Read it all, including the embedded link.
And memorize this Eastwood quote cited by John:
Now remember, things look bad and it looks like you’re not gonna make it, then you gotta get mean. I mean plumb, mad-dog mean. ‘Cause if you lose your head and you give up, then you neither live nor win. That’s just the way it is.
That's just the way it is.
"That's the way it is." Cronkite had a word for every situation.
ReplyDeleteThat's been a concern of mine. That we the people won't apply the full measure of justice. That "they" will sue for peace, the people, tired as they will be of suffering and privation, will acquise and nothing will really be solved or settled.
ReplyDeleteFor a dose of hard justice reread the Book of Exodus and maybe Judges for a sample of what will be required to heal OUR land.
wl moses
Hard to believe it was written last july 2010! And yet here we are. Talk about death by a 1000 cuts...
ReplyDeleteCIII
Good article. I don't care for the phrase "harden your heart", which I associate with a lack of compassion. I prefer "steel your resolve."
ReplyDeleteThe characters in Rawles' book "Patriots" are, for the most part, good examples of being compassionate but not soft. If you're soft, you don't live. If you lose compassion, you will live, but you become something awful.
WL Moses is right that the survivors must "apply the full measure of justice".
ReplyDeleteIf some of the survivors of what Concerned American calls "the coming excitement" manage to catch the chief usurpers, a trial followed by the use of a tall tree and a short rope will be appropriate.
oldsmobile98, I like your dividing of the concepts of "hardening your heart", and "steel your resolve". But do remember,it's a BOOK, they make all the right moves and decisions, and preparations, because the author wanted a certain outcome, and of course his readers desired a happy outcome. Real life, plays out differently. You say that if you lose your compassion, you will live, but become something awful. I'm here to suggest you understand that there will, for a time, be a land full of awful people, devoid of compassion, and that after a time, they will have compassion again. Once the danger passes, compassion, a luxury, will come into vogue again. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to tell you, or anyone else how to live your lives. What I am saying is that many of the fine attributes people have now, they have because they can AFFORD them. Compassion, pity, mercy, charity, all come at a price. When you can't pay it, you will not. When you can, again, you will. Regret and guilt are in the human condition, and always will be. High ideals and honor are no defense against them. Remember King David.
ReplyDeleteGood essay on the kind of mindset that will be necessary to adopt if one intends to be around to help rebuild & improve the U.S. after the consequences of the ever more likely American socio-economic crash have run their bloody course. It'll be interesting to see the reaction to Venlet's treatise from those who castigated me (& also threatened my life) on another site for saying the same thing.
ReplyDeleteCassandra (of Troy)
wl moses & Sean,
ReplyDeleteExcellent points!
oldsmobile98,
If you truly believe that "If you lose compassion, you will live, but you become something awful", then you'd naturally share all you have with whoever needs it irrespective of the cost to you/yours & would gladly fight & if need be die to protect/defend those who refused to do so for themselves (such as the Amish/similar) & demand the same kind of selfless 'compassion' from those you associate with, right?
Cassandra (of Troy)
Cassandra (of Troy):
ReplyDeleteBeing compassionate does not mean being foolish.
Being willing to die so that your friends can live is a noble thing. That is why our country awards the Medal of Honor. But dying is something you only get to do once, so we must be careful to do it wisely and not foolishly.
As for loved ones, providing for them comes before providing for others. Your first duty is to be compassionate on your own family.
Those who deliberately choose not to protect themselves know what they are doing and the consequences of their choices. Those who cannot protect themselves, like children, are a different story.
When a compassionate man has a chance to help a child, he tries to find a way to do so. A man with a hard heart wouldn't help a child even if it would cost him very little to do so.
Hard-heartedness means one only cares about self. It is what helped create the system of legal plunder that is causing the economic downfall of America.
Though we will have to do hard things, we ought to avoid becoming hard-hearted.
Hope this explains my position a little more clearly.
An old saying says it is hard to cheat an honest man, because they won't bite at the bait that is 'too good to be true'. Anyone over the age of five understands that the point of government is to live at everyone else's expense. If people truly didn't understand this, then they wouldn't be so scared now.
ReplyDelete