Are Americans a Broken People?

Niki, I'm actually a pretty firm believer in Ghandis methods - but there's been quite a bit of historic whitewash about the mans teachings and attitude, some of which I have deconstructed here a time or two...

His main thrust was simply TRY the open hand *first*, make a real and conscious effort to find a way other than violence, but if you cannot do that, if your opponent will not accept it, then it's better to be violent than to be cowed - he took it personally to such extremes in an attempt to set an example, and it DID stick, oh yes, but he put it clear on several occasions.

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I have been repeating over and over again that he who cannot protect himself or his nearest and dearest or their honour by non-violently facing death may and ought to do so by violently dealing with the oppressor. He who can do neither of the two is a burden. He has no business to be the head of a family. He must either hide himself, or must rest content to live for ever in helplessness and be prepared to crawl like a worm at the bidding of a bully.

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He also stated that in order to *choose* non-violence, one had to have the actual opportunity and ability to present violence, oh wait, I DO that quote, I think, but not wholly sure it's translation does it justice.

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But I believe that non-violence is infinitely superior to violence, forgiveness is more manly than punishment. Forgiveness adorns a soldier...But abstinence is forgiveness only when there is the power to punish; it is meaningless when it pretends to proceed from a helpless creature....

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If you have no ability to deliver the violence, it's not a conscious choice, you see - he was lauding the conscious choice to NOT use violence, but rather offer the open hand, to refuse to emulate ones persecutors, to refuse to become "them".

Smart guy, maybe a little over the top, cause there's some problems you just can not solve peaceably, and he knew that one too.

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The world is not entirely governed by logic. Life itself involves some kind of violence and we have to choose the path of least violence.

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In essence, do the least harm possible, something I try to strive for but am often not real good at cause I can be pretty damn tempermental about some things... as can we all.

But I do TRY, offer the open hand first, silent rejection next, and only when sorely pressed resort to violence, verbal or physical - problem is when folk (typical american badge bearing thugs, for example) take OFFENSE to reason and negotiation, or peaceful noncompliance - the folk Ghandi were dealing with were a civilized lot, he knew damn well they'd not the belly for stomping down a legion of passive resistors.

Case in point, when stuff like this becomes REFLEX.
Former cop accused of using Taser on girlfriend might not do time
http://www.kxxv.com/global/story.asp?s=11659869
"She said she and Oly Ivy had been fighting when he shocked her with a Taser in the stomach, then twice more in the face.

"I could feel him continuously pulling the trigger," Juarez said in her first interview since the incident"

That's an automatic reflex action, and one that despite legions of denials, the evidence has proven me utterly correct about, that they just keep snapping the trigger - not gonna get into the pyschology of it, but someone who can do that to another person on purpose doesn't meet my standards as a human being.

We are, IMHO, *not* that civilized, and we train our jackboots quite specifically to ENJOY stomping down passive resistors, while our media demonises them to the point of encouraging the populace to cheer them on - something ole Ghandi didn't have to deal with, and it creates the problem of public opinion being on the wrong side of the issue most of the time.

And so, when circumstances do not allow one to be heroic, then one must become a villain.

And as the man said, the choice not to use violence presupposes the ability - which is what I mean by "threat" of violence, such protests are saying "we can, but we do not want to, please negot

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FYI, I actually like them pancakes and sausage thingies, but then I am solidly fond of corn dogs as well, it's like corn-dogged breakfast, which is pretty cool when you're in a hurry.

But americans are certainly.. erm... innovative, on a culinary front, southerners seem to take it as a matter of pride that there is nothing on earth that cannot be deep-fried if they mean to do it, whole chickens, ice cream, hell, they managed to deep fry Coca Cola, how the HELL do you manage THAT?!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fried_Coke

Like I should talk, having fried fresh cut michigan red potatoes in the bacon grease this morning for my hash browns...


They don't call me "The Dietkiller" without reason, meh heh heh.

-F

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Did anyone see the Colbert Report last night.

The interview with Tom Brokaw recapping the decade was interesting,

Colberts question " In 1999 we were Rome, and everything Rome would want to be... What the hell happened? " Was pretty funny.


Brokaws pointing back to the Florida debacle in the first Bush election as the focal point of where things began to go wrong was a little unfair I think, I think things had been sliding for along time before that.




Either your with the terrorists, or ... your with the terrorists


Lets party like its 1939

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Frem... so how do you stay so slim???

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You want my take on when it "started to go to hell" in the modern era ?

Ford pardoning Nixon.

Look how many of the folks we shoulda run down, rooted out and stuck underneath the goddamn prison wound up working for the Bush and Clinton administrations, pushing the same goddamned agenda that's been "The Plan" ever since Scoop Jackson decided we'd be better off as a pocket dictatorship and set down how to bring it about.

And here we are, once again letting them get away...

They'll be back, they always come back, like roaches when the lights go out.

-F

ETA: According to Justin it's because imma meddling old busybody worse than ten old ladies knitting circles and can't leave a single thing well enough alone if I feel my efforts can nudge it in the slightest... he's prolly right, heh.

Besides, those ISTP mad-crafter rampages eat a phenomenal amount of calories, especially when I go and forget several meals in the process.

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These Roaches never go away Frem, they just have a day shift and a night shift... just which one the Obama advisors are I couldn't say.




Either your with the terrorists, or ... your with the terrorists


Lets party like its 1939

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"Ghandi counted on decent folk losing their stomach for it ..."

A point which was made for me in, of all places, a history class. Said by a white guy from SA when he was talking about apartheid.

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Silence is consent.

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Originally posted by Kwicko:




COME ON!! - It's BACON *IN* MAYONNAISE! Nobody but an American could have thought of something that was at the same time so gross AND so lazy, could they? :)

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Heh, I'm actually more offended that there's a "Lite" version.

Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com

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Every time I even think of Baconnaise (Lite or Original), I throw up a little bit in my mouth.

Bacon's good. I like bacon. Mayonnaise I can live with. But grinding up bacon INTO mayonnaise? Freaks.

Mike

Work is the curse of the Drinking Class.
- Oscar Wilde

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