@rotckid: I’ll answer that one: the same way I look at other people. My father was a career Marine officer. That never stood in the way of my life at Reed ('74) or my older brother ('70). You can respect the military and honor the people who serve without having to agree with the governments that sent them into harm’s way.
Thanks! Thats how I thought it should be too
Well, since the question was addressed at me, I guess I could give my own answer too.
I don’t respect soldiers or think there’s any honor in being a paid killer. I don’t feel grateful to American soldiers for anything. I’m not American, which explains part of it, but I don’t feel grateful to my own country’s military for anything either (and I have an uncle who serves in it).
I think the cult of the military in the US is extremely weird and disturbing.
That being said, I’ve known likeable military personnel and do not let their profession influence my evaluation of them as people.
WOW. After reading all of these posts, I think Reedies are idiots. I wouldn’t apply to Reed if they paid me to. I’ll go to actual schools like Hillsdale, Sewanee, or Hampden-Sydney .
Then you’re just as judgmental as anyone you’re attempting to insult. lmao
You should have been considering those schools rather than Reed in the first place.
@Ghostt I think your soldier comment was strange and likely not a view held by most at Reed. I can’t say of course but I imagine most people oppose the wars themselves not the soldiers.
Also OP Sewanee seems like a great school. I’m super liberal but accepted to Sewanee and considering it. The academic rigor definitely seems there.
- The question was addressed to me personally so I gave a personal answer.
- You don't even know (m)any Reed students, though?
- I think people who find my opinion on professional soldiers strange are strange.
I respect your opinion. It was addressed towards you but it said “as a Reedie” so I had the impression it was also about the general view of soldiers in the Reed student body. I don’t know many Reedies as you pointed out so I guess I was questioning rather that was a common opinion. I strongly oppose war and especially the war on terror but I personally respect soldiers.
@jmbakh I agree with you about Sewanee. Do you know anything about Hampden-Sydney?
Prospective Reedie here. It is good to note that a lot of jobs in the military do not involve killing people, like being a medic on the battlefield, tracking the air to identify any threats to a territory, and other things.
Nope. That’s the all male school right? I targeted need based financial aid and that never really came up on my radar plus I don’t think I’d want an all male school.
Most jobs in the military do not involve harming others.
I think our military is very important, and the men and women who chose to serve their country in this way should be respected.
I think Ghostts comments are beyond strange, to insulting.
I do not think he represents more than a small faction however.
@Ghostt At first thanks for answering the question anyway. I actually didn’t want to know if Reedies respected soldiers as much as if Reedies saw soldiers as someone who could be a part of Reed, the one who are often stereotyped as conservative/anti-intellectual, etc…
I’m not American either, but I came to a military school in the States as a hippie who tried to understand why those people were doing what they did. I left with quite a lot of new insights.
Back to the respect matter, I don’t personally respect soldiers for what they are doing for their countries either. I find that idea of protecting “the ideal”/democracy/the intangible instead of “the people” indigestible still. I don’t think many soldiers in combat think about their countries either. But I respect them for their sacrifices for other lives - the ones who are around them, I respect them for their thought that if they are not there, many more young men and women may die, I respect them for their willingness to trade their life for someone else’s who signed just the same paper as themselves.
“I don’t respect soldiers or think there’s any honor in being a paid killer.” - most soldiers don’t take honor in themselves either, rather the thing they represent - if they do at all. Many don’t take honor in anything, they just do what they believe they should.
Please stop. People who make comments like this would not last a DAY at Hampden-Sydney or Hillsdale(real schools, unlike Reed) If you dislike America so much, move to Cuba.
Come off it. All schools are real schools. Leaning towards one side or the other doesn’t make you imaginary.
Stephen Colbert attended Hampden Sydney, otherwise
I would have never heard of it.
Hillsdale, I hadnt heard of.
Reed is fairly well known in academia.
Hillsdale and Williams were new to me this year. 
Add Hampden-Sydney to that list, now.
We were sending Communists and Anarchists to Reed more than thirty years ago. And, maybe the occasional Socialist.
Done that, got the t-shirt.
I am a woman.