The military does not prepare them for commercial jobs, but the social pressures are always there to give them opportunities, and many of them add to the insanity that was already part of the landscape.
In communities like mine where there was a strong anti-government sentiment, the city's land development process had already steered away from good practices, so it was a prime environment for a bully boss environment. The ex-military retirees who had no training served the perfect role, stepping into positions where they were able to add to the gaslighting, forcing people into obediently stepping in line.
Adding insult to injury, they rewarded themselves by breaking residential covenants for themselves or cronies, to ensure you knew who was boss. Worst case of abuse of power you can imagine. But, certainly no one in this abusive good ole boy subculture were going to question them. Everybody else was doing it too. Especially the lawyers.
I should have seen it coming when we purchased our house. The sales rep was the son in law of the owner. He was retired military. In the closing he complained that in the military no one questioned his word and he was obviously put-off when someone had questioned him in relation to the closing. Here's the thing, he left out critical information about the development that would make a complete difference in our lives. We weren't properly warned about our legal rights as property owners in this community.
As our community continued to be developed, this system of bully leadership became a thing. They think it's their right to form inner circles and withhold critical information from anyone who they don't see is essential to their plans. Definite signs of tribalism. Just about every person in this community that compounded our problems had military experience. I was raised in civilian quarters on a military base and never saw anything like that. People were honorable where I grew up, so I was shocked. So, who were these people? Certainly honorable and integrity are not words that I would apply to them.
Not going to say they were the only ones, since the lawyers did a great job of muddying the waters, but what I experienced was definitely something that good people should be warned about.
Tough to have to tear down once accepted norms, but it's the only way to get down to the truth. And, yes, I think greed plays into it. You would think their $100,000 pensions would allow them to be good leaders, but it's the opposite. I see airs of entitlement.
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