Also, large armies have been vehicles of social change since napoleonic times at least. You bring young men from all over the country together, from different backgrounds and different social classes, and have them depend on each other for their very survival.

The GP is either an outright troll, or has bought into a political propaganda version of what armed forces are like.

Is there every a situation where an individual can complain about institutional regression at a large scale without facing this dismissal?

I’m starting to associate this point with people flippantly dismissing a (potentially) reasonable point.

Look, Im familiar with all the aphorisms about ‘kids these days’ and ‘soft men’ and the like. There’s a lot of wisdom in avoiding cynicism, but to avoid all negative observations of this sort is just as naive. Many great states and institutions fizzle out with little fanfare, under mediocre leadership and execution.