RE: Honor the Troops? Maybe We Should Hold Them Accountable Instead.
I don't think so.
I'd love to think so, because I abhor both government, and the concept of a military.
But I think there's too much brainwashing at play to just assume that every person who joins up is a psychopath.
Here's the one piece of proof that will change your mind:
The USA military goes to schools, and tells children who are below 21 about how great it is to serve in the military.
I do not see chefs, engineers, scientists, waiters, waste-disposal people, or janitors coming to school to speak in front of a class on why you should consider being a waiter or scientist, or whatever else.
The only group of people that had a special time in front of an unrelated class was the military.
They do this to American children. Military officials go into government run schools and directly brainwash the young children there into joining up, using sly language like "duty" and "honor" and "sacrifice". They trick children into learning to kill, and only then do they become psychopaths.
The children are too young to be evil or psychopathic. They are just children who, if taught proper kindness, love, respect, hard work, civil duty, and how to think deeply, would happily do so. They only turn into monsters when they're taught that murder is justice, and that oppression is righteous.
Mental disorder is build up from the environment. I write about this in my posts extensively. It is not something inherently brought by DNA (only rare cases) bur rather something socially constructed.
If you mean the sorts of mental issues that are very very common in modern society, like depression, anxiety, shyness, faith, obedience, or ignorance, I'm with you completely.
Well ofcource. Even psychopathy stems from basic depression and anxiety. Existential dread and disassociation with one's environment can lead to schizophrenia. I would recommend you read Becker's - The Denial of Death.