I may be gone soon. Apparently the worst sin is to talk down to people. What's funny to me about this is that I am being accused of this over an argument over treating people with more respect.
I could wrap myself in the flag and say that this is a "veteran thing" that the others don't understand. To me this is about rites of passage. One of the great merits of rites of passage is the common understanding of accomplishment. The ladies on this site who have their pictures featured are treated with tremendous respect, for instance, because it is a proof of accomplishment...and a tremendous show of courage. One of the problems for men on this site is that they have no comparable mark of accomplishment. (Guys, please don't send me pictures of yourself naked, that's not what I meant.)
I suspect that some of the people who have had their heads explode and accused me of talking down to them have a fundamental problem with their own confidence. I guess this is why some people engage in dangerous sports or shout themselves hoarse in protests that have no central idea or chance of success. I know what it's like to be without accomplishment, and I fully accept that there are ways outside the military for proving your worth.
I disagree with many, perhaps most of the people in this community on a broad range of subjects. Some of the people I disagree with I have great respect for, but the people who offer opinions that were showing their age thirty years ago aren't them. I get the anti-war movement, I was born into it, but I figured it was full of crap more than twenty years ago.
If it sounds like I am talking down to you, maybe it's because I saw through your argument decades ago. Come up with something your own that you believe in or do the hard work and change your mind. Or kick me off the site and preserve your views from challenges, because insulation is better than accomplishment any day.
I could wrap myself in the flag and say that this is a "veteran thing" that the others don't understand. To me this is about rites of passage. One of the great merits of rites of passage is the common understanding of accomplishment. The ladies on this site who have their pictures featured are treated with tremendous respect, for instance, because it is a proof of accomplishment...and a tremendous show of courage. One of the problems for men on this site is that they have no comparable mark of accomplishment. (Guys, please don't send me pictures of yourself naked, that's not what I meant.)
I suspect that some of the people who have had their heads explode and accused me of talking down to them have a fundamental problem with their own confidence. I guess this is why some people engage in dangerous sports or shout themselves hoarse in protests that have no central idea or chance of success. I know what it's like to be without accomplishment, and I fully accept that there are ways outside the military for proving your worth.
I disagree with many, perhaps most of the people in this community on a broad range of subjects. Some of the people I disagree with I have great respect for, but the people who offer opinions that were showing their age thirty years ago aren't them. I get the anti-war movement, I was born into it, but I figured it was full of crap more than twenty years ago.
If it sounds like I am talking down to you, maybe it's because I saw through your argument decades ago. Come up with something your own that you believe in or do the hard work and change your mind. Or kick me off the site and preserve your views from challenges, because insulation is better than accomplishment any day.