Diplomacy between two peoples, one with the power of force and one without is not diplomacy. It's a surrender.
The idea that groups of people don't need threats of violence, but only the exchange of powerful ideas to exert will and keep enemies at bay is a lofty one. However, this world of peace loving non-violence comes crashing down as soon as one man realizes that by striking an opponent with a stick he can exert his will with the much more timely threat of painful death.
How would you stop this man? Argue that violence never solves anything? Or simply ignore him as he bashes in the heads of your intellectuals?
Civilized society, intellectual pursuits, and scientific developments requires that men man the battlements with swords and bows to keep the barbarians at bay. Without those men who would do violence to protect civilization, shortsighted men with sticks would rule the world.
~Me!
Not sure if I want to share where that comment was left just yet.
5 comments:
I'd say we wait until the man with the stick has bashed in the heads of most of what passes for our "intelligentsia" and then fight back.
Just sayin'
Anon has a point.
But that tends not to work either.
Anarchists are similarly as short sighted on the issue as the anti-violence folks.
Anarchy does happen from time to time and the Anarchists find out that certain people, who don't prefer anarchy, are better at dealing with, and doling out, anarchy than the Anarchists.
Sadly, almost all of the current generations of US citizens have been insulated from the real world by "rough men" with sticks (i.e. USMC, USA, USAF, and USN).
When combined with the failure of our "education" infrastructure to teach history, this has resulted in a society where the majority fail to even recognize the need for sticks.
"When you have beaten your sword into a plowshare, you'll end up plowing for him who has kept his sword."
As Mark Davis (WBAP) often says ... "Peace is when the good guys win."
I'm not sure of its origin, but it works for me.
I'm fond of saying that diplomacy is convincing the other guy that he doesn't want to be beat with your stick.
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