I think snipers are just extraordinarily good shots with a weapon and are put into the position of killing and after the propaganda has worked its charm on them - they delight in the role - that god-like power of determining who dies and when - surely consumes them - till it doesn't any more? And so Chris Hedges is able to outline for these "monsters" what lies in the nightmarish futures.
I think snipers are just extraordinarily good shots with a weapon and are put into the position of killing and after the propaganda has worked its charm on them - they delight in the role - that god-like power of determining who dies and when - surely consumes them - till it doesn't any more? And so Chris Hedges is able to outline for these "monsters" what lies in the nightmarish futures.
Normal folk who are great shots go on to win medals at international events such as the Olympic Games, etc. They don't become snipers murdering the innocents...
Agree. I mean that being a sniper for the military probably tends to be corrupting, as would any job where part of the job is to kill people whose faces you can see from a distance before you kill them. Any job where the focus of the job (literally in this case) is to be a killer. I'm not saying that simply being a good shot will lead someone down this path, though if the person with this skill is Israeli, and is ordinarily required to perform service in the military, at which point such skill might be discovered and the soldier channeled into sniper training...
Also, not everyone who becomes an efficient killer in the service of their country falls into the moral abyss of becoming a thrill killer. Example: Audie Murphy. After the war he suffered from PTSD, but refused offers to sell cigarettes or alcohol because he had become a matinee idol and didn't want to set a bad example.
I think snipers are just extraordinarily good shots with a weapon and are put into the position of killing and after the propaganda has worked its charm on them - they delight in the role - that god-like power of determining who dies and when - surely consumes them - till it doesn't any more? And so Chris Hedges is able to outline for these "monsters" what lies in the nightmarish futures.
Such a skill would tend to be corrupting. :( However, if one can set personal moral boundaries, I don't believe that it has to be.
Normal folk who are great shots go on to win medals at international events such as the Olympic Games, etc. They don't become snipers murdering the innocents...
Agree. I mean that being a sniper for the military probably tends to be corrupting, as would any job where part of the job is to kill people whose faces you can see from a distance before you kill them. Any job where the focus of the job (literally in this case) is to be a killer. I'm not saying that simply being a good shot will lead someone down this path, though if the person with this skill is Israeli, and is ordinarily required to perform service in the military, at which point such skill might be discovered and the soldier channeled into sniper training...
Also, not everyone who becomes an efficient killer in the service of their country falls into the moral abyss of becoming a thrill killer. Example: Audie Murphy. After the war he suffered from PTSD, but refused offers to sell cigarettes or alcohol because he had become a matinee idol and didn't want to set a bad example.