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It strikes me as ironic that the more the military gets put on a pedestal by the public, the more they resent said public. Both of these (the public's worship of the military, and the military's disdain for the public) have experienced a clear upward trend over the last 20 years.

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Occasionally to the "thanks for your service" I sometimes reply "it's fine, I volunteered for myself". Just to see their reaction to the honesty, especially in the face of their lip service reply. (Rather how off norm replies to "hi, how are you" are treated).

Both of these (the public's worship of the military, and the military's disdain for the public) have experienced a clear upward trend over the last 20 years

But "the public" isn't one thing. The right-wing half of the public respect the military, and the left-wing half despise it while revelling in the freedom it provides, which also includes the freedom to despise it. I mean back in Soviet Russia if you spat on the uniform of a soldier of the Red Army, I imagine you would have been in alot of trouble. Or in China with the PLA.

> the left-wing half despise it while revelling in the freedom it provides

I doubt you can defend this statement on a factual basis

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