Why are some people on the internet such dicks

[SteelCurtain]

[Cato]

My husband, who has been in the military twice, says mostly they are taught to disdain civilians.  Respect and honor are reserved for other service people only.  Perhaps that was not true in the past, but is true of current training.  This was a serious answer.  If this is true, then this sort of attitude is unsurprising.

I'm certainly not challenging what your husband reports, but I don't recall any such lessons during my service. That said, I know first hand how the incessant drilling of espirit de corps results in an us and them attitude that exponentially strengthens the further away another group is from the unit.

[SteelCurtain]

There are also a lot of people that join the military at age 17, get told how special they are every day, and they believe it.

A lot of them translate the respect they get for wearing the uniform for respect they deserve, which in turn turns to respect you owe them. And any slight to that ego response will result in a diatribe that starts with "I didn't put my life on the line so you could...!"

The Sailors and Marines in my department and in my squads we always keenly aware of where that line was. You aren't owed special treatment because you wear the uniform. You graciously accept it when it is offered. The pride in the uniform is pride in your service, and can translate into personal pride. You still chose to join, you weren't forced. I had several conversations with young men (never a woman, hmm) about hearing them say they didn't join so someone could do something they disagree with. Nip that shit in the bud.

[Jackalope]

Read Jon Ronson's "So You've Been Publicly Shamed."

It talks all about internet dicks and why they are the way they are.

Also see the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory. You don't need me to Google that for you.

Basically, for a fair number of people, anonymity + an audience = total fuckwad.

[Jackalope]

My husband, who has been in the military twice, says mostly they are taught to disdain civilians.  Respect and honor are reserved for other service people only.  Perhaps that was not true in the past, but is true of current training.  This was a serious answer.  If this is true, then this sort of attitude is unsurprising.

I'm certainly not challenging what your husband reports, but I don't recall any such lessons during my service. That said, I know first hand how the incessant drilling of espirit de corps results in an us and them attitude that exponentially strengthens the further away another group is from the unit.

This also was my experience. Its not that we were explicitly taught to disdain civilians, it was more implied that there was 'us' and there was 'them' and that's just how it was.

Personally, I have never thought my military service entitled me to respect from anyone. It's pretty much irrelevant to who I am today anyway.

SC's observations about being told how special we were is on point too. I thought it was bullshit even back then. A lot of the guys I served with were anything but.

[God of Mr. Hanky]

I am a very nice person. I try to have a reasonable discussion with others on the web, on sites like Facebook. I constantly run into ignorant comments left by people and they will just resort in name calling. I may be liberal, but I respect everyone's points of views. Or every now and then I'll run into someone who's apparently served in the military and they'll tell me it makes them sick that people like me exist in this country when they're fighting for my freedom to be a "Libtard". Aren't people in the army taught to have respect and honor? I mean...I'm a University student, but I don't talk down to people.

The world is full of stupid and ignorant bullies, just waiting for anyone who they think they can blame their shit on to wander into their sites. Fuck them, just leave them to stew in it! When you know who you are, you see what they don't, and you're above treating others that way,  then you know you're better than they are.

Or you may decide to have some fun by showing them what a waste of oxygen they are.

[Nontheist]

Some people are just dicks that's all, I work with a whole bunch of dicks, but those dicks probably think I am a dick as well, dicks!

[ignoramus]

[Wyrd of Gawd]

I am a very nice person. I try to have a reasonable discussion with others on the web, on sites like Facebook. I constantly run into ignorant comments left by people and they will just resort in name calling. I may be liberal, but I respect everyone's points of views. Or every now and then I'll run into someone who's apparently served in the military and they'll tell me it makes them sick that people like me exist in this country when they're fighting for my freedom to be a "Libtard". Aren't people in the army taught to have respect and honor? I mean...I'm a University student, but I don't talk down to people.

You may want to gently remind such a person that they didn't fight for anyone's freedom.  They fought for the objectives of wealthy people.

[Wyrd of Gawd]

Why would you get upset because some unknown person disagrees with you on the internet? Get a life. Bake a cake. Take a walk. Jump in a lake.