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A Pre-Capricon Deep Thought
Feb. 6th, 2014 10:46 amI will be attending Capricon this weekend and my schedule is here. Before I go, have a deep thought.
Various individuals, including but not limited to Jordan Bassior and Rand Simberg, seem to be of the opinion that in our current conflict with radical Islam we have two choices: a decisive victory of the "kill them all God will know his own" sort or an endless war that we will eventually loose. In short, WWII or we become Carthage.
To which I call bullshit. WWII was in many ways an anomaly. For example, France and Great Britain were at war with each other on and off (mostly on) from the 1300s to 1815. That series of wars ended, but not with a decisive victory by either side, as evidenced by the continued existence of French-speaking France. Actually, in the ancient world, Carthage was an anomaly. Most of Rome's enemies weren't razed to the ground. In short, a lot of wars end not with a conquest but a decision to stop fighting.
I expect that the current "war" with radical Islam will end much like the war with another "ism" - communism. Simply put, radical Islam is no better a way to run a country than communism. Moreover, most people don't like to live under its strictures. Any system that can't provide for its peoples' basic needs and requires force to exist will eventually collapse under its own weight. The trick is to contain the system and manage the collapse.
Various individuals, including but not limited to Jordan Bassior and Rand Simberg, seem to be of the opinion that in our current conflict with radical Islam we have two choices: a decisive victory of the "kill them all God will know his own" sort or an endless war that we will eventually loose. In short, WWII or we become Carthage.
To which I call bullshit. WWII was in many ways an anomaly. For example, France and Great Britain were at war with each other on and off (mostly on) from the 1300s to 1815. That series of wars ended, but not with a decisive victory by either side, as evidenced by the continued existence of French-speaking France. Actually, in the ancient world, Carthage was an anomaly. Most of Rome's enemies weren't razed to the ground. In short, a lot of wars end not with a conquest but a decision to stop fighting.
I expect that the current "war" with radical Islam will end much like the war with another "ism" - communism. Simply put, radical Islam is no better a way to run a country than communism. Moreover, most people don't like to live under its strictures. Any system that can't provide for its peoples' basic needs and requires force to exist will eventually collapse under its own weight. The trick is to contain the system and manage the collapse.
