^ In some sense I sympathise with him, I remember seeing an interview where he claimed he was "interfered with as a child" and it seems like he did have a rough upbringing, got into trouble young and was pretty much institutionalized as a result, still though, there is no denying he did some seriously bad shit to a fair few people and regardless of whether he let one person take the liver transplant he could of had I don't know that redeems him. As someone who spent a number of years training various martial arts and the like I certainly respect that Mark Read was a serious hard man, and that no matter how hard he got hit, bashed or stabbed he stayed who he was and wasn't one to back down. Still though, while you can respect it in some small way it is certainly nothing to be admired, and society would be a lot worse off if more people were like him.
I don't know why you keep bringing up the military, it is such a seperate issue it is not funny. I don't agree with where we are in terms of military conflicts and I definitely think that some (although I am yet to be convinced it is a majority, I could certainly be more well read on the subject) of our service men and women act atrociously over there, that is different to being a career violent criminal who is portrayed in the media like a celebrity. If one of our soldiers gets caught seriously acting out overseas they are demonised, not worshiped. Yes the military does get a lot of respect by default that isn't necessarily deserved, the whole "fighting for your country" notion hasn't applied since World War II from what I can tell and I don't see why being essentially a bunch of hired thugs for the corporate interests of the US military industrial complex is really something that commands respect.
I think you do have to acknowledge though that there are a lot of factors in a war like conflict which may cause people to act in an unacceptable manner that are a bit more understandable than it happening in everyday society. I feel that someone who was a decent person until they got into a war zone and saw death every day and was often peer pressured by other soldiers to engage in shitty behavior that is rationalised as normal or "what they deserve" has a lot more prospects to be rehabilitated than somebody who engaged in cold blooded murder for the sake of cold blooded murder and/or financial incentive. I am not downplaying the shit soldiers do in war or saying that is is acceptable I just think you do have to make a distinction between that and a total violent sociopath type that killed numerous, possibly many, people throughout the course of their less than 60 years on earth.
All that said, I am not hating on Mark Read and I am not glad that he is dead. Whether people believe he deserved it or not, he has a family and there really is no need to throw hate up the day after their loved one has died, keep that shit to yourself. RIP Mr Read.
