Aristo! Aristo! A la lanterne!: A moment in class today......

Friday, November 6, 2009

A moment in class today......

.

Today in class we had a moment of silence for the dead and wounded at Ft. Hood. The students asked me what had happened there.... and I responded that it appears a nut job major had opened fire and killed a dozen people and wounded about thirty more.

The students asked how could one whacko take out so many soldiers..... and I told them the base commander had standing orders that soldiers on base were to be unarmed and defenseless from attack. The immediate, unsolicited, and very loud consensus of the students was that such a policy is criminally insane. I will not repeat what the students thought should happen to the base commander for his punishment. I had to admonish the students on their choice of words and somewhat creatively violent outlook towards the man.

1 comment:

Crucis said...: The policy, even after examination, can't be sustained. We expect our soldiers in combat to be armed and ready. But violence isn't restricted to the battlefield as event at Ft Hood (and other places) prove.

I would submit that all officers and NCOs be required to be armed whenever on duty. Off-duty, all military personal should be allowed to arm themselves in accordance to local and state law. Many military have CCW permits for off-base, but not on-base. It's a policy change that can be made quite easily---if the chain of command says so.; November 6, 2009 at 5:01 PM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

I have this philosophy.... All humans are faced with a choice.

They can become students of human nature, trying to recognize the good and bad within themselves... or they can choose to ignore human nature, and act simply on drives, desires, and instincts. The former is what sets mankind aside from animals, and the latter is to act as an animal.

Making the first choice is harder, more complicated, and creates a difficult path to follow... for it's the basis of knowing right from wrong. There are those who study human nature, and themselves, and actively try to better themselves and do what is right. There are others... people who study human nature, note the flaws inherent to the unthinking herd, and use them as a means to control.

There is no danger greater than the refusal to see, and to think. Doing so leaves one a pawn to anyone awake, aware, and driven to power over others.

Robert Heinlein

"Do not confuse "duty" with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.

But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible. It is easier to deal with a footpad than it is with the leech who wants "just a few minutes of your time, please — this won't take long." Time is your total capital, and the minutes of your life are painfully few. If you allow yourself to fall into the vice of agreeing to such requests, they quickly snowball to the point where these parasites will use up 100 percent of your time — and squawk for more!
So learn to say No — and to be rude about it when necessary.
Otherwise you will not have time to carry out your duty, or to do your own work, and certainly no time for love and happiness. The termites will nibble away your life and leave none of it for you.

(This rule does not mean that you must not do a favor for a friend, or even a stranger. But let the choice be yours. Don't do it because it is "expected" of you.)"

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.