Quote: (06-22-2014 12:09 PM)Icarus Wrote:Bingo.
Quote: (06-22-2014 11:50 AM)WestIndianArchie Wrote:
Never, I have family in the military.
One could be pedantic and argue that being a soldier is not the same as being a warrior.
A soldier is a government employee and follows orders. It's a job.
Being a warrior is about having a calling. Warriors don't fight for a cause, for ideas, or to defend their nation. They fight because it's fun. It's a game, and the words "game" and "job" are usually regarded as antonyms. Warriors in today's world are probably more attracted to martial arts and competitions like the Ultimate Fighting Championship than to military service. A warrior fights to test his mettle, not for ideas, and certainly not for a government.
Much ink has been spilled over the fact that the warrior is deep down a pretty humane, honorable guy. That's utter drivel. The path of the warrior is the path of willful violence unto others. Because you want to, not because you're ordered to.
Miyamoto Musashi was a warrior, the best of his time in Japan. He fought all those duels and battles for one reason and one reason only: to prove he was the best. That's it. Not in defense of his homeland, not for a Great Cause like democracy or the defeat of fascism or communism, not for anything else.
There have always been few 'true warriors', and this is especially the case in the the modern day West. Even among the elite SOF units, true warriors are hard to find. It's not a question of toughness or skill, which those men certainly have, it's a question of the way you look at the world: the warrior thinks like a predator, and wants to be at the top of the food chain.
That isn't to say I'm passing moral judgement on the warrior. If that's your thing, go for it. But today people only adapt the image of the warrior when it's convenient, like Marcus Luttrell for instance.