Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jacob Snyder who wrote (135230)	6/1/2004 10:37:44 PM
From: Ilaine	Respond to of 281500

With universal conscription, we would no longer be Athens, nor even Rome, but Sparta. Everything shabby, everything government issued, made by the lowest bidder, or conscript labor. Shades of 1984. Too grim, too depressing of a vision for the future of our country.

To: Jacob Snyder who wrote (135230)	6/2/2004 12:33:57 AM
From: unclewest	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

4. And the kind of people who would kill just for money......do you really want to put all the big guns in their hands? The correct labels for such people are: murderer, assassin, psychopath. I'd rather have the guns in the hands of regular folks, randomly chozen, than the self-selected killers-for-hire. It does not matter where you place the guns. Humans do not need any motivation to kill. We are already the bloodiest of all animals. We kill for every reason imaginable. Only here in these such forums have I ever seen folks attempt to seek so-called deep motivations for war and peace. But most look in the wrong place. They always look outside themselves. The ultimate solution to war is not to be found in examining death for it is inevitable and often hastened by human endeavors. IMHO which I value very highly, we all must learn to examine the value of life and teach those findings to others. Only then will there ever be a chance to stop the killing. The ongoing conversation about Tillman's death is pathetic. He, like you, was always going to die. Ish has it right. The significance of Tillman's life is in his life not in his death. Anyone who thinks heroism does not exist when receiving friendly fire is ignorant about combat. For those of you who have not been in combat let me let you in on a big secret...In battle, as many as 33% of US close combat fatalities are caused by friendly fire. If that was Tillman's demise it should not be reason to reexamine his display of courage in combat. Combatants learn this lesson well...friendly fire is not friendly. I agree with Ish. Let the combat dead rest in peace. Let their loved ones mourn without disruption. If you really want to make a difference, don't analyze Tillman, analyze your own contribution if any. You wrote, "In a war, if I was drafted, I'd do what Quakers did in WW2: work as ambulance drivers, medics, doctors. Or take care of the mentally ill." I ask, why do you have to be drafted? If your's are valid ideas about how to contribute...why wait for others? Why can you not become a leader and move in that direction now and encourage others to join you? Is your way of life too precious to protect yourself. uw