Adapted from a reply to Randy this morning, this was the blog, at this link:
Man is a tribal animal.
Instead of looking at the 'War on Terror' like it is something new, through too small a lens, let's stand back... viewed as the normal activity of an Empire in its' latter days, as it extends beyond its' reach, spreads too thin and ultimately collapses, as is happening today since this infinite war against an ideology bankrupted the planet... or viewed not in terms of events since 2001 or 1991, but as only the very latest page in the book that encompasses Jerusalem, the Knights Templar, the Ottomans, the Caliphate, the whole of the 'Crusades', and the turbulent relations between the Islamic World and the Christian West... then, does it begin to look any different?
I think it is [should be] obvious that you cannot kill an idea. This is why, if Israel take out ten prominent Hezbollah, say... twenty or a hundred stand in their place. This 'War on Terror' of the last decade or so, is absolutely insane, even before you get into the money being spent. It is the latest manifestation of a centuries old clash of religious ideologies, and has much deeper roots than the same [Cold War] against Communism - another phantom enemy. This war is not cold. It is violent and explosive, and most definitely red hot. But it is flawed.
Sun Tzu wrote, in The Art of War (6th Century BCE) :
"If you know your enemy and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles"
Well, war without end, against what is essentially a radical ideology, with unverifiable number of guerilla soldiers prepared to die for their cause, can never be won.
Perhaps the alleged 'Christians' who run the Atlantic Empire might start to actually heed the words of their spiritual leader ( ie: love thy neighbour )? Otherwise, bye bye Empire. Maybe not in your lifetime, but you know this is so. Even an Empire of such unprecedented size... doomed to collapse.
Everybody knows very well that the 'powers that be' need that phantom adversary, be it Communists, Muslims or whoever, to keep its' population focused outward, afraid; to justify spending so much on machines of war, plundering the world's resources by force and eroding civil liberties back in the 'homeland'. It's a collision course with mankind's self-made demise.
And, what comes next, if one ideology were to succeed in extinguishing another?
China's Empire? Global Caliphate? Heaven on Earth? Secular Utopia?
Trying to kill ideas, whether they are good or bad ones, is not only futile, but it makes them stronger.
A bad idea, left alone, might die a natural death, or evolve into something more useful. But as soon as a power tries to suppress it, its adherents will resist being told what to think, and often become militant, more radical, and more convinced their idea has value, since the power sees it as a threat.
One of the biggest mistakes of Soviet communism was to try to suppress religion. Communist thought was inspired at least partly from Christian philosophy in its original form, though it rejected supernaturalism. The idea that religion was an opiate was correct, but to try to force the addicted masses into going cold-turkey proved to be as counterproductive as the War On Drugs is today.
Capitalists, especially in the US, are making a similar mistake by turning an economic mechanism into a dogmatic ideology and trying to attack and eliminate the humanitarian and regulatory safeguards that actually enabled capitalism to survive as a system.
I think you are right here. You cannot kill an idea.
AntwortenLöschenHowever, you can take measures to protect your way of life and culture.
According to the viewing history on that post, you didn't even read it.
AntwortenLöschenAdapted from a reply to Randy this morning, this was the blog, at this link:
AntwortenLöschenMan is a tribal animal.
Instead of looking at the 'War on Terror' like it is something new, through too small a lens, let's stand back... viewed as the normal activity of an Empire in its' latter days, as it extends beyond its' reach, spreads too thin and ultimately collapses, as is happening today since this infinite war against an ideology bankrupted the planet... or viewed not in terms of events since 2001 or 1991, but as only the very latest page in the book that encompasses Jerusalem, the Knights Templar, the Ottomans, the Caliphate, the whole of the 'Crusades', and the turbulent relations between the Islamic World and the Christian West... then, does it begin to look any different?
I think it is [should be] obvious that you cannot kill an idea. This is why, if Israel take out ten prominent Hezbollah, say... twenty or a hundred stand in their place. This 'War on Terror' of the last decade or so, is absolutely insane, even before you get into the money being spent. It is the latest manifestation of a centuries old clash of religious ideologies, and has much deeper roots than the same [Cold War] against Communism - another phantom enemy. This war is not cold. It is violent and explosive, and most definitely red hot. But it is flawed.
Sun Tzu wrote, in The Art of War (6th Century BCE) :
"If you know your enemy and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles"
Well, war without end, against what is essentially a radical ideology, with unverifiable number of guerilla soldiers prepared to die for their cause, can never be won.
Perhaps the alleged 'Christians' who run the Atlantic Empire might start to actually heed the words of their spiritual leader ( ie: love thy neighbour )? Otherwise, bye bye Empire. Maybe not in your lifetime, but you know this is so. Even an Empire of such unprecedented size... doomed to collapse.
Everybody knows very well that the 'powers that be' need that phantom adversary, be it Communists, Muslims or whoever, to keep its' population focused outward, afraid; to justify spending so much on machines of war, plundering the world's resources by force and eroding civil liberties back in the 'homeland'. It's a collision course with mankind's self-made demise.
And, what comes next, if one ideology were to succeed in extinguishing another?
China's Empire? Global Caliphate? Heaven on Earth? Secular Utopia?
For your discussion...
Trying to kill ideas, whether they are good or bad ones, is not only futile, but it makes them stronger.
AntwortenLöschenA bad idea, left alone, might die a natural death, or evolve into something more useful. But as soon as a power tries to suppress it, its adherents will resist being told what to think, and often become militant, more radical, and more convinced their idea has value, since the power sees it as a threat.
One of the biggest mistakes of Soviet communism was to try to suppress religion. Communist thought was inspired at least partly from Christian philosophy in its original form, though it rejected supernaturalism. The idea that religion was an opiate was correct, but to try to force the addicted masses into going cold-turkey proved to be as counterproductive as the War On Drugs is today.
Capitalists, especially in the US, are making a similar mistake by turning an economic mechanism into a dogmatic ideology and trying to attack and eliminate the humanitarian and regulatory safeguards that actually enabled capitalism to survive as a system.