Been busy and a little out of it. After handing in my thesis and taking some time off to pursue other projects, I have obviously left this blog in neglect. I have had some interesting ideas in the past and I am currently working on them.
FYI, my predictions of a US stock market slump are on the ball and have resulted in a drop in the stock market in all sectors. I would have never believed that I would be on the ball on this one... the only problem was that I didn't have the guts to make the right moves before all of this tumbling occurred, but I will have to learn to trust myself a little more.
In other news, the Sy's have come to Japan and I had the honor of hosting them for a few days in Sendai and then traveling with them to Aomori to attend to the Nebuta festival. Pictures and details are to follow later on.
Finally, I have been doing some reading on the net and came across this quote which I found interesting:
"Why, of course, the people don't want war, why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship."
"There is one difference," I pointed out. "In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars." "Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country." --Herman Georing,
For those not in the know, Herman Goering was a military leader and a politician in the Nazi Party. The interview was taken during the trials at Nuremberg after being captured. He brings up a very good point on how countries are dragged into conflicts by their leaders. In the case of the US, we see that history repeats itself with rhetoric that "you're with us or against us" mentality.
Why would a person want to risk their life to join an army? You're risking your life to fight someone else's battle. If you're going to pick a fight, fight it yourself. Only cowards send goons to fight in their place. If a politician chooses to go to war, they should have the obligation to serve on the front lines, perhaps only then might they act responsibly.
2 comments:
Don't count on it. In the past kings and the ruling class was in the front. The Swedish kings was even notorious for charging in to battle among the first line.
No the only thing that can prevent war is end of taxation. Without coercive extraction of money no wars can be fought due to the enormous costs associated with war and such amounts of wealth can only be obtained by taxation.
If the Swedesh kings and nobility charged in the front then I would have an immense amount of respect for them if they are willing to fight for what they want.
I highly doubt that people are willing to fight for things unless they are significantly important that warrants them risking their lives.
In the case of US politics, we have that problem. It's too easy to send other people to fight for you for your benefit... which might not be to the benefit of the people sent out there.
Post a Comment