Soldiers creep me out

I see men in military uniforms at my school.  They’re students, in camouflage outfits, and even though they’re unarmed it creeps me the fuck out. They’re hired guns for the state, and they’re wearing their killing uniforms to class.  This is really weird.

Almost everyone around me thinks war a valid profession, which makes me wonder if I’m being a self-righteous asshole about this.  Every soldier I’ve met has been friendly to me.  My family is economically well-off, and when I was unemployed even I was briefly tempted to enlist for the excellent benefits.  But I don’t think anything is worth surrendering your moral agency and your continued existence to strangers in Washington who don’t give a shit about you.

I know one soldier personally.  He’s a buddy of mine, whose cigar-smoking company I enjoy and whose opinions I often respect.  While he was in Afghanistan I kept my Facebook comments to a noncommittal “stay safe”.  But I don’t know if that makes any sense, because it’s inherently dangerous to forcibly occupy other human beings’ homelands.  I think he should have stayed home.