6 ms·

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-imperiali

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.
      - freedomben 5y ago
        Wikipedia says: > Imperialism is a policy or ideology of extending rule over peoples and other countries, for extending political and economic access, power and control, often through employing hard power, especially military force, but also soft power. While related to the concepts of colonialism and empire, imperialism is a distinct concept that can apply to other forms of expansion and many forms of government [1] The goal in Iraq was to topple the Hussein Regime (which the CIA told us had WMDs) and build up a local democratic government. The original plan was for US troops to leave after a few years. If you want to go to "Bush lied and really just wanted cheap oil" then go for it. I have no idea what Bush's "real" motives were. I'm no fan of Bush but I don't think he was Hitler. Anyway what I've said is what I and everyone else I talked to thought about the effort. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperialism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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.

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.
    - freedomben 5y ago
      Wikipedia says: > Imperialism is a policy or ideology of extending rule over peoples and other countries, for extending political and economic access, power and control, often through employing hard power, especially military force, but also soft power. While related to the concepts of colonialism and empire, imperialism is a distinct concept that can apply to other forms of expansion and many forms of government [1] The goal in Iraq was to topple the Hussein Regime (which the CIA told us had WMDs) and build up a local democratic government. The original plan was for US troops to leave after a few years. If you want to go to "Bush lied and really just wanted cheap oil" then go for it. I have no idea what Bush's "real" motives were. I'm no fan of Bush but I don't think he was Hitler. Anyway what I've said is what I and everyone else I talked to thought about the effort. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperialism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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.