A free man must not be told how to think, either by the government or by social activists. He may certainly be shown the right way, but he must not accept being forced into it.
-- LtCol John Dean "Jeff" Cooper, USMC (retired)
May 10, 1920 - September 25, 2006
Word.
ReplyDeleteLike all former Marines, I will only speak of Lt. Col. Cooper in awed, hushed, respectful, tones. That being said, this is one of the few statements Cooper has ever made that is laughably incorrect. The Marine Corps will NOT only TELL you how to think, you will be quickly and and effectively punished, for NOT thinking "The Marine Way." Any Marine veteran that states otherwise is simply not being honest. The Marine Corps is a unique American institution in that it runs both on honor, AND fear.
ReplyDeleteProud to have served.
I just finished reading C Stories. When we lost Col. Cooper, we lost one of the greatest philosophers of our time. I had the great privilege of meeting and talking with him. A Marine yes, but he was much more.
ReplyDeleteTo typeay:
ReplyDeleteIf you are a U.S. Marine you are not a free man.
The good Colonel was speaking about free men.....and he was correct in his assessment. There is a difference between being a free thinking member of a free society and a blindly obedient sycophant to your beloved Corp. This nation is for free men not the latter.
KPN3%
typeay,
ReplyDeleteHe is not incorrect.
He is referring to free men. Marines, or any other military branch, for that matter, are not free men. Not once they join, and not until they get out, at least.
-JoseyWales3633@yahoo.com
+III to the previous two comment.
ReplyDeleteExactly what I was going to point out.
I often think of Robert Heinlein as Col. Cooper's literary counterpart. There is so much similarity in the precision, clarity and results of their thinking.
Here is R.A.H.'s take on the human requirements for free thinking individuality:
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.
Specialization is for insects.
Robert A. Heinlein in "Time Enough For Love"
I recently posted this in comments at Sipsey Street, so forgive my zeal for this quote, but it seems to me to distill the anti collectivist, freeman attitude more potently and in fewer words than many another attempt to do so.
Col. Cooper would approve.
Jon III
Even in chinos he's a frightening bastard when he's got you in his sights...
ReplyDeleteIf Americans had THIS guy's picture as a poster in their bedrooms instead of Justin Beeber or whatever generation's equivalent you had, this country wouldn't be in the spot it's in.
We'd have had the politicians swung from the lampposts and tree trunks decades ago.
I can hear God say "See Col. Cooper? Now go thou and do likewise."