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I've seen scientists reacts strangely to military people. There are all sorts of reasons, mostly based on false assumptions about the sort of people who chose

I've seen scientists reacts strangely to military people. There are all sorts of reasons, mostly based on false assumptions about the sort of people who chose a military life. But equally, lots of famous people are just jerks. Many at the top of thier fields, be them scientist or admiral, got there by walking over or past other people.

freedomben 5y ago
> mostly based on false assumptions about the sort of people who chose a military life. Very good point. The prejudice against military people is very real, especially in tech. I took my military service off my resume and unless directly asked about it I try to avoid disclosing it.
- sandworm101 5y ago
  Any company with a culture that causes vets to hide thier service should look long hard at their diversity program. If they cannot tolerate a former soldier they are probably pretty intolerant of all sorts of other groups too. I was walking home one day, in uniform through a rural area, when i helped push a car out of a ditch. The lady driving seemed to recoil at me. But then her husband explained that i was not a hunter, that the camo was a uniform. She was vegan. She has seen me walking through the area in early mornings and thought i was scouting for deer.
  - tidenly 5y ago
    Military service isn't a protected characteristic or something inherent in a person. It's a choice, and one people may take issue with if they're anti-imperialist.
    - sandworm101 5y ago
      >> Military service isn't a protected characteristic or something inherent https://www.justia.com/employment/employment-discrimination/military-status-discrimination/ https://www.justia.com/employment/employment-discrimination/... "The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) prohibits employment discrimination based on an employee's past, present, or future military service. This federal law applies to anyone who performs duties in the "uniformed services," whether involuntarily or voluntarily." "Unlike many of the other anti-discrimination statutes, which apply only to employers of a certain size, USERRA covers all employers in the United States, irrespective of size. Part-time or probationary employees receive as much protection as full-time employees under USERRA." So yes. Soldiers are a protected class for purposes of discrimination. If people in your employ feel they need to hide thier military service, that is a serious liability that needs to be addressed asap.
    - freedomben 5y ago
      This lines up well with my theory that most people know so little about the military that they think what motivates a person's decision to join must be support or desire for imperialism. I joined after 9/11 and watching live on TV while fellow humans had to choose whether they wanted to die from leaping out the window or die from fire and smoke inhalations. I wanted to help make sure that something like that never happened to my friends again. The idea of colonizing a foreign land never entered my thoughts.
      - kidme5 5y ago
        Hopefully it entered your thoughts after Iraq and Afghanistan?
        sandworm101 5y ago
        Did you really just call out a solider for his post-9/11 service? Wow. Good thing HN isn't twitter. A tweet like that could come back to haunt a person. Save some hate for the firefighters and kindergarten teachers.
        freedomben 5y ago
        Well, I don't know that I would agree that what happened in Iraq and Afghanistan qualifies as "imperialism." I would call that "nation building," and the motives were/are a lot different (although not entirely void of Venn diagram overlap). Most of us really thought our sacrifice was making life better for people and giving them a chance to experience freedom. At this point I think history has shown that nation building is a bad idea and doesn't work. I think we wasted a ton of money and blood (on all sides) in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it would have been better had we never gone at all. Now all that said, I think it's terribly fallacious and prejudiced to assume what somebody's views are because they served in the military. The military is quite diverse. You'll find people with all sorts of viewpoints and all sorts of reasons for joining.
        dragonwriter 5y ago
        > Well, I don't know that I would agree that what happened in Iraq and Afghanistan qualifies as "imperialism." Afghanistan is arguably more complex, Iraq (2003) was pure imperialism.
    - refurb 5y ago
      One might get offend at your comment, but after realizing you aren't even aware that military service is a protected class, it's pretty clear it's ignorance driving your views.

freedomben 5y ago

> mostly based on false assumptions about the sort of people who chose a military life. Very good point. The prejudice against military people is very real, especially in tech. I took my military service off my resume and unless directly asked about it I try to avoid disclosing it.

sandworm101 5y ago
Any company with a culture that causes vets to hide thier service should look long hard at their diversity program. If they cannot tolerate a former soldier they are probably pretty intolerant of all sorts of other groups too. I was walking home one day, in uniform through a rural area, when i helped push a car out of a ditch. The lady driving seemed to recoil at me. But then her husband explained that i was not a hunter, that the camo was a uniform. She was vegan. She has seen me walking through the area in early mornings and thought i was scouting for deer.
- tidenly 5y ago
  Military service isn't a protected characteristic or something inherent in a person. It's a choice, and one people may take issue with if they're anti-imperialist.
  - sandworm101 5y ago
    >> Military service isn't a protected characteristic or something inherent https://www.justia.com/employment/employment-discrimination/military-status-discrimination/ https://www.justia.com/employment/employment-discrimination/... "The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) prohibits employment discrimination based on an employee's past, present, or future military service. This federal law applies to anyone who performs duties in the "uniformed services," whether involuntarily or voluntarily." "Unlike many of the other anti-discrimination statutes, which apply only to employers of a certain size, USERRA covers all employers in the United States, irrespective of size. Part-time or probationary employees receive as much protection as full-time employees under USERRA." So yes. Soldiers are a protected class for purposes of discrimination. If people in your employ feel they need to hide thier military service, that is a serious liability that needs to be addressed asap.
  - freedomben 5y ago
    This lines up well with my theory that most people know so little about the military that they think what motivates a person's decision to join must be support or desire for imperialism. I joined after 9/11 and watching live on TV while fellow humans had to choose whether they wanted to die from leaping out the window or die from fire and smoke inhalations. I wanted to help make sure that something like that never happened to my friends again. The idea of colonizing a foreign land never entered my thoughts.
    - kidme5 5y ago
      Hopefully it entered your thoughts after Iraq and Afghanistan?
      - sandworm101 5y ago
        Did you really just call out a solider for his post-9/11 service? Wow. Good thing HN isn't twitter. A tweet like that could come back to haunt a person. Save some hate for the firefighters and kindergarten teachers.
      - freedomben 5y ago
        Well, I don't know that I would agree that what happened in Iraq and Afghanistan qualifies as "imperialism." I would call that "nation building," and the motives were/are a lot different (although not entirely void of Venn diagram overlap). Most of us really thought our sacrifice was making life better for people and giving them a chance to experience freedom. At this point I think history has shown that nation building is a bad idea and doesn't work. I think we wasted a ton of money and blood (on all sides) in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it would have been better had we never gone at all. Now all that said, I think it's terribly fallacious and prejudiced to assume what somebody's views are because they served in the military. The military is quite diverse. You'll find people with all sorts of viewpoints and all sorts of reasons for joining.
        dragonwriter 5y ago
        > Well, I don't know that I would agree that what happened in Iraq and Afghanistan qualifies as "imperialism." Afghanistan is arguably more complex, Iraq (2003) was pure imperialism.
  - refurb 5y ago
    One might get offend at your comment, but after realizing you aren't even aware that military service is a protected class, it's pretty clear it's ignorance driving your views.