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Disconnection for Cowardsby
Charley Hardman Sit any halfway reasonable person down one on one, and you can get him to agree to certain principles. Getting him to follow the same principles in disguise is another matter. For example, ask of the theoretical person, "Assume you own a stand where you sell lemonade for $1.35 a pint. You have many customers who like your lemonade very much, and who are happy to regularly exchange $1.35 for your product. They do so voluntarily. While you have been selling, however, a customer has devised a way to make lemonade which he feels is better, and he is able to project a comfortable profit selling it for $1 a pint. He sets up a competing stand on his property, and your business is quickly reduced to less than half its prior level. What may you rightfully do to counter this situation? May you, using physical force, or the threat of it, make him raise his price to equal or surpass yours? May you prohibit his new customers from buying lemonade there? May you drive a Humvee onto his property, point a gun at him, and then shoot him and his family if it seems they are a threat to your "safety" (his "unsafe" reaction having nothing to do with you pointing a gun at him, of course)?" When confronted directly with first-person moral decisions, most people are quick to answer in favor of liberty. So what happens somewhere between lemonade-stand-land and the modern state to make people such hooligans by proxy? It is the proxy that happens! Whenever a magic number of parties, or other inducements of complexity, make it into a transaction, the natural tendency of humans is to hide from blame – to deny, to redirect, or ignore entirely. Such is the convenience of the mob (renamed "democracy" for issues of palatability and, go figure, blame avoidance); there is no clear path back to the individuals really responsible when things go south. "Coincidence? I think not!" This disconnect allows people to rob, threaten, and murder – all without the slightest feeling of guilt, or chance of being held to account – even if they are videotaped doing the actual killing. A great example of the disconnect is the spate of silly emails I routinely get after articles critical of the US military, from those on the dole in the US military. They typically go something like this: "I agree with most of what you say, but you really should lay off the soldiers. They are victims in this too, and they have no choice in the matter because they took an oath to follow the wishes of the President. There's nothing they can do. They are bravely doing a difficult job to preserve your ability to speak openly as you do. Blame the politicians, not the soldiers. Thank you." Lies. And in the same emails extolling troops for their bravery in hard times, the writers avoid the obvious immorality and cowardice which are essential to enable a man to do what's being done in Iraq. What sort of man enacts direct, individual treachery and then throws up his hands and says, "Somebody told me to do it. I signed my name on the dotted line. It's not my fault." I'll tell you what sort of man does that: The lowest, most childish, irresponsible scum of the earth. What is the reaction from the masses to this charade? "Yeah, they are victims. Let's hold a parade to honor them!" And worse. Strong, moral men recognize when they've made a mistake (signing an immoral contract), and take their lumps. The smarter ones would simply have looked at the recent history of the US military and refused to even consider participating – no signing involved. Having failed there, are people really asserting that it's physically impossible for soldiers to refuse to participate once they have gun in hand? Baloney. It just takes bravery and heart, that's all. Instead, mass auto-brainwashing is at work to transfer guilt from the responsible to the untouchable. It's easily recognizable as just more of the same failure of responsibility at the heart of modern America. Land of the free, home of the brave? Not these days. It is the land of the shirker, the tyrant, and the freeloader, with no crime too low for consideration, because we are all in this together. The mob acts. The mob moves. Stay in the mob for safety and guidance. Stay in the mob to cover your tracks with lies which gain strength and acceptance through repetition. Count me out, brother. I'll stand alone if need be. But then, I'm a chicken who criticizes brave, gun-toting, professional murderers – hardly the sort anybody would want to associate with directly. If I had any guts, I'd fly over to Iraq and mow down some towel heads, or at least drop some bombs. Because it's the right thing to do. Enough already. Let's get real: Most people are in the US military because it's the career they wanted. We all must have some way to put bread on the table. When push comes to shove, they'd rather shoot somebody than switch careers or face jail time because of their poor choices. End of story. Everything beyond that is trying to dress up a pig and take it out dancing. You think somebody with his arms around a pig is going to bust you for doing the same? No, pig dancing must become a virtue, by hook or by crook.
Copyright © 2003 LewRockwell.com
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July
31, 2003
