20
Mercenaries don't deserve special consideration (sopuli.xyz)
submitted 5 months ago by to c/unpopularopinion@lemmy.world
18 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

If you sign up to kill people, and it's not in reaction to an attack on your country, you are by definition just a mercenary. I don't wish death on you, but I don't feel much when you die and I don't think you deserve any special consideration by society for your questionable career choice.

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[–] 16 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Yes on "no special gratitude for veterans of offensive wars".

No on calling them "mercenaries". Signing up to be paid by your country in their official uniformed military is considerably different than joining a corporation to do violence for whomever pays your employer.

(Also no on the USA's weird solider/sailor/marine/airman distinction.)

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  • [+] -7 points 5 months ago* (2 children)

    Unless they have been forced into the military at gunpoint, fuck the lot of them and let them rot. Just because they wear a costume to murder doesn’t mean they aren’t utter slurry.

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  • [+] [S] -11 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    So gov't paying you to kill is not mercenary, but gov't paying a company to pay you to kill is? Alright, I guess. If that works for you.

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  • [–] 8 points 5 months ago

    Yes

    Military members work for a goverment

    Mercenaries work for the highest bidder with no loyalty. They are Soldiers of fortune.

    Can they do the same things? absolutely. Distinction is there are more ppl joining Military in deperation than Mercenaries groups. Nearly everyone I know who joined Military had the poor orgin story and little choice.

    Also mercs may have looser standards to what they wont do. Some countries actually dont punish soldider for not following illegal orders.

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    • [–] 8 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    How is that unpopular? Who's out there simping for mercenaries?

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  • [–] [S] -5 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    Anyone who says,"Thank you for your service."

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  • [–] 8 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    I think that is pretty much only used in the US and mostly directed as military service members, not mercenaries.

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  • [+] [S] -6 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    Yes, that's my point. Service members are mercenaries.

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  • [–] 9 points 5 months ago (3 children)

    But they aren't, by definition.

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  • [–] 0 points 5 months ago

    A person paid by a government to follow orders and enact violence upon a target or targets chosen by the authorities in that government... Am I describing a member of the military or a contractor for a PMC like Academi? It's a legal distinction without a functional difference, like a corporation vs an LLC. There are limited circumstances where, in a court, they are treated differently but the product that comes from them and the processes by which it is produced are essentially the same.

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