours?" But I don't lump all people into boxes with alleged beliefs.
What I do object to is the belief that we should send troops into areas of the world where we have no reason to be, just for the thinly veiled reason of getting oil supplies from Arab countries. I don't believe we should be the "policemen of the world" and we often leave more chaos and carnage in our wake when we send soldiers into battle with other cultures.
In fact I feel for the military - sending our sons and daughters to die for no real cause. We must hold the military to account if they commit war crimes. I don't believe that is "hating" them. I believe that is making sure our professional soldiers and commanders are adhering to a set of ethical and moral principles.
I also believe that we should be spending the money on things that impact people's lives every day. Good quality healthcare, housing and education. We spend hundreds of billions on military yet we haven't been physically attacked by another nations military (no I don't count 9/11 as national, it was a group of terrorists) in decades.
Can the OP explain why that is a problem? I could say "why do all right wingers blindly bow down to the military and not question their behaviours?" But I don't lump all people into boxes with alleged beliefs.
I believe you are wrong there, sadly. I don't believe many on the right are nuanced enough to see that you can support our soldiers but not the dodgy decision making and political/economic influences that control those decisions. Its all or nothing for many.
You may be right as far as many can't see it; but I have know a few conservatives who I know did, even if they would not admit it in order to support their "side". But again, they also had no trouble pretending they were suddenly peacenicks when a Democrat declared a war or came into office during one.
creek47
Superior Member
One of the issues with the American military is that many don’t fully understand the role. The American military for better or for worse is the one superpower in the world. Superpower being defined as being able to handle two wars on two fronts. This ability has allowed for less deaths due to war in recent humankind history. Example is 50 years before 1945 and 50 years post 1945.
However this idea that just sheer number of force and certain destruction isn’t an applying idea to some on the left. Where in academia they believed in education conquered things instead of force. This can be debated but I believe that for some on the left, especially in Academia they do hate the military.
Example is when I had a professor in college call President Bush a terrorist. He by definition can’t be a terrorist. A terrorist is a non-state sanctioned actor. President Bush was elected so therefore he is a state sponsored actor. It was just academic dishonesty.
However this idea that just sheer number of force and certain destruction isn’t an applying idea to some on the left. Where in academia they believed in education conquered things instead of force. This can be debated but I believe that for some on the left, especially in Academia they do hate the military.
Example is when I had a professor in college call President Bush a terrorist. He by definition can’t be a terrorist. A terrorist is a non-state sanctioned actor. President Bush was elected so therefore he is a state sponsored actor. It was just academic dishonesty.
And I'm really glad you not only steered me over here, but more importantly, convinced me to stay.
Someday if my state joins the 21st century and legalizes recreational weed, we will have to have a virtual toke together
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You felt the need to reactivate a 12 year old thread by a person banned and long gone?
Liberals don’t hate the military, or atleast I don’t nor any of my friends since most are vets. It’s more of a belief that we spend too much on things that lead to war when in reality we should have developed far enough to not need to kill eachother over disagreements. It’s weird society deems murder as a crime but we go to war and kill at the drop of a hat.
I think the fact that this is a 12 year old thread and people still believe this about liberals is very important. It shows just how long propaganda can and does exist in the minds of people. Liberals don't hate either the military or cops. The problem here is that people define criticism as hate in a lot of areas as a defense against that criticism being validated by others.
If a liberal says america should separate children from their families. The reaction to that is a statement disguised as a question. Do you hate america? It's like asking someone if they're stupid. Obviously the person would say no if they don't know what's happening and still there will be labels of both hating america and being stupid from the person or people who asked. And that's because it's not a real question. It's propaganda.
Of course liberals don't hate the military or cops. But we very much such as why that's the statement. And why that statement regardless of the facts is so consistent in many areas.
If a liberal says america should separate children from their families. The reaction to that is a statement disguised as a question. Do you hate america? It's like asking someone if they're stupid. Obviously the person would say no if they don't know what's happening and still there will be labels of both hating america and being stupid from the person or people who asked. And that's because it's not a real question. It's propaganda.
Of course liberals don't hate the military or cops. But we very much such as why that's the statement. And why that statement regardless of the facts is so consistent in many areas.
Labels are very convenient to forward one's agenda. I'd prefer to be called progressive.
The military is sacred. It's not the military that's the problem. It's the machine. Defense contracts make lots of people money. If there were such a thing as Educational contracts or Medical contracts along the order of the DoD then we'd be the smartest, healthiest people on the planet.
When Jefferson penned Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness I look at it in these terms: Liberty is being assured by the military. Happiness is a just and fair capitalistic system. But life? Where does that fit in? How about taking care of your people. Let's keep them healthy enough to enjoy all the liberties and happiness they can muster.
As a progressive it saddens me to know that in a nation that spends $739,000,000,000 on defense a year that we have sick people going bankrupt. That's immoral.
The military is sacred. It's not the military that's the problem. It's the machine. Defense contracts make lots of people money. If there were such a thing as Educational contracts or Medical contracts along the order of the DoD then we'd be the smartest, healthiest people on the planet.
When Jefferson penned Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness I look at it in these terms: Liberty is being assured by the military. Happiness is a just and fair capitalistic system. But life? Where does that fit in? How about taking care of your people. Let's keep them healthy enough to enjoy all the liberties and happiness they can muster.
As a progressive it saddens me to know that in a nation that spends $739,000,000,000 on defense a year that we have sick people going bankrupt. That's immoral.
