I'm sick of the idea that there is anything particularly patriotic about getting paid to kill and be killed. This glorification of the military needs to stop.

If you think being in the military is just about being 'paid to kill and be killed', you have a childlike sense of morality.

I served 6 years relatively recently and went to West Point, and in hind sight my opinions are at this point in time, joining the military is :

-a job with risks, rewards, and reasonable compensation -not intrinsically more patriotic than a variety of other jobs (although the culture is designed to make you think it is) -I have contributed far more to America outside of service than I did inside it -I left service convinced that patriotism is not really a value worth caring about. It is like "team membership" like being a Yankees fan.

I'll agree with that (four year military veteran here). You serve your country by striving to make it better.

I guess to me patriotism isn't telling everyone else how much better you are than other countries, it's constantly reminding yourself how much better your country can be, and striving to make it happen. Don't need to be in the military to do that, and sometimes going into the military might be counter productive to that goal.

What is a patriot then? Someone willing to die for their country or someone to makes sacrifices for their country? Just last week, I painted a school (volunteer work) and I currently fix up donor computers to give to underprivileged youth. Am I not acting patriotically, or am I just helpful? Because I understood that to mean that I was trying to build a better future, in a completely non-partisan, non-policy, not-subject-to-interpretation, way.

I'd like to think that selfless and concrete action is also patriotic. Is that not the case? If not then... well.. I'm not terribly skilled with weapons, not that strong, not that athletic, and my eyesight is kind of meh -- I'm not sure I can be that kind of patriot.

You are indeed a patriot. If I could've reasonably joined say the Peace Corps I might have.

It was an intentional dig at this guy who did ROTC but couldn't be bothered to commission.