As a veteran who is vehemently opposed to Trump, and who has a masters degree, that’s a shitty statement to make.
Not only is college not a sign of latent intelligence, but thanks to the GI bill that pays us to go, military veterans tend to perform better in college than most groups. We take our education much more seriously than 18 year old kids fresh out of HS do. We had to fight to be there.
Plus I just know too many Trump supporting college graduates, and too many anti-Trump blue collar vets, for this statement to mean much. And honestly, statements like this just fuel the war on academia by showing that academics are too insulted by the hallowed halls to have any semblance of a pulse on society. They’re too disconnected.
Thank you for your service! My husband went into the army back in the 70’s right after the war, and was able to get the GI bill in order to go to college. He then went on to get a degree in Chemistry. We were also able to buy a house for 0 down with a VA loan. I don’t know how all that works today. It must be hard on soldiers to be anti Trump in today’s army. Back then, no one cared who you voted for. The army was not political. There was not the stigma of being called dumb if you joined the military either.
Also that GI bill is the only way a lot of these people can afford a college education to begin with so of course they don't have a college education while they're still in active service. I'd put money on the GI bill being the sole reason a chunk of people sign up.
Most of the enlisted force only has a high school diploma because the enlisted force is predominately in the 18-22 range. Getting a degree while enlisted is enormously difficult based on the nature of the job, especially for someone in the combat arms. But having a degree and being educated are two separate concepts.
Guess how many 18-22 year olds in college have diplomas? None. Because they're IN college, not graduated.
And I can assure you that as a professor, my soldiers (I'm national guard) are considerably more squared away than my college students.
Point being, these guys aren't abnormally stupid because they're enlisted. And most people with a degree at this point aren't a whole lot smarter than those without.
When students sign and return the syllabus in my class I ask them to also fill in the last non-assigned book they've read. The amount of "Green Eggs and Ham" or "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" responses make one wonder if universal suffrage is all that great an idea.
Not bullying you friend, just trying to make a point. Guess I came off harsher than I intended.
Aaah, I see you did miss the comment I replied to initially, as it's been deleted, which they labeled all military people as uneducated. I defended in my pain riddled way. Some context does matter.
This is a dead thread at this point anyhow & not worth my energy with my current level of pain
No worries. I just feel defensive of my tribe. I mean people (rightfully) dunk on the president for saying this stuff. I don't believe for a second he gives a damn about us. But then the same people talk about how we're all a bunch of uneducated idiots and then wonder why we don't vote for their team.
When I was active duty we didn't have a lot of degrees for the above reason. But now that I'm National Guard I have a ton of soldiers either with degrees in or actively in college getting their degree. They're a huge pain in the ass (and so am I, since I'm a professor) because we have to work around their schedules on an individual basis when putting together training plans and whatnot.
I'd call this a good interaction by reddit standards. I wish others (and sometimes myself) could be better about how we talk to each other because I have a feeling a lot of us shitting on each other would be cool with each other irl.
Right on, Cheers... I have a great respect for the military in general, I know it's individuals that can be a problem.
I never could go in myself because of medical things, but my dad served in the Navy around Vietnam & kinda interesting related bit; he told me of a high influx of enlisted people having a higher education around then. There was the draft & they hedged their bet on just enlisting in the Navy (who didn't do much during Vietnam besides sit in the nearby waters while providing support for the Marines along with Aircraft carrier bases & it was much safer) instead of waiting to be drafted into something more dangerous
…you’re claiming to be smarter than most but you’ve never heard of the Sooners?
God fucking damn bro, if your standard of smart is exclusive to elite universities and excludes all state schools, you’re dumb as shit and just don’t know it.
Degrees are pointless, it's a very saturated market, everybody's got a damn degree, I have a degree, Do you know how likely it is to get a job in your field of study? 40%. So again I say college is useless.
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u/BigBlueEyes87 Sep 05 '26
I'll never understand why so many service members & veterans support Trump.