Why do some people assume military members are of low intellect?

Well, you have really low intellect until you work up the ranks, just like in any business. When you first start off; unless you have a degree, you will be on the frontlines or a trainee. Since most of the education you receive is government, it is really crappy education. The point of a military personnel, even though well respected, is to be alive long enough to get the job done and nothing more. Your job is to fight and you only learn things that will help you fight. Also, most people who come from poor families join the military to get the benefits. It's not your fault, if you grew up poor; but this also means that you will not have access to the best education. Many of the tanks and all the equipment is made by scientific industries, not the military. Like for instance, I would think the parts of the jets were made in like 10 different countries and one of the biggest businesses, Boeing.

Daniel: If at all, conservatives are to blame for the crappy education given to military personnel. They like big military and are anti-education to dumb down the masses for corporation takeover.

Your boss owns multimillion dollar equipment not you. The military is owned by the corporations - that's where the term "Military Industrial Complex" comes from..

Eisenhower tried to warn America:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y06NSBBRtY

@Daniel, if the military is so great and liberals are so bad get off liberal internet websites and go on your military channels! oh that's right you military people just have hick bars..

@James, no you do the monkey work.. the real educated people come from outside the military and are often hired as contractors. The military is full of goons that think they are superior to everyone. If so tell me why you have to hire contractors like myself to do work you can not do. 2 months Katrina disaster - on military base! doing the work military goons could not do.

I served with the brilliant, the mdediocre and the below average, But they all had heart and a sense of duty, All were ready to pull their weight, or die trying, literally.

I will take them over the inept elitists who mock them as companions any day.

I had a very dysfunctional upbringing, joining the Navy enabled me to see the world, converse with people in other countries and get a firsthand realistic view of what people are like in real life situations, not sound-bites served up by a lowest common denominator forced narrative corporate media machine.

I can't speak for everyone, but my own experience was less than ideal, far too many high school click's, generational click's, people who seem more interested in collecting more awards than anyone else, vice just taking pride in doing their job well.

Started out under the false impression that to be in the military one had to adopt a conservative mindset, obviously it's easier to get along if one adopts this attitude while in the military, yet I had enough sense to be mindful of what psychological warfare entails, it's not only used on a potential "enemy" but it's also useful in maintaining conformity within the ranks.

People are commonly matched up upon taking an entrance test to determine which level of complexity an individual is best suited to be taught.

I did not associate with people in the military just because they worked in a similar field of technical competence, I associated with people who treated me with the same amount of respect that I gave them regardless of job or rank.

I often got along better with people outside my own rating because those in my rating were often so full of themselves that it was akin to a narcissists club, (much like some, but not all Mensa members).

Intelligence is overrated, I learned a long time ago that just being a Mensa member does not guarantee that a person has any great deal of objectivity inherent within their so-called praxis of over-blown "intelligence".

A person could have knowledge of a given subject or field of endeavor and still be lousy at judging people, events or concepts in an equanimous fashion.

The military was my last option because I didn't like being unemployed and the county I resided in at the time I joined had the highest unemployment in the state 16.5%, the rest of the state was around 7 %.

I also managed to round off the rough edges of my personality while I was in the military, something I had trouble doing in the 18 foster/group homes I lived in before I joined the Navy.

To answer your question, people tend to demonize other people regardless of organization for one clearly obvious excuse, to feel superior or a combination of repressed guilt over not sacrificing 20 of one's most productive human capital years to a single endeavor, like the military.

As far as people "thanking me for my service" I really hate the projected guilt trip people give me when they attempt to use words to replace the guilt they feel by proxy of telling me this meaningless phrase when they assume or come to the conclusion that I'm a veteran.

The real purpose of the military does nothing to protect the American "illusion" of "freedom", but civilians and military individuals alike are obsessed with this false narrative, so what can one do except shake their head in utter amazement at the conditioned naivete of most people unable or unwilling to see the big corporate picture of what the military truly represents.

I don't know who your Listening to.

But I don't believe that. It takes Skill Brains and balls.

Thank you for your service.

Because of the movies, it represents soldiers as simple fools who follow orders. Blame hollywood, movies like jarhead etc

they don't

they simply enjoy insulting people

They serve oil and gas machines, Straining the herd of conformity within its ranks. Iron steel and tanks. No thanks.