Quote Originally Posted by wm View Post
A soldier is one who defends non-soldiers from the attacks of others.
Much of the time, they themselves are the ones attacking. Your description fits better to policemen, bodyguards and bouncers than soldiers.

Soldiers are a breed apart because society has authorized them to violate the prohibition against killing other humans.
No, this only applies to warfare - and many non-military combatants are then authorised to do the same.
A normal soldier is not authorised to kill anyone during almost his entire career.


You guys keep mistaking "war" for "military".


Challenge:

You guys claim soldiers are substantially different (or superior) to civilians in general. I write "in general" because you keep writing "soldiers" without much qualifiers (at war, in combat arms etc.) attached.

Show how this soldier is special:

An airman works in an air force depot, doing inventory and equipment checks on spare parts. The inventory starts again once it's done, week after week. He's working with a civilian there who does the exact same thing.

What's so substantially different about this soldier to justify any special attitude or expectations for rewards?