So, Vic and I went to the in-laws house (hers, not mine) for dinner last night and something happened that has really stuck in my craw. (The worst thing about something sticking in your craw is that no one really knows where the "craw" is…)
Joe, my step-dad, isn't a particularly bright man. He makes spurious statements as if they're true. He said that the allies catch-phrase during WWII was "No retreat". Wrong. That was WWI, pre-US involvement. He likes to watch war documentaries because he sees some glory in it. Again, not too bright.
So, at one point, watching his WWII doc, he asked, "I wonder if people alive today would be able to fight a war like that?" I was surprised to hear Vicky say, "You bet, we could." That's some optimism!
For my own part, I wanted to bitch-slap him. I've often said that the problem with people isn't that they don't say the right answers, but that they don't ask the right questions. This is a stupid question to ask. If you put your energy into planning for wars or for fights, you take energy away from preventing the same. If you can only see in two dimensions, you'll never see your way around the seemingly inevitable. It's deterministic thinking. It's fatalistic. And, again, not too bright.
Must remember to make my kids never listen to this man…. And laugh at him…. A lot.
1 comment:
I must comment on my answer to Joe's statement. What I meant, but what didn't come across, was that we, as in we the human race, could definitely fight a war like Nazi Germany did in WWII, that is being the agressors against a specific group of people ...oh wait aren't we doing that now in our anti-Muslim, anti-gay, anti-think for oneself "patriotism" that many in this country are all too (stupidly) proud to support.
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